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Thursday, May 22, 2003 |
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Posted on May 21, 2003 House overrides governor's veto
By AMY GEIER EDGAR Associated Press Writer The House overrode a veto by Gov. Mark Sanford on a bill that creates a memorial for law enforcement officers on Statehouse grounds. The House spent two days debating the veto before they overrode it Wednesday on an 89-21 vote. Although Sanford said he supports putting the monument on the Statehouse grounds, he said he vetoed the measure last week because the $500,000 for the project could be better used by law enforcement agencies during the state's budget crunch. The governor had said he would work with legislators to raise private funds for the project, but the House wouldn't go along. "We even say here's another angle to getting there, and yet people can become accustomed to 'no, we'll just get the state money and keep on moving.' I think that's a shortsighted view, particularly given the degree of budget crisis that's before us," Sanford said Wednesday afternoon. Rep. Shirley Hinson, R-Goose Creek and the bill's sponsor, said the resolution Sanford vetoed only authorized the construction. "Without that authorization we can't even raise the private funds," she said. The South Carolina Troopers Association agreed with Sanford's veto, saying the money could pay troopers' salaries or buy equipment. Rep. Harry Ott, D-St. Matthews, said law enforcement officers in Calhoun County need a camera for a squad car and bulletproof vests. Hinson noted that the money already was appropriated in last year's budget from a Public Safety Department building fund. Those funds are specialized and can only be spent on bricks- and-mortar projects, she said. Veto supporters also argued that a monument to fallen officers already exists at the Criminal Justice Academy. But other members say it's important to honor the officers on Statehouse grounds. Rep. Michael Pitts, R-Laurens and a retired police officer, read the names of several officers who died in the line of duty, including his partner of three years who died in 1981. "Should there be a memorial on the Statehouse grounds ... yes, there should," Pitts said. "Why should it be on the Statehouse grounds? Because every officer I just named, and many others, fell enforcing the laws that are enacted by the body that serves on the Statehouse grounds." The two days of emotional debate could have been avoided through better communication with the governor, said Rep. Bobby Harrell, R-Charleston. Harrell said the first time he heard the governor was considering a veto was last week. By that time, the bill already had been approved by committees and the full House and Senate. "I would like very much for the governor to be talking to all of us at the beginning of these processes, to say 'This is stuff I think we ought to be accomplishing,'" Harrell said. "I think we need to have a much better open dialogue than we have today to make sure that we deal with all these problems." |
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