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Minnesota House of Representatives

Executive Branch: The Governor's Signature

PART 6

"Oh, if I could only be president and Congress too for just ten minutes."
--Theodore Roosevelt, 26th president of the United States, 1901-1909.

BACKGROUND

Theodore Roosevelt's quip about the tension between the executive and legislative branches of government speaks volumes about the sometimes adversarial relationship between the two, whether it's the president and Congress or the governor and the Legislature.

The Legislature is certainly not obligated to do everything the governor requests -- and it usually doesn't. But the Governor's Office will lobby the Legislature for coveted items that are included in its proposed budget to the Legislature.

If the Legislature rebuffs the governor too many times, there is always the threat of a veto. That gives the governor a lot of leverage to get what is wanted.

Once a bill has passed both the House and Senate in identical form, it's ready to be sent to the governor for his or her consideration. But first, the governor's staff begins analyzing the bill to see how it would affect various departments and agencies and the state as a whole. The staff then makes a recommendation to the governor.

Governor's options

The governor's options when considering whether to sign a bill are to:

-- sign the bill and it will become law;
-- veto the bill, which kills the measure unless two-thirds of the members in each house vote to override the veto;
-- line-item veto certain sections of an appropriations bill, which allows the governor to eliminate portions of a bill that he or she doesn't approve of; or -- do nothing. This, strangely enough, has the opposite effect on bills depending upon when it occurs (see Appendix C-7).

When the Legislature is in session, a bill will become law without the governor's signature if he or she doesn't act on it within three days of receiving it.

But a bill won't become law if the governor doesn't act on it in some cases. The governor has 14 days following adjournment to act on a bill that was passed during the last three days before final adjournment in even-numbered years, or the second year of a biennium. This is often called a pocket veto (see Appendix E-1).

If it sounds confusing, that's because it is. But after each session the House Public Information Office and the Senate Publications Office publish the Session Review, which is a comprehensive listing of all bills that were signed into law after each session (see Appendix E-5).

Governor's legislative agenda

Although the focus of this brief description of the executive branch is on whether the governor will or won't sign a bill, the governor is involved in the process much earlier.

He or she invariably has an agenda for the Legislature to consider, which is outlined in the governor's state-of-the-state address. That provides an overview of the financial and social conditions of the state, and is usually delivered toward the beginning of a legislative session.

To shepherd legislation through the Legislature, the governor must find bill sponsors in either the House or Senate, or both -- just as special interest groups and lobbyists do.

The governor recently proposed a multi-faceted drug program, for example, and found an author to sponsor the legislation. But when the proposal finally emerged from the Legislature, it had changed significantly from the governor's original blueprint.

The governor also submits a proposed budget to the Legislature every two years that outlines the spending proposals of his administration. For example, the governor may propose that a new engineering building be built on the Winona State University campus and include a request in his voluminous proposed budget, which is typically hundreds of pages long.

The governor's office, and the many departments and agencies under its jurisdiction, does have a lot of impact on proposed legislation. But the office has many other responsibilities as well. Namely, it runs state government and carries out many of the laws passed by the Legislature.

Executive branch structure

The executive branch includes six offices that are required by the Minnesota Constitution, including the governor's office. The other five are:

lieutenant governor -- serves as the governor's representative and assumes the responsibilities of governor in the governor's absence or if a vacancy occurs;
secretary of state -- administers elections as the chief election official; certifies official documents such as governor's executive orders or laws the Legislature passes (see Appendix C-5); and regulates Minnesota businesses and acts as custodian of official records;
auditor -- monitors financial affairs of the state; collects, checks, and standardizes financial information from local units of government; and investigates audit reports; treasurer -- administers state funds and acts as the state paymaster; and
attorney general -- provides legal services to state government; represents the state in court cases; enforces laws concerning charitable corporations, and protects public rights.

Executive departments and agencies

In addition to the six offices that are mandated by the state Constitution, in 1990 there were about 20 executive departments, such as the Department of Human Services and the Department of Corrections. It's these departments, operating under the direction of the governor and the Legislature, that operate the bulk of state government. The commissioners of these departments are appointed by the governor, subject to approval by the state Senate.

There are also numerous state agencies, such as the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency, which function in basically the same way departments do. Agencies also include many government appointees.

In addition, the executive branch includes semi-state agencies, which are not under direct appointive control of the governor. The Minnesota Humane Society is an example of a semi-state agency.

Special sessions

The governor also has the power to call a special session of the Legislature. A special session is convened for extraordinary reasons such as passing a budget if lawmakers cannot do so during regular session, or rewriting a tax bill that the governor had rejected.

But special sessions aren't as special as they once were. There have been 34 special sessions since Minnesota became a state; 10 of them were held between 1980 and 1990.

NEW TERMS

SUGGESTED ACTIVITIES

Beginning

How many Minnesota governors have there been and who are they? Students could be encouraged to research the life of one governor and write a report on him. There are several sources from which to draw information, including Theodore Blegen's Minnesota History and William Folwell's A History of Minnesota. The Legislative Reference Library, which is located on the sixth floor of the State Office Building in St. Paul, also has biographical information about each of the governors.

Intermediate

The student who was elected governor in Part 1 now has an opportunity to exercise his or her discretion. The governor can sign the bills that have passed the mock legislature, or veto them. If the measure is vetoed, the governor must provide the legislature with a written explanation of the rejection. Of course, the mock legislature has the opportunity to override the veto if two-thirds of the members in each body vote to do so. Also keep in mind that the governor can play an active role in the earlier stages of a bill's development to ensure it's more to his or her liking.

Advanced

For bill-tracking purposes, the most important thing to know at this stage is whether the governor signed the bill in question. The House Public Information Office can answer this question. The governor's staff usually compiles a report on what the impact of a bill would be.

Introduction
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Terms