House overrides 27 Inslee vetoes
OLYMPIA -- A record number of vetoes were overridden, possibly in record time, by the House as it moved toward adjournment Tuesday night.
The 27 bills Gov. Jay Inslee vetoed at the end of the regular legislative session when lawmakers didn't pass a budget were overridden at a pace of less than one per minute, and will now become law.
They were bills that Inslee said were not vital to public health and safety when he made good on a threat he'd issued as a way to spur a budget deal with four days left in the session. There was no deal, and when the Legislature ran out of time on the evening of March 10, Inslee immediately called a special session and vetoed 27 of the 37 bills on his desk that would have become law whether he signed them or not.
With Speaker Pro Tem Jim Moeller wielding a fast gavel, the House whipped through the bills in numerical order. But at least some members had clearly studied the list, because the override votes varied from a high of 89-5 to a low of 75-17. Each override needed at least 63 yes votes.
The Senate voted to override all the bills Monday, but in that chamber the process took more than an hour because each bill required a roll-call vote. In the House, which has an electronic voting machine, the job was accomplished in 22 minutes and 1 second.
