This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2015, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
Utah lawmakers won't convene a special session to override any of the five bills that Gov. Gary Herbert vetoed after the last legislative session, including one that would have named a stretch of Interstate 15 after late House Speaker Becky Lockhart.
"While we don't agree with every veto, a poll of our members shows the House and Senate are ready to forgo the time and expense of a veto override session and move on to other business," House Speaker Greg Hughes and Senate President Wayne Niederhauser said in a joint statement. "We will resolve any residual disagreements and readdress them during the interim and the next legislative session."
The five vetoes that Herbert issued last session were the most in more than a decade.
The highest profile of the group was a bill to name a portion of I-15 through Utah County in honor of Lockhart, Utah's first female speaker, who died in January, weeks after leaving office, after being stricken with an extremely rare neurodegenerative disease.
Some veterans opposed the designation, since the road is already named Veterans Memorial Highway and said adding Lockhart's name would diminish the honor for the military personnel. Ultimately, Lockhart's husband, Stan, asked the governor to veto the bill, which he did.
The other bills the governor vetoed included:
• A bill sponsored by Sen. Scott Jenkins, R-Plain City, that was to have made it legal for motorists to drive through railroad crossings after gates had opened but before flashing lights had turned off. Herbert said the change would endanger drivers.
• SB278, which was to have increased the tax incentive motion-picture companies could get from $500,000 to $2.5 million.
• HB197, which was to have allowed the state school board to grant permission for school districts to hire principals and other officials who don't have a license or educational background, but not enough support for an override session.
• SB94 which proposed giving refunds on corporate-tax overpayments, because Herbert objected to an accounting gimmick used to postpone the cost of the bill for two years.
The Legislature last overrode Herbert's vetoes in 2011, when it pushed through two bills that had been rejected by the governor — one that created a sales-tax earmark for transportation projects and another that required state agencies to be open five days a week — reversing a four-day workweek that had been instituted by former Gov. Jon Huntsman.
In the six sessions while he's been in office, Herbert has vetoed a total of 18 bills, including the five this year.
Twitter: @RobertGehrke