June 07, 2010 07:46 PM UTC

Veto Day Looms

•  
• by: ohwilleke

( – promoted by Colorado Pols)

Governor Ritter has until Friday, June 11 to veto bills passed after May 2 in the 2010 legislative session which ended May 12.

The only post-adjournment veto so far has been his relatively uncontroversial veto of HB 1364, allowing sex offenders to choose their own treatment providers in addition to other non-controversial provisions, which was killed when it was revealed that the legislator involved in a late amendment to the bill had a family member affected by the bill.

Legislators being human, a significant share of the most controversial bills are passed at the end of the legislative session.  As more and more of those bills are signed, it becomes more and more likely that the Governor might veto those that are have not yet won his signature, the Governor being human, the close veto calls are also the last to be made.

The last week in which the Governor can veto bills often produces fireworks.  Stay tuned.

I don’t have a detailed tabulation of which bills were passed at the tail end of the session and which have been signed so far.

All bills passed before that date except HB 1011 (regarding procedures for DMV registration of farm vehicles), have become law, because they become law unless vetoed without ten days.  But, the Governor has thirty days from adjournment to veto laws passed at the end of the session.

Is anyone aware of controversial bills not yet signed into law from the end of the session?