St. Tammany News

State senators rejected an additional session to revisit bills vetoed by Gov. Kathleen Blanco Thursday night.

By the deadline, Thursday at midnight, 21 senators, a majority, indicated they did not want to hold a veto session. Meanwhile, a majority of house members appeared to have supported the session. Forty-eight representatives, five votes short of a majority, returned ballots opposing the session.

Republicans tried to gather enough lawmakers to hold the session up to the last minute. Thursday, the East St. Tammany Chamber of Commerce released a statement urging voters to contact their representatives and ask them to support the session. The statement joined the session to a Minneapolis freeway bridge's recent collapse and said one vetoed bill would have provided money for infrastructure and bridges. The Chamber of Commerce statement said Rep. Tim Burns, R-Mandeville, had brought the issue to their attention.

The Senate's rejection validated a Wednesday prediction by Rep. Harold Ritchie, D-Bogalusa, who said he believed the measure wouldn't garner enough votes in the Senate but might in the House.

Sen. Ben Nevers, D-Bogalusa, said the Legislature will revisit most legislation vetoed by the governor in January, after the gubernatorial inauguration. Nevers specifically mentioned trying to pass bills that would use money from severance taxes for reforestation and make parents' school expenditures tax deductible.

Wednesday, Blanco issued a statement defending her veto of the private and parochial school tuition tax deduction, saying it would subsidize private schools at the expense of public school students.

Blanco issued another press release Friday morning applauding lawmakers for not trying to override her vetoes. "Rather than over committing state resources now, I think it is fair to allow the next legislature to make these decisions based on the performance of the economy," the statement said.