Veto override session ends with record numbers

The state Senate wraps up a record 2014 veto override session Thursday morning. This comes after the Legislature moved to override many of Gov. Jay Nixon’s vetoes in a packed session on Wednesday that lasted all day.

After more than 30 vetoes from Nixon in July, lawmakers overturned 47 of the governor’s line-item vetoes, two house bills and eight senate bills.

Among the overturned bills is an abortion bill. The bill changes the mandatory wait time from one to three days before a woman can receive an abortion. The Legislature also overturned a veto of a bill that mandates teachers who carry concealed guns in schools attend training programs.

Sen. Mike Kehoe, R-Jefferson City, called the override session a historic record. “Checks and balances of our constitution provides for us that if we feel that the representation of our constituents’ needs outweighs what the governor personally thinks, then we should be able to override these vetoes and in fact we did,” said Kehoe.

Despite the record number of veto overrides, the governor’s office released a statement on Thursday applauding leaders for sustaining most of his vetoes on tax-break bills.