The Daily Alaska empire., 1945-03-30
THREE BILLS GIVEN VETO BY GOVERNOR
School District Measure Is Killed Second Time
 by Pen

The Governors veto axe fell to- day on three legislative measures which had been resting on his desk since the Seventeenth As sembly adjourned a week ago. Vetoed were, Senate Bill GA, an act to provide for consolidated school districts, Senate Bill 65, an act to increase tax on insurance premiums and sbring non registered insurers under the tax law also, and House Bill 30, the medical healing bill.
 In ruling out the consolidated school districts bill, Gov. Gruening objected, as he did in vetoing a similar bill in 1943, to provisions giving the District Judge powers to decide whether or not an election should be held and to define the boundaries of district.
 Objectionable Lines
 Although both houses of the Legislature had made amendment with intent to strike this feature, final draft of the bill still showed the objectionable lines.
 Gov. Gruening went further in -his veto message to declare also that he was not in sympathy with the manner of taxation proposed by the. measure under which pro- portional contribution by the muni- cipality and the adjacent areas is based on the number of pupils in each area.
 The wealth of the Territory must regardless of it's source edu- cate the children of hte Territory Gruening said, and added a gen. eral conclusion to which he de- clared the Commissioner of Edu- cation also subscribed. that in ad- dition to the other objections, Senate Bill GA adds nothing that is not already possible under Chapt. TT, SLA 1885. Section Is reverts to a theory of taxation which was abandoned more than fifty years ago."
 Insurance Bill
 The insurance tax bill, House Bill 65, Gruening declared, has ob- jectionable features which are in- superable.
 The most objectionable feature of the act" Gruening said,' is the obligation not merely of the policy holder to pay the tax on the pre- mium if the company defaults, but to levy a ten percent penalty on him for every month the tax goes unpaid"
 Gruening declared an innocently offending man might conceivably go on for years ignorant of a mounting tax penalty, and that the effect of the law is to place the burden on him of ascertaining whether the company is authorized or unauthorized to do business in Alaska, and then if it is unauthor- ized, must ascertain whether or not the company will pay the levied tax.
 Death Blow
 In dealing the death blow to the non-medical healing bill, House Bill 30, regulating chiropractics etcetera, Gruening cited the curi- ous legislative history of the meas ure in which the Senate had res cinded it's passage of the bill IA te 2 after the measure had been sent back to the House instead of ask ing the House to return the meas ure.
 Technically the bill may be be- fore me for my signature" saic Gruening, but actually one of tht two houses has withdrawn it's ap. proval and I feel that it is in lint with democratic principles for ms not to sign"
 With regards to the consolidated school districts bill, Gruening sait he would like to see the next ses, sion of the Legislature bring ou a bill that would provide for edu cational authorities to make schoo district proposals for submission tt elections.
 The objective of the bill is good Gruening said, but declared tn last days passage of the measur, prevented further discussion of tn bills objectionable features.