Opinion ID: 852961
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 5

Heading: Problems with the Plaintiffs' View

Text: To some it seems to defy common sense that major consequences attach to the Governor's having, as his counsel put it, sent his homework in early. And, as explained in Part I, even if the veto was prematurely delivered, that would not invalidate the veto. Physical delivery before a bill is required to be returned contravenes no identified policy. But there are also practical consequences to the Plaintiffs' view that lead us to conclude that it cannot have been the intended result of the language chosen by the drafters of Section 14. The State points to the at best awkward and perhaps disastrous situations created by the Plaintiffs' proposed construction of Section 14. If a return cannot be effected until November, laws having passed in the spring at the end of a usual legislative session, which frequently purport to be in effect as of July 1, will be in an uncertain status for several months. Plaintiffs contend that uncertainty is inherent in the veto process because an override is possible. But the legislature has addressed the effective date of vetoed bills. A veto announced and physically delivered to the legislature before the effective date makes clear that the law will not be effective unless and until the veto is overridden. Ind.Code § 1-1-3.1-3(d) (1998); H.E.A. 1866 § 22, 112th Gen. Assem., 1st Reg. Sess. (Ind.2001). By contrast, if the Plaintiffs are correct and a veto cannot be completed until the next session, the effective date of many bills will pass before that time. Anyone affected by the law would be left in a period of several months of uncertainty as to the lawfulness of actions taken in the interim period between the law's purported effective date and the first day of the next session.