State Capital News Service

OKLAHOMA CITY--For the first time in three years, House Democrats find themselves back at the budget negotiating table as a result of Democrat Gov. Henry's line-item veto of the proposed 2008 state budget.

?That's the assessment of some Cleveland County lawmakers in the wake of the governor's decision this week to reject a $6.9 billion spending plan negotiated by leaders of House and Senate.

?After returning from a family vacation in Mexico, Henry said he was using his line-item veto to strike everything from the budget bill except $92 million in emergency funds to help some cash-strapped state agencies make it to the end of the current fiscal year.

?Henry said he was vetoing the $6.9 billion budget for the fiscal year beginning July 1 because it shortchanged prisons, education and teacher retirement, and because his office and House Democrats were excluded from the negotiations that produced it.

?It would take a two-thirds majority, or 68 votes, in the House to override the governor's veto. That means at least 11 House Democrats would have to side with the House's 57 Republicans in voting against the governor, a fellow Democrat.

?That appears unlikely to happen, as evidenced by the fact that 43 of the 44-member House Democratic Caucus stood behind Henry in a symbolic display of solidarity as he announced his budget veto.

?"I want to commend the House Democrats for taking a strong stand against a very flawed process," Henry said. "They were very courageous in their stance. Obviously they were upset by the process...All of the players should have a seat at the table."

?State Rep. Bill Nations, D-Norman, one of 16 Democrats who voted against the budget bill two weeks ago, said Henry's veto was important because it helps ensure House Democrats will be included in future budget negotiations.

?He compared the current situation to the political environment that existed during the administration of Republican Gov. Frank Keating, whose veto pen helped empower House Republicans, who at the time were outnumbered by Democrats.

?"Previously the Republicans were the minority caucus in the House," Nations said. "And they had considerable power because Gov. Keating, a Republican, vetoed a considerable number of bills.? He needed those representatives to sustain his veto. Therefore they got to be included in negotiations. Maybe not directly, but through the governor's office their wishes and desires were represented in the process."

?Nations said House Democrats have had to wait three years to reap similar benefits, because Henry has tended to take a more bipartisan approach to governing, and has been reluctant to use his veto power.

?The shoe is now on the other foot because of the budget showdown, Nations said, and House Democrats are finally getting a place at the negotiating table.

?"This is the first opportunity in three years that we have had the opportunity to do what House Republicans did with Frank Keating," Nations said.?"And that is to leverage the situation into a little more input into the budgetary process."

?State Sen. John Sparks, D-Norman, agreed with Nations.

?"If the Democrats can stop legislation by backing up the governor, the House leadership has to include them in discussions about the legislative agenda because [House Republicans] have got to get [House Democrats'] agreement," Sparks said.? "That's the check and the balance."?

?State Rep. Randy Terrill, R-Moore, questioned the logic and prudence of both Henry's line-item veto and the decision by House Democrats to side with him.

?Terrill said the governor was invited at the early stages of the budget negotiating process to have regular meetings with the House Republican leadership, and he declined.

?"If he has some fundamental philosophical objection that is substantive about the way something is done in the budget, then he ought to say so," Terrill said. "But it looks like his objection is purely a procedural one that is largely his fault.? He is using objections about a process that he chose not to take part in."

?A veto, Terrill said, was not the answer to the situation.

?"If his objection is the process is flawed, then we can correct that next year," Terrill said. "Perhaps he will participate when he is asked, but the solution is not to veto in whole or in part this budgetary agreement we've reached. This budget is a great deal for the taxpayers of Oklahoma."

?Terrill said he wondered why House Democrats would stick their necks out for the governor.

"I think the House Democrats are in a very precarious position siding with the governor and upholding his veto," Terrill said. "The benefit is for the governor and not them. I guarantee you this, the second he has the opportunity to sell them down the river by cutting a deal with the Republican leadership in the House or the leadership in the Senate, he's going to do it. Then the House Democrats are out in the cold again. I hope whatever he promised them, they got up front."

?State Rep. Paul Wesselhoft, R-Moore, likened the situation to the showdown scene in an old Western movie, and wondered who would blink first.

?"It's like High Noon," Wesselhoft said.

?Sparks said he saw the standoff as evidence the system was working as intended.

?"The governor is doing his job," Sparks said, "just as the House did their job and we here at the Senate did our job. This is the way the process is supposed to work, and it is working. This is what happens when you have more than one party in control. You have checks and balances."



?Dallas Tupper is a senior journalism student at the University of Oklahoma.