Is Gov. Inslee Overstepping Authority on State Budget? Threatens to Veto 35 Bills

The last few days, much press has been given to Gov. Jay Inslee, who like in 2013 and last year, has been as much of the problem in wrapping up the legislative session in Olympia. Only this time, he's either ignorant of his powers, or he's bluffing.

Instead of acting as a leader, and trying to bridge the gap between the Democratically-controlled House and the GOP-led Senate, Inslee has inserted himself as a 'legislator.' He's consistently taken sides with certain bills, and refused to compromise-even to the point of holding up the voting process. Legislators actually booted him out of negotiations last year when they were trying to reach a compromise budget.

But recent talk of veto threats has many legislative experts thinking Inslee has either 'lost it,' or is bluffing. In short, unless he gets 'his way' with certain bills passing, Inslee has threatened to veto some 35 bills awaiting his signature by not signing them. The legislative session is supposed to wrap up Thursday. The Governor has been obstructing budget talks, as he fights with GOP leaders who want to find ways to trim money from the budget.

However, Inslee's threats are baseless.  Unlike the President, Inslee does NOT have what's called 'pocket veto power.'  If the President vetoes a bill by refusing to sign it, it goes back to Congress who can try to override it. If not, it's dead.

Inslee does have the power to stop a bill by official veto, but he can't just by not signing it.

Inslee showed his ignorance because  according to the Washington State Constitution, if he (or any other governor) refuses to sign a bill (pocket veto), after a certain amount of time, it actually will become a law or go into effect anyway.

This makes his huffing and bluffing virtually useless. Now, he could formally veto all 35 of these bills, but that would be a public relations nightmare, and especially with him facing re-election this November, it would devastate his campaign and cause havoc with state funding, programs and the budget process.

Apparently one of his aides informed him during a recent press conference that he does not have pocket veto power, because he changed his tune and said he would exercise his actual veto power on all these bills. But most experts say he's just bluffing.

Either way, every day that the session drags on, and Inslee acts like a petulant child, it just adds more ammunition to the campaign of fast-rising GOP opponent Bill Bryant, who will be challenging Inslee for the governorship.