Armstrong: Housing funds to move forward after Attorney General finds line-item vetoed bill is valid

BISMARCK, N.D. – Gov. Kelly Armstrong today said $35 million in housing funds will be disbursed as approved by the state Legislature after a North Dakota Attorney General’s opinion found that the governor’s written objections in a line-item veto of Senate Bill 2014 clearly did not target the housing funds.

In an opinion released today, Attorney General Drew Wrigley stated that the governor’s written statement of his objections to SB 2014 is what controls the extent of the line-item veto – not a mismarked version of the bill provided as a visual aid.

“The written veto message is the controlling document because it clearly states our objection to the bill as required by the North Dakota Constitution. There was no ambiguity in our veto message, which was printed in the official Legislative Journal and is what lawmakers should rely upon when interpreting a veto,” Armstrong said. “We appreciate the Attorney General’s determination, which clarifies the matter, avoids the cost of a special session and nullifies the flawed interpretation that initially blew this up into something much bigger than it needed to be. We always said we would honor what the Attorney General found, and we appreciate his assistance.”