Governor Greg Abbott has been objective in signing significant bills into law in Texas. The Republican leader has also vetoed various bills attributed to dynamic reasons entailing efficiency and effectiveness in time and financial resource management. This discussion aims at analyzing bills vetoed by the governor of Texas on June 15, 2019. I agree with the governor’s decision to veto the following bills due to justified reasons. The vetoing process comes before the last regular session of the Texas Legislature on June 16, 2019 (Redlawsk, 2015). To begin with, the governor vetoed a bill on policies relating to identified recess periods implemented in public learning institutions. The bill (House Bill No. 455) was sponsored by Watson on good intentions of benefiting students during recess periods. The governor vetoed the bill citing added bureaucracy to existing legislative processes and procedures on the State and respective school districts. It implied that additional policies guiding academic institutions’ activities would overwhelm the State’s regulatory representatives at district levels.
The governor’s decision acknowledged the good intentions of this bill but failed it on reasonable grounds. When critically perceived, the State implements vital legislation regarding academic standards in public schools. Recess periods constitute an integral part of academic progress measured in extra activities. Students benefit from scheduled breaks that are strategically guided by a school’s administration. Vetoing the bill saves the State of additional bureaucratic processes entailing the recess periods. Passing it into law would imply additional protocols stipulated by the State health officials already mandated with other public services (Hopkins, 2018). Governor Abbott was strategic in vetoing the bill as it would cause inefficiency of the administration due to the State’s involvement. It would be tactical if schools’ administration developed recess policies at an internal level that suits students’ needs from different perspectives. Ideally, this would contribute to high competition in both learning and physical activities.
Moreover, the governor vetoed a bill related to offenses of weapon possession in secured points within an airport. This bill (House Bill No. 1168) was sponsored by West intended to increase security in airports that record growing violence due to gun possession. This bill was considered objective in enhancing emergency response by local security officials within airports. Normally, an airport facing gun threats would wait for federal agents for assistance (Young, 2019). The bill, therefore, would be instrumental if state security officials responded effectively to such threats. Threats of gun violence at an airport’s tarmac would be avoided if the bill was passed into law. However, the governor noted that the bill could override similar policies at other checkpoints within the airport, such as the Transportation Security Administration (TSA). When keenly perceived, the governor was objective in vetoing the bill for vital reasons.
Residents of Texas engage in various activities that involve guns, as noted by Governor Abbott. The State head of Texas acknowledged hunting would be negatively affected by the bill. Individuals who like hunting would have to leave their guns at home to comply with the legislation. As a result, the bill would receive public criticism from residents who find carrying guns as a security strategy of visiting remote and dangerous terrains. The State would also encounter negative economic incomes if the public felt insecure about visiting local airports without guns. Security was critical to the governor, who intended to continue with existing gun policies in and around the airport (Redlawsk, 2015). Most importantly, the TSA checkpoint was already in existence, and its security intervention would avert any threats of gun violence. Consequently, the State governor was justified for vetoing a bill that would introduce an imbalance of roles and responsibilities of existing security policies protecting local airports in Texas.
In addition, regulating game rooms is an important social practice intended to protect the public from immoral actions in Texas. The rise and popularity of video games have promoted the emergence of paid services in Texas’s local counties. However, not all local authorities can regulate game rooms like other counties. The bill (House Bill No. 389) intended to empower county authorities with legislative mandates of controlling game rooms at local levels. This would protect the State from malpractices associated with the location of game rooms around religious and education institutions. Unfortunately, the bill was vetoed by Governor Abbott, arguing that vital amendments had been made under House Bill No. 1404 (Governor Abbott vetoes HB 1404. 2019). The governor noted that the substantial elements of the bill will also be discussed in subsequent bills.
In conclusion, Governor Abbott has been strategic in vetoing certain bills, as presented above. The State of Texas has benefitted from legislative action that would interfere with vital operational activities in public domains. The governor vetoed a bill intended to prevent additional bureaucratic processes to the state department on education. Disapproving gun regulation practices at local airports by the State leader is strategic in protecting traditional hunting activities such as hunting. Individuals traveling via local airports were allowed to carry their guns despite increasing threats of violence. Most fundamentally, the governor has been tactical in pushing legislative action on bills that represent a real change to Texas residents. Vetoing has saved the State government time and resources that arise from overriding and redundant provisions.
References
Governor Abbott vetoes HB 1404. (2019). Office of the Texas Governor | Greg Abbott.
Hopkins, D. J. (2018). The increasingly United States: How and why American political behavior nationalized. University of Chicago Press.
Redlawsk, D. P. (Ed.). (2015). The American governor: Power, constraint, and leadership in the states. Springer.
Young, S. (2019). Catching up with Texas gov. Greg Abbott’s veto pen. Dallas Observer.