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State legislators override veto for first time in state history
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Published: August 27, 2008
For the first time in state history, North Carolina legislators overrode a governor's veto today when they voted to overturn outgoing Gov. Mike Easley's rejection of a measure easing restrictions on towing boats.
Needing the votes of three-fifths of members present, the House voted 95-8 and the Senate 39-0 to approve the override.
The new law, which takes effect immediately, allows boats up to 10 feet wide to be towed without a permit and allows watercraft up to 9½ feet wide to be towed at night.
Citing safety concerns, Easley had threatened the veto as legislators debated the rule changes in July, and made good last week. The governor said that the measure jeopardized lives because the wide boats could not be accommodated on narrow, two-lane roads.
But many legislators said that Easley's concerns were unfounded.
"This was a bill where the members had carefully considered safety concerns back during session," said House Speaker Joe Hackney, D-Orange. "This is not a bill that was passed lightly or without full consideration."
Senate leader Marc Basnight, D-Dare, while urging his chamber to override Easley's veto, pointed to state automobile crash statistics that showed only a handful of accidents over the last several years involved vehicles towing watercraft.
"To potentially damage the boat-building industry is wrong," Basnight said.
After legislators overrode his veto, Easley said that he hopes no one will be hurt as a result of the new law.
"I have done what I thought was right to protect the safety of the public on our highways," Easley said in a written statement. "It will be the members of the General Assembly who will have on their hands the consequences of this law."
Legislators could have waited until returning to Raleigh for next year's legislative session, which is scheduled to begin January, to address boat-towing rules.
But Basnight said that legislators, some of whom were attending the Democratic National Convention in Denver, wanted to act immediately so that motorists could enjoy the new rules as the summer boating season comes to a close.
The state's old law limited motorists towing boats from 8½ to 10 feet wide from hauling their watercraft outside of weekday, daylight hours. Boats smaller than 8½ feet wide were not bound by those restrictions.
The towing rules largely went unenforced until this summer, when the state Highway Patrol began more aggressively ticketing violators, said Jim Hardin of boat manufacturer Grady-White Boats Inc. in Greenville.
Enforcing the law threatened North Carolina's tourism and economy because fishing tournament organizers were pulling out of the state because participants were concerned about the towing restrictions, Hardin said.
"They don't want to come here if they're going to get ticketed," Hardin said.
House Majority Leader Hugh Holliman said legislators tried to work out a compromise with Easley's staff before today's vote, but were unsuccessful.
In response to the governor's concerns, legislators were willing to add provisions requiring boat-towers to be at least 18 years old and capping drivers' legal blood alcohol level at .04 or lower instead of the .08 blood alcohol limit for regular motorists. But legislators were not willing to scale back provisions in the bill allowing wider boats to be pulled without a permit, Holliman said.
"It's hard to rewrite the whole bill," Holliman said.
Only one legislator — Sen. Edward Jones, D-Halifax — spoke publicly in favor of upholding Easley's veto.
Jones, a retired state trooper, said he changed his mind after hearing Easley's concerns about whether wide boats can be towed safely on North Carolina roadways.
"I made a mistake, but I'm big enough to say that I'm going to correct my mistake this morning," Jones said.
North Carolina legislators have never overridden a veto. The state's governors were given veto power in 1996. Easley, wrapping up his second term in office and barred from seeking another, was the first governor to use it.
But in the eight other times Easley has rejected legislation, legislators have allowed the veto to stand or hashed out a compromise with the governor.
The decision to override Easley's ninth veto is not related to status as an outgoing governor, Basnight said.
"I don't look at somebody being a lame duck at all," Basnight said.
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