Fla. Soc'y of Ophthalmology v. Fla. Optometric Asso. - 489 So. 2d 1118 (Fla. 1986)

Rule:

The Florida Supreme Court interprets Fla. Const. art. III, § 8(a) as affording the governor 15 days from presentment to veto those bills submitted after the legislature has adjourned sine die.

Facts:

In May of 1983, the Florida House and Senate passed SB 168 which provides, inter alia, that certain optometrists may administer, use, and prescribe medicinal drugs. The House and Senate adjourned sine die the 1983 regular session on June 13, 1983. On June 14, 1983, the legislature presented SB 168 to the governor. Fifteen days later, on June 29, 1983, the governor vetoed the bill. The Senate took no action on the bill subsequent to the gubernatorial veto. The Florida Optometric Association, respondents herein, petitioned the trial court for a writ of mandamus ordering the Florida Secretary of State to publish SB 168 as a law of the state. The association claimed that the governor's veto of the bill was untimely and therefore ineffectual. The circuit court dismissed the association's petition with prejudice. On appeal, the First District Court reversed the order of dismissal.

Issue:

Did the governor untimely veto the bill?

Answer:

No.

Conclusion:

 An essential purpose of veto provisions such as that found in article III, section 8(a) is to safeguard the executive's opportunity to consider all bills presented to him. Typically, a plethora of bills is passed and then presented to the executive at the end of a legislative session. The article III, section 8(a) grant of additional time to veto such bills is designed to afford the governor ample opportunity to review this last-minute legislative onslaught. It is evident from the record that in a typical session of the Florida legislature some 60 percent of all bills passed during the session are presented to the governor just before or immediately after adjournment, with the bulk submitted after adjournment. The record further discloses that, in every year from 1979 to 1983, the omnibus general appropriations bill was presented to the executive post-adjournment. The governor's need for additional time to review legislation is, therefore, the most pronounced in regard to those bills presented after adjournment. In order to give full effect to the constitutional objective that the governor be afforded additional opportunity to review legislation when his time constraints are the most severe, article III, section 8(a) must be read as allotting the governor fifteen days to veto those bills presented to him after adjournment sine die. The provision's design would be thwarted were the governor allowed only seven days to review what is generally the majority of the bills presented, and allowed fifteen days to review what is, in most years, a smaller number of bills presented during the last week of the session.