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S 2317Government

To Approve and Publish and Submit to the Electors a Proposition of Amendment to the Constitution of the State - Referendum on Line Item Veto

Proposes a constitutional amendment to grant the governor a line-item veto on appropriation bills, subject to voter approval at the next general election.

Introduced
Population
Affected
45
Email Legislator
Introduced Jan 23, 2026Committee Senate Judiciary

Plain-English Summary

This joint resolution proposes an amendment to the Rhode Island Constitution that would grant the governor line-item veto authority over bills appropriating money. Currently, the governor must either sign or veto an entire bill. If approved by voters, this amendment would allow the governor to reduce specific appropriation amounts or disapprove specific items within a budget bill while signing the rest of the legislation into law.

The proposed amendment includes specific rules for how the line-item veto can be applied. The governor would be prohibited from creating new words by deleting letters or creating new sentences by combining parts of existing ones. Additionally, if the governor vetoes a condition or restriction on how an appropriated fund can be used, the funding itself remains intact without the restriction.

To take effect, this constitutional amendment must be submitted to Rhode Island voters as a referendum at the next statewide general election. If a majority of voters approve the measure, the legislature would still retain the power to override any of the governor's line-item vetoes with a three-fifths majority vote, but they would be required to reconsider and vote on each reduced or disapproved item separately.

For younger readers

This bill asks voters if the governor should have the power to cross out specific parts of the state budget without rejecting the whole thing. If passed, the governor could lower certain spending amounts or remove specific rules attached to the money. Lawmakers could still override the governor's changes if enough of them vote to do so.

Who & Where It Applies

Impacted groups
Rhode Island VotersGovernor of Rhode IslandRhode Island General AssemblyState Agencies

Constitutional & Fiscal Check

Low - The bill itself is a proposed constitutional amendment, meaning it follows the legal process for altering the constitution rather than risking a violation of existing constitutional law.

Estimated cost
Not specified
Estimated revenue
Not specified

Bill Analysis

Both viewpoints
For Progressives
  • Allows the governor to strike out special interest carve-outs or pork barrel spending.
  • Increases transparency by forcing the legislature to vote separately to override specific budget items.
  • Prevents government shutdowns by allowing the governor to sign the majority of the budget while vetoing highly contested items.
  • Concentrates more power in the executive branch, weakening the legislature's power of the purse.
  • A conservative governor could use the line-item veto to defund progressive social programs or environmental initiatives.
  • Allows the governor to remove specific conditions on spending, potentially bypassing legislative intent for how funds are used to help vulnerable populations.
For Conservatives
  • Provides a strong tool to control government spending and reduce the overall state budget.
  • Allows the governor to eliminate wasteful spending or pork without having to veto the entire budget.
  • Increases executive oversight over legislative appropriations and fiscal policy.
  • Shifts the balance of power away from the legislature, which is traditionally closer to the people.
  • A progressive governor could use it to strike conservative policy riders attached to budget bills.
  • Could be used as a political weapon by the executive branch to punish legislative opponents by cutting funding to their districts.

Votes

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Full Bill Text

Changes to existing Rhode Island law · 25 additions

RESOLVED, That a majority of the members elected to each house of the general assembly voting therefor, the following amendment to the Constitution of the state be proposed to the qualified electors of the state in accordance with the provisions of Article XIV of the Constitution, for their approval, and that it take the place of Article IX, Section 14, which is hereby amended to read as follows: ARTICLE IX – OF THE EXECUTIVE POWER

Section 14. Veto power of governor -- Veto overrides by general assembly -- Acts effective without action by governor. Every bill, resolution, or vote (except such as relate to adjournment, the organization or conduct of either or both houses of the general assembly, and resolutions proposing amendment to the Constitution) which shall have passed both houses of the general assembly shall be presented to the governor. If the governor approve it the governor shall sign it, and thereupon it shall become operative, but if the governor does not approve it the governor shall return it, accompanied by the governor’s objections in writing to the house in which it originated, which shall enter the governor’s objections in full upon its journal and proceed to reconsider it. If, after such reconsideration, three-fifths of the members present and voting in that house shall vote to pass the measure, it shall be sent with the objections, to the other house, by which it shall likewise be reconsidered, and if approved by three-fifths of the members present and voting in that house, it shall become operative in the same manner as if the governor had approved it, but in such cases the votes of both houses shall be determined by ayes and nays and the names of the members voting for and against the measure shall be entered upon the journal of each house, respectively. If the measure shall not be returned by the governor within six days (Sundays excepted) after it shall have been presented to the governor the same shall become operative unless the general assembly, by adjournment, prevents its return, in which case it shall become operative unless transmitted by the governor to the secretary of state, with the governor’s disapproval in writing within ten days after such adjournment. If any bill presented to the governor shall address appropriation of money, the governor may:

(a) Approve the bill in like manner as the passage of other bills set forth in this section;

(b) Reduce any sum or sums of money appropriated in the bill while approving other portions of the bill, in which case the portions of the bill so approved by the governor shall also become law unless the general assembly repasses the original sum or sums according to the rules and limitations prescribed in this section for the passage of other bills over the governor's veto; provided that, each sum of money so reduced by the governor shall be separately and individually reconsidered by the general assembly; or

(c) Disapprove one or more items or parts of items of the bill (other than sum or sums of money described in the immediately preceding subsection (b) of this section), in which case any portions of the bill so disapproved by the governor shall not become law unless the general assembly repasses the original version of the item or part of an item according to the rules and limitations prescribed in this section for the passage of other bills over the governor's veto, provided:

(1) That each item or part of an item so disapproved by the governor shall be separately and individually reconsidered by the general assembly;

(2) Further, that in approving the bill in part, the governor may not create:

(i) A new word by rejecting individual letters in the words; or

(ii) A new sentence by combining parts of two (2) or more sentences; and

(3) Further, that to the extent an item or part of an item disapproved by the governor constitutes a condition, including, but not limited to, directing or restricting the use, of an appropriated fund, the sum corresponding to the specific item of appropriated fund to which the disapproved condition applies shall not be reduced but remain as part of the general appropriated funds.

RESOLVED, That this amendment shall take, in the Constitution of the state, the place of

Section 14 of Article IX of the Constitution; It is further

RESOLVED, That the said proposition of amendment shall be submitted to the electors for their approval or rejection at the next statewide general election. The voting places in the several cities and towns shall be kept open during the hours required by law for voting therein for general officers of the state; and be it further

RESOLVED, That the secretary of state shall cause the said proposition of amendment to be published as a part of this resolution in the newspapers of the state prior to the date of the said meetings of the said electors; and the said proposition shall be inserted in the warrants or notices to be issued previous to said meetings of the electors for the purpose of warning the town, ward, or district meetings, and said proposition shall be read by the town, ward, or district meetings to be held as aforesaid; it further

RESOLVED, That the town, ward, and district meetings to be held aforesaid shall be warned, and the list of voters shall be canvassed and made up, and the said town, ward, and district meetings shall be conducted in the same manner as now provided by law for the town, ward, and district meetings for the election of general officers of the state.