Just as a surgeon is better equipped with a scalpel than a hatchet, granting line-item veto to Rhode Island’s governor would provide a more effective and precise tool for the job at hand. 

Line-item veto would enable the governor to target specific spending provisions within the state budget, rather than take the “all or nothing” approach allowed under our current system.

As it stands, when the governor receives the annual budget bill from the General Assembly it must be either accepted or rejected in its entirety. The state budget is complex, and voluminous. The governor should not be forced to enact or veto the entire document without any other option. In 44 other states, the governor has an alternative choice, the line-item veto.

I was proud to co-sponsor line-item veto legislation in the senate and look forward doing so again in 2019.

Cindy Coyne

Barrington

Ms. Coyne is a Democrat running for RI Senate, District 32.