Gov. Rick Perry vetoed more than 20 bills late Friday afternoon including a bill that would have banned texting while driving in Texas.
"I support measures that make our roads safer for everyone, but House Bill 242 is a government effort to micromanage the behavior of adults," Perry wrote in his explanation of one of his vetoes.
Perry said in his veto statement that the key to stopping people from texting while driving is "information and education."
Perry vetoed nearly two dozen bills Friday, in addition to an earlier veto of an online sales tax bill.
"After thoroughly reviewing all legislation that reached my desk, there were some bills that would have done more harm than good to Texans, and I have used my authority to veto them," Perry said in a statement.
Two of Perry's vetoes were so-called "sunset bills" of state agencies. The bills were needed to allow the Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs and Department of Information Resources to continue functioning. Perry said he would add measures continuing those agencies to the agenda for the current special session.
Perry also vetoed Senate Bill 408, authored by Sen. Craig Estes, R-Wichita Falls, which would have banned most airboats on a stretch of the Brazos River in Palo Pinto and Parker counties. Supporters said the bill would protect the ecology of the 113-mile portion of the river designated the John Graves Scenic Waterway but airboat owners viewed it as a power grab by wealthy landowners.
Perry said he vetoed the bill "at the request of the bill's sponsor, and I am directing the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department and the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality to study and report the potential effects of a prohibition of the commercial or recreational use of these types of boats on the riverway."
The full list of Perry's vetoes is here.
-Aman Batheja
Perry is a joke. he does not want to micromanage the citizens, so why is he requiring women to get a sonogram before an abortion. Why did he and the gop of Texas, make everyone pay more for car insurance the beginning of the year. Because this is a gop state, there was no coverage of the rate increase. I can bet that the insurance companies gave big to king Perry.
Posted by: puto666 | June 17, 2011 at 05:59 PM
He vetoed the texting while driving bill? For years I've been a Perry enthusiast, but this does it. He feels that prohibiting texting while driving is government encroachment on our freedom, but what about setting 70 as the speed limit? What about stopping at stop lights? What about driving on the right side of the road? Sorry, Governor, you've lost a BIG supporter with this veto.
Posted by: Wayne Brice | June 17, 2011 at 06:33 PM
I can't believe it! Mr. Perry finally voted with common sense. If this bill would have passed, eating while driving would have been next, smoking while driving, adjusting radio/climate controls,....etc
Posted by: anonymous | June 17, 2011 at 08:37 PM
Thanks Governor Perry! We don't need a nanny government in Texas. It's okay for liberals expecting Utopia in the welfare states, just not here!!!
Posted by: Thomas Sullivan | June 17, 2011 at 09:03 PM
That clicking noise is the sound of auto insurers filing for rate increases.
Posted by: Rea Howarth | June 17, 2011 at 09:07 PM
What a pathetic hypocrite. He tries to force a drug he owns stock in on people who don't need or want it, including under age girls(all of whom would need a pregnancy test) but he feels that idiots should be able to drive while impaired? Isn't the law against drunk driving micromanaging adults as well? God help us all if this intellectually challenged corporate patsy runs for president, because people are just dumb enough to vote for him.
Posted by: Dr. G | June 17, 2011 at 09:46 PM
Perry is such an idiot.
Posted by: Don Riccles | June 17, 2011 at 10:22 PM
Here's an example of his politics potentially getting an innocent bystander killed. Texting is distracting. It requires eyes on the display and hands on the phone, but driving requires attention. Let's say Rick Perry's wife is texting as she drives the kids to school. if she crashes into a wall and the car explodes that's okay because she's an adult. Tough luck for the kids though. And of course who cares if she hits a pedestrian. But God forbid Rick perry signs a law where government actually does something. The guy is a smily imbecile.
Posted by: PhotoOp | June 17, 2011 at 10:34 PM
Give Perry the chance and he would repeal the drinking while driving laws. His justification would be the exact same argument as he did for the repeal of texting while driving.
Posted by: Jim Bob | June 18, 2011 at 03:06 PM
Governer Perry stands up for Bible values and working Americans and small goverment. Omammy has the vote of the welfare queens, Illegals, baby killers, homosexuals, blacks and other minions of evil.
Posted by: Melvin Provasek | June 18, 2011 at 06:11 PM
Rick Perry believes by his veto in the Texas tradition of Live and Let Die in Texas while texting. But when you text while driving you may kill your neighbor or end up in the hospital with Perry's state paying the bills. This hurts all of us and is the consequence of mindlessly reelecting someone who only cares now about leaving Texas for the US government from whom he wanted to secede. He leaves us with broken schools and a partisan state government that listens only to themselves instead of the people
Posted by: Paul | June 18, 2011 at 08:40 PM
"Gov Perry stands for Biblical values"?
You're writing about Leviticus 18, right? The homo thing. Sorry, the hypocrisy is glaring. If he stood for the 'values', he'd veto pork sales, and maginalise anyone with dwarfism, poor eyesight, is hunchbacked, has damaged testicles or has a flat nose. (Leviticus 21-22).
Nope, Rick just cherry picks what he wants and ignores the rest. In that he conforms the rest of the Religious Right's exclusionary extremism.
And for working Americans, yep, as long as they're making minimum wage, for which Texas leads the nation.
And with your "Omammy" statement about "blacks and other minions of evil", I fear your T'bagger cred is showing.
One more instance of Perry making Texas the Lone Star Goober state.
Posted by: Mike0301 | June 19, 2011 at 10:13 AM
Seriously? Do you think a law will actually stop people from doing what they want to do? Do you know that there are now more texting while driving accidents in states where the laws prohibit such acts? This is because people are continuing to do what they want to do, but lowering their phone so they can escape notice -- requiring their eyes to be off of the road and be distracted for even LONGER.
At what point should we just take responsibility for our actions like adults?
Putting a futile law in place does not eliminate or even nearly eliminate the problem. Our government keeps getting bigger and more expensive to operate because we have to protect stupid people from doing stupid things. We must find a different way to resolve our problems.
Posted by: Roux | June 20, 2011 at 02:18 PM
As a resident of Texas, I wish Perry would quit micromanaging my life. I can not marry the person I love in this state..Perry said that he believes in marriage...I told him to REALLY believe in marriage and abolish divorce. This would mean one man, one woman...ONE time. He never returned a response...
Posted by: Bruce | June 23, 2011 at 09:48 PM
Really you don’t want to micromanage Texans however you are perfectly content to micromanage women’s health care. This sounds a bit hypocritical to me.
Posted by: Heather | July 14, 2011 at 08:27 AM
I voted for Perry each time he ran.I ride a bicycle and a motorcycle. Since he feels people should have a right to drive distracted and possibly hurt or kill me, my family and I will never vote for him again.
Posted by: Gary | July 20, 2011 at 09:47 AM