The most recent governor signing statement comes out of Georgia (with apologies to Charlie Daniels), where Governor Sonny Perdue used the signing statement on "must sign" bills that came at the end of a state legislature session. When you come to the Governor's frontpage, you see front and center the link: GOVERNOR SONNY PERDUE ISSUES SIGNING STATEMENTS ON FOUR BILLS...
And it is clear that Governor Perdue uses the signing statement for rhetorical reasons and, similar to the president, for reasons declaring that a precedent has not been established:
- HB 1245--Perdue complains that the bill violated the State Constitution by combing multiple things in one bill--"Put simply, statutes should be limited to a single subject so that members of the General Assembly may cast informed votes on the important matters before them." He notes that he is signing this bill because he believes "the benefits of this legislation outweigh the harm in this case," but also using the signing statement to put the GA on notice that in the future it may not be tolerated--hence the caveat that a precedent should not be set.
- HB 1277--also a signing statement to nip the establishment of precedent. This bill extends access to a health benefit plan for state workers to teachers at Charter schools. In a previous bill, Perdue vetoed it and worked out a deal with the state legislature to get this bill to his desk. Thus in place of the veto stands the signing statement: "My signing of this legislation should not be considered acquiescence of any other employee benefits beyond policy makers' intent to allow charter school employees to enroll in the State Health Benefit Plan." Again, he puts the state legislature on notice that this window opens only so far, and once those who need in get in, it slams shut.
- SB 276--It appears that this is a signing statement for purely rhetorical purposes only. The bill involves a plan that allows the automobile insurance companies to change their customer rates without having first getting a review before the state insurance commissioner, and instead allowing the market to set the rates (look how good the market has set the gasoline rates!). Perdue uses the signing statement to tout some plan he commissioned to study the rates between regulated and unregulated states: "...approximately half o the states do not regulate the price of automobile insurance, and my study of the issue revealed no discernable difference between rates" in the two types of states. However, the person at the head of the insurance commission in Georgia--John Oxendine--claims that Perdue's study is flawed and the rates will rise in an environment where no one is watching (although you would expect that if the government is no longer watching then the press should logically step in), claiming "if the insurance company lobbyists wanted this so bad there's a reason." True that!
So more evidence that U.S. Governors are taking the lead from the president and publicizing their use of the signing statement--in this case noting the use of the signing statement on the frontpage of the Governor's website. As more scholars begin to take a look at the signing statement, clearly an area that has been unexplored is its use by governors. I look forward to reading the research as it becomes available.
