Ohio line-item veto

The Ohio Constitution provides that:

The governor may disapprove any item or items in any bill making an appropriation of money and the item or items, so disapproved, shall be void, unless repassed in the manner prescribed by this section for the repassage of a bill.

Oh. Const. Art. II, § 16.

The Ohio Supreme Court has invalidated a veto by the Governor that failed to comply with this provision. In State ex rel. Akron Educ. Ass'n v. Essex, the Ohio Supreme Court held that:

Respondents maintain that Am. Sub. S. B. No. 170 is a "bill making an appropriation of money" because Section 3 of the bill does so. Section 3 of the bill provides:

"In addition to the payments to county boards of education under Section 3317.11 of the Revised Code and the additional $ 3.00 per pupil per year payment required by Am. Sub. H. B. 155 of the 111th General Assembly, the Department of Education shall pay each such board in fiscal year 1975-1976 and in fiscal year 1976-1977, an amount in each of such years equal to $ 3.00 times the total number of pupils under the board's supervision certified under Section 3317.03 of the Revised Code for all the local school districts within the limits of the county district.

"Payment made under this section shall be made in the same manner and from the same source as payments made pursuant to Section 3317.11 of the Revised Code from appropriation 207-501 made in Am. Sub. H. B. 155 of the 111th General Assembly." (Emphasis added.)

Examination of the foregoing Section 3 of Am. Sub. S. B. No. 170 reveals respondents' contention that such section "appropriates money" to be without merit. The emphasized portion of Section 3 of the bill clearly indicates that the source of the funds to be expended, pursuant to Am. Sub. S. B. No. 170, is Am. Sub. H. B. 155.

We conclude, therefore, that Am. Sub. S. B. No. 170 is not an appropriation bill, for it simply does not anywhere by its terms appropriate money.

Accordingly, since Am. Sub. S. B. No. 170 is not an appropriation bill, the Governor's exercise of the item veto power conferred upon him by Section 16, Article II of the Ohio Constitution, under the facts of this case, is unauthorized by law, and is hereby declared to be null and void.

In order to disapprove the specific portions of Am. Sub. S. B. No. 170 to which he apparently objected, the Governor's only recourse under the circumstances herein presented was to veto the entire bill pursuant to Section 16, Article II. This he did not choose to do.

Both relators and respondents assert that in the event the Governor's exercise of the item veto power is declared null and void herein, Am. Sub. S. B. No. 170 is now effective in its entirety. We agree. ...

State ex rel. Akron Educ. Ass'n v. Essex, 47 Ohio St. 2d 47, 50-51, 351 N.E.2d 118, 120 (1976)