AUGUSTA – Governor Paul R. LePage submitted a request today for an opinion from the Maine Supreme Judicial Court on whether the 65 bills he vetoed have become law or not.

“Now that the Legislature has refused to consider the vetoes, my constitutional duty as Governor to ‘take care that the laws be faithfully executed’ is in question,” the Governor stated in the request. “I must know whether my vetoes stand."

When the Legislature adjourned on June 30 with no date to reconvene, the Governor was prevented from returning the bills to their houses of origin. This triggered a constitutional provision that a Governor could hold the bills until the Legislature reconvened for three consecutive days.

To expedite the process for the Legislature to consider the vetoes, Governor LePage returned the bills to their houses of origin on July 16, the earliest opportunity he could return them after the Legislature’s adjournment on June 30. Both the Speaker of the House and Senate President refused to consider the vetoes.

The Governor asked for the Law Court’s opinion on three questions. “We must know what type of adjournment prevents the return of a bill to the Legislature,” he stated. “We must know whether the Legislature triggered the constitutional three-day procedure for the exercise of the Governor’s veto. And finally, we must know whether the 65 bills I returned to the Legislature on July 16 were presented properly before that body for reconsideration."