January
21, 2005--Late last evening, Wisconsin Governor Jim Doyle vetoed
SB403, the Personal Protection Act shall-issue concealed weapons
carry bill.
Governor Doyle vetoed similar legislation
in January of 2004.
The authors of the bill--Senator Dave
Zien and Representative Scott Gunderson--believe they have the
votes to override the veto.
Democrat leaders in the Assembly predict
that a veto override attempt will fail.
The Senate will take up the veto override
vote first, since there are more than the 22 required votes to
override there. Supporters of the bill predict they will get as
many as 24 votes.
In the Assembly, the vote is much tighter.
In a session that lasted until 3am on December 14th, the Assembly
passed the bill by a vote of 64 to 33. One Republican was absent
due to illness, and vacant Republican seat had yet to be filled.
With the election of Republican Scott
Newcomer, supporters say they are at the 66 required votes.
However, two Democrat representatives
who voted for the bill have not yet publicly committed to voting
for the veto override.
Democrat Representative John Steinbrink
of Kenosha has said he is uncertain whether he will vote to override.
Representative Steinbrink voted for the bill in 2002, again in
2003, voted to override the governor's veto in 2004, and voted
for the bill in December. Thus, it will be difficult for him to
justify switching sides.
Similarly, Democrat Representative Terry
Van Akkeren of Sheboygan, who is not committing publicly to an
override, has voted for the bill and for the veto override previously.
In February of 2004, supporters of the
bill were stunned when Representative Gary Sherman switched sides,
resulting in the failure to override Doyle's veto. Sherman had
voted for the bill in 2002, had signed on as a co-sponsor in June
of 2003, and had voted for the bill in November of 2004.
The NRA has promised to use all of its
resources to punish any legislator who switches sides on the veto.
Both Steinbrink and Van Akkeren are up
for re-election in November.
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