Dear Hecate:
So, the Governor vetoed our little earmark, and now we have to put together yet another lobbying campaign to make sure the veto is taken up and over-ridden. We worked so hard!! What's your advice?
Hecate says:
In Massachusettes, much of the power rests in the office of the Speaker, because a veto message is always returned to the branch in which the bill originated, and the budget bill originated in the House.
In the next couple of weeks, the Speaker will be listening carefully to his own Members, to the Members of the Senate, through the office of the President, and of course to various special interest groups who will all be asking him to take up THEIR vetoed earmarks. After sharing the House priority list with the Senate President to make sure she has the support of her Senate members to over ride the House list and reviewing the Senate President's priority list to make sure he has the support of his House Members to over ride the Senate list, the Speaker and the Senate President will set a fews days before the end of July to take up some of the vetoes, and put off others till the fall. (You have till the end of the calendar year to get your earmark overridden.)
So, your job is to get a critical mass of House Members and Senate Members to add your vetoed earmark to their branch's priority list.
Now when you start your calls you may hear from some the House and Senate sponsors of your earmark that they have talked to the the Governor's office and the Governor has promised your sponsors that he will make sure your program will be funded anyway out of the correct line item or out of some "discretionary" funds.
All you can do is ask your sponsors to get something in writing from the Governor, and if you get it, put it in a safe place and stop asking for the over-ride. If your sponsors tell you that they and you must take the Governor's private word,you still have to stop asking for an over-ride. And start working with the Governor's personal staff and the appropriate Administration officals to tell them in writing that you expect the Governor to keep his private word. You'll find out soon enough whether it's worth anything at all.
Who is Hecate?
Hecate is a Greek Goddess who served as a guide and coach at the crossroads of Hades, where after crossing the River Styx, Greek souls found themselves facing three choices: the Elysian Fields, abode of the great and heroic; the Fields of Asphodel, for all who had led a blameless but ordinary life; or to Tartarus, a sunless land of punishment for criminals.
Hecate's best known role in Greek mythology was guiding Persephone, the goddess of spring, on her annual journeys between Hades and Earth. In the Homeric Hymn to Demeter, Hecate is portrayed as a nurturing and protective guide for Persephone on those annual journeys.
