State of New Mexico ex rel. Sego v. Kirkpatrick
New Mexico Supreme Court
524 P.2d 975, 86 N.M. 359 (1974)
- Written by Heather Whittemore, JD
Facts
The New Mexico constitution granted the governor a partial-veto power to disapprove of any part of an appropriations bill. In 1974 the state legislature passed House Bill 300 (HB 300), the annual general-appropriations bill for the state. The governor made several partial vetoes to sections of HB 300. Three of the governor’s partial vetoes deleted language from HB 300 that had placed restrictions on the use of certain appropriations. Another partial veto deleted language that specified a group of agencies that could receive budget increases, effectively increasing appropriations by expanding the number of agencies that could have their budgets increased. The remaining two partial vetoes were made to avoid confusion and clarify portions of HB 300. William A. Sego (plaintiff) was a New Mexico state senator. Sego sought a writ of mandamus in the New Mexico Supreme Court commanding Robert E. Kirkpatrick (defendant), the director of the state department of finance, to nullify six of the partial vetoes made by the governor. Sego argued that the six challenged partial vetoes were unconstitutional uses of the governor’s partial-veto power.
Rule of Law
Issue
Holding and Reasoning (Oman, J.)
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