07/ 25/ 2006
The House OKed bipartisan legislation allowing presidential line-item veto authority. The bill, which passed 247 – 172, would permit the president, within 45 days of enactment of any spending or tax legislation, to veto earmarks for individual interests. Congress then must take an "up or down" vote on the revised package, without any opportunity for amendments. With House passage, the measure heads to the Senate for consideration.
Where NFIB stands: NFIB strongly supports the legislation, and hundreds of NFIB members personally lobbied their lawmakers in support of the bill when they gathered for the 2006 National Small-Business Summit in Washington. In an NFIB Federal Member Ballot, 80 percent of members supported giving the president this authority over individual spending items.
"NFIB members have long been supportive of a presidential line-item veto," said Dan Danner, NFIB executive vice president. "Fiscal restraint has been and continues to be an important concern for small-business owners and their employees."
With the federal debt topping $8.3 trillion in 2006 and the annual deficit reaching $423 billion, the line-item veto is a useful tool to cut federal spending.
