Alabama Constitution – Section 126: Authority of Governor to Veto Items in Appropriation Bills

Section 126 of the Alabama Constitution grants the Governor a line-item veto power specifically for appropriation bills. Here's a summary of what it means:

🔹 Key Provisions:

Item-by-Item Veto:
When an appropriation bill (a bill that allocates funds) is presented to the Governor, he/she may approve the general bill but veto specific items within it. These are typically specific expenditures or budget allocations.

Veto Procedure:
The items the Governor disapproves must be returned to the house in which the bill originated, along with objections to those items—similar to a standard veto process.

Legislative Override:
The legislature can override the Governor’s line-item veto on a specific appropriation in the same manner as overriding a full veto (i.e., usually by a constitutional majority in both houses).

✅ Purpose of Section 126:

This section allows the Governor to eliminate or reduce specific expenditures without rejecting an entire budget or appropriations bill, thus providing more precise control over state spending and preventing "pork-barrel" spending without disrupting essential government operations.