With a More Active Veto Pen, Brown Clears His Desk

After signing nearly every bill to reach his desk this year, the governor vetoed them much more frequently in recent days.  He rejected a measure that would have extended the statute of limitations for reporting sexual abuse in certain cases involving private entities, but not public ones – calling the legislation “too open-ended and unfair.”  He also vetoed bills that would have required search warrants for law enforcement to obtain emails and social media content; and allowed some drug crimes to be charged as misdemeanors instead of felonies.

Brown signed measures to loosen development rules around Lake Tahoe; toughen penalties for paroled sex offenders who remove their ankle-mounted GPS bracelets; and ban state funds for charter cities that don’t pay prevailing wages for public works projects.

For the year, the governor signed 800 bills and vetoed 96 – for a veto rate of just under 11 percent.