A gubernatorial veto of the 2016-17 state budget bill (HB 101), expected on Monday, has been delayed a day after the Legislature was unable to round up all the necessary signatures to enroll that bill and the two other bills passed during the first 13 days of the special session that started on May 16.
"We haven't gotten anything yet," Shayna Varner, spokeswoman for Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin, said late Monday afternoon.
Once the budget bill is vetoed, it is not immediately clear when the special session will resume.
After passing what the Tomblin administration has called an "irresponsible" budget plan on June 2, the House and Senate recessed until June 12.
Varner said the governor does not have authority to bring the Legislature back into session before that date, adding, "He can strongly encourage that they come back."
She said the governor has authority to call the Legislature into special session, but does not have the power to shorten the 10-day recess.
"It's up to the Legislature to decide when they come back in," she said.
Meanwhile, the process was held up a day when Senate Clerk Clark Barnes was unavailable to sign the bills.
Shortly before 5 p.m., Senate spokesman Jacque Bland sent an email indicating that all bills had been signed by five of the six people who must sign legislation in order for it to be certified as being enrolled.
"They're just waiting for our Clerk's signature, and I would expect them to go down [to the governor's office] after he signs them," she stated, referring to Barnes.
However, shortly after 5 p.m., House Clerk Steve Harrison sent an email stating, "We are still awaiting the final signature from the Senate. So, the bills will not be going to the governor today."
In order to be formally enrolled, bills have to be signed by six people: the chairpersons of the House and Senate Enrolled Bills committees, the speaker of the House, the president of the Senate, and the House and Senate clerks.
Tomblin has previously indicated he would veto any budget bill that relied on more than a "few million dollars" from the state's Rainy Day reserve funds to close a $270 million shortfall in the 2016-17 budget.
The proposal passed by the Legislature would use $186.6 million of Rainy Day funds, along with $62.4 million of one-time funding, which would exacerbate what is already projected to be a $380 million shortfall in the 2017-18 state budget.
Reach Phil Kabler at philk@wvgazettemail.com, 304 348-1220, or follow @PhilKabler on Twitter.