THE POLITICS OF LEGISLATIVE VETO OVERSIGHT AMONG THE U.S. STATES.

Beginning in 1939, many U.S. states have adopted the legislative veto to empower lawmakers with the authority to directly affect administrative rulemaking. At present, 23 states allow its legislature to veto or temporarily suspend agency rules. As one would expect, the significant differences in oversight procedures that exist across the states has resulted in extraordinarily dissimilar histories and experiences regarding this unique oversight mechanism. This paper builds on existing research by using data on all states from 1934 to 2010 to analyze variations across state legislatures regarding their veto powers. The primary findings from this analysis suggest that the presence of divided government affects the likelihood that a state will adopt a nullification veto system, but does not influence suspension veto system adoption. The condition most likely to result in the adoption of a legislative veto reform is the presence of Democratic majorities in the state legislature serving alongside a Republican governor. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]