The bill calls for an advisory council that would recommend regent nominees to the governor instead of the governor choosing them by herself. The bill also expands the number of regents from 12 to 15 — with geographic representation — and prohibits regents from serving more than two consecutive five-year terms.

Voters approved a constitutional amendment last November authorizing lawmakers to create the advisory council. The council would be made up of seven members appointed by the Senate president, the House speaker, the governor, the UH faculty senate, the UH student caucus, and association of former regents and the UH alumni association.

Lingle said the bill was opposed by UH President David McClain and is counter to recommendations from the university's accrediting bodies and governing boards. The governor said it would create a narrow, special-interest-based selection process.

"This bill is objectionable because it contradicts what public citizen trusteeship should be — that is, citizens who are independent in their individual and collective judgment and who serve the people of Hawai'i, not special-interest groups," she said in a statement.

Lingle withdrew five regent nominees last month after Senate Democrats said they would not be confirmed until the creation of the new council.

"The governor is again choosing to ignore the will of the people," state Sen. Norman Sakamoto, D-15th (Waimalu, Airport, Salt Lake), the chairman of the Senate Education Committee, said in a statement. "Hawai'i's voters agreed that the selection of regents needs to be above the politics of this governor or any governor."

State Rep. Jerry Chang, D-2nd (S. Hilo), the chairman of the House Higher Education Committee, said that going through the advisory council would minimize politics and expand the pool of candidates. "The governor is trying to spin this to her advantage in order to maintain her own power and to control the appointees to the Board of Regents," he said in a statement. "That's not what is best for the future of higher education in Hawai'i."

It takes a two-thirds' votes by both the House and Senate to override a veto.