Gov. Linda Lingle and state Senate President Colleen Hanabusa traded swipes yesterday over the governor's veto of a bill that would restrict her power to make appointments to the University of Hawai'i board of regents.

State House and Senate leaders have promised to override the veto and enact the bill into law.

The bill calls for an advisory council that would recommend regent nominees to the governor instead of the governor choosing them 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, an association of former regents and the UH alumni association.

Lingle yesterday said Hanabusa's comments to the news media on Wednesday after the veto was announced were misleading. Hanabusa, D-21st (Nanakuli, Makaha), had said that Lingle's veto resisted the call for change from voters.

The governor said she had proposed a bill, rejected by lawmakers, that would have allowed her to appoint the members of the advisory council.

"It's very troubling that Senate President Hanabusa is misleading the public and distorting my commitment to honor the will of Hawai'i voters," Lingle said in a statement.

Hanabusa fired back: "I'm not surprised the governor doesn't like this bill, and I'm not surprised that she prefers her own proposal, which would have strengthened her grip on board of regents appointments," she said in a statement. "But we could not approve her proposal because it ignores the spirit of what the voters called for: real change."

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

State Rep. Jerry Chang, D-2nd (S. Hilo), 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 two-thirds votes by both the House and Senate to override a veto.

Reach Derrick DePledge at ddepledge@honoluluadvertiser.com.