Gov. Linda Lingle yesterday issued the last of a record number of vetoes for the year, and state House and Senate leaders could only muster enough votes to override a fraction of those during a one-day special session.

The veto overrides — which mean the bills become law over the governor's objections — involved bills that create an Early Learning Council to develop an early childhood education system, allow voters to permanently register for absentee ballots, and expand a cargo fee to help pay for inspections for invasive species.

Lawmakers also overrode a veto of a bill, passed after the closure of Aloha Airlines, that would permit state regulation of the interisland airline industry if the U.S. Congress grants the state an exemption from federal deregulation law.

The governor's vetoes will stand on bills that would have established a commission to determine whether to close or consolidate public schools, created a task force to study the cultivation of medical marijuana, and allowed homeowners to use clotheslines to dry their laundry despite restrictions by homeowners' associations.

Lingle yesterday also removed several bills that had been on her potential veto list and allowed them to become law without her signature, including a bill that would develop student loan repayments for doctors and dentists who agree to practice in rural or underserved areas.

"I appreciate the public's participation in this open process," Lingle said in a statement. "It gave people a chance to voice their points of view, and in some instances, we heard new information about the merits or drawbacks of some of the bills which had not been previously raised."

The Republican governor vetoed a record 53 bills this year and used line-item vetoes to remove money from five others. Lawmakers overrode 17 of the vetoes.

The governor issued 41 of those vetoes yesterday, the last day she could veto bills from last session under state law, and lawmakers overrode 13 yesterday.

THE OVERRIDES

House and Senate leaders had said when Lingle released her potential veto list last month that a special session was unlikely because none of the bills rose to the level of urgency. In private caucuses over the past few weeks, however, rank-and-file lawmakers, especially in the Senate, argued for an override session.

Yesterday, in a series of private caucuses, Senate Democrats fought to challenge most of Lingle's vetoes while House Democrats were more selective. The lack of cohesion led to an unusual public divide. The Senate voted to override 33 vetoes as well as four of Lingle's line-item vetoes. The House voted to override 13 vetoes and one line-item veto not considered by the Senate.

Two-thirds votes in both chambers are required for veto overrides.

State Senate President Colleen Hanabusa, D-21st (Nanakuli, Makaha), said senators did not target every Lingle veto for override but recognized that, as policy makers, they had a responsibility to defend the work lawmakers and community advocates had put into the bills that were vetoed.

"There are certain measures which we don't have consensus on, but on those measures that we do have consensus on, I think it was incumbent upon us to make the statement," she said.

State House Majority Leader Kirk Caldwell, D-24th (Manoa), said House Democrats believe veto overrides are an extraordinary power and should be used on bills that involve pressing public policy issues. House leaders usually do not like to hold override sessions during election years, preferring to let voters decide whether the governor's vetoes are appropriate.

"Basically, we were approaching it from a different philosophical perspective," Caldwell said. "The Senate said, 'Look, all these bills are good. We wouldn't have passed them if we didn't think so.'

"And we're saying, 'We agree, but we believe that in using the veto override, it's an extraordinary power set up by our founders — and we believe that it has to rise to a level of a pressing public need.' "

State Senate Minority Leader Fred Hemmings, R-25th (Kailua, Waimanalo, Hawai'i Kai), called the override session in the Senate "a healthy exercise in democracy with the exception of the partisanship."

State House Minority Leader Lynn Finnegan, R-32nd (Lower Pearlridge, 'Aiea, Halawa), described the House as more reasonable and suggested Senate Democrats were sending a message to the governor.

"That was about flexing muscle," she said.

LINGLE'S CONCERNS

Lingle said an Early Learning Council within the state Department of Education could adversely affect the ability of the state Department of Human Services to regulate early childhood education programs. She also questioned the indeterminate costs of creating a Keiki First Steps program for preschoolers. She offered to set up a council via executive order to continue to work toward early childhood education programs.

But Democrats, who had already stripped the proposal down to the creation of the council, want to more forward sooner on a comprehensive early learning system.

Lingle, meanwhile, warned of higher costs to consumers from an expanded cargo fee that will now apply to all imported freight entering the state.

The fee will generate about $7 million annually for inspections to prevent the spread of invasive species.

State Sen. Jill Tokuda, D-24th (Kailua, Kane'ohe), described the fee as the "ounce of prevention we need to protect ourselves" from devastating financial and environmental losses from pests such as the brown tree snake or red imported fire ant.