House overrides library bill veto

The House of Representatives this week overrode Governor Haley’s veto of a bill that applies criminal penalties to people who enter public libraries after having been warned not to enter. Phil Cheney, director of Oconee public libraries, says it’s a bill to root out those who misbehave and spoil the library experience for others. And Cheney says he and his colleagues statewide are glad to have the bill become law. Haley wanted state lawmakers to sustain her veto saying, “I am vetoing this bill because it grants library employees wide authority to deprive citizens of their ability to use a public library for an indefinite amount of time based on mere allegations of misconduct.” But House members overrode the veto—75 to 36. Oconee’s Bill Whitmire voted on the side of sustaining the governor’s veto. The county’s other House member, Bill Sandifer, was not listed as having voted.