DeWine executes record number of budget vetoes, citing concerns

Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine, a known baseball enthusiast, said Tuesday that before he signed the $60 billion, two-year state budget, he went line by line to determine if lawmakers were pitching balls or strikes.

DeWine signed the bill late Monday night, in the final hour before his deadline, and in the process executed the highest number of vetoes in a state budget since his term began.

BUDGET BREAKDOWN | 6 vetoes you should know about

Among the 67 items he removed were property tax relief measures, including a mandate for tax rollbacks if school districts carry over more than 40 percent of their budget year-to-year.

DeWine said he agrees there needs to be property tax relief but expressed concerns that implementing all of the lawmakers' proposals would negatively impact schools.

He also nixed a mandate requiring libraries to keep LGBTQ-related materials out of public view, explaining that "the language wasn’t workable."

Additionally, DeWine rejected a measure that would restrict food stamps from being used to purchase sugary beverages like soda. He said he agrees with the intent but is "working on other ways to get that done."

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State lawmakers have the option to override his vetoes. ABC 6 is asking those questions of both Democrats and Republicans in the House and Senate on Tuesday and will have those reactions later in the day.

"We’ll see what lawmakers want to do," DeWine said.