Terms Used In Louisiana Revised Statutes > Title 24 > Chapter 1 - Legislature

• Adjourn: A motion to adjourn a legislative chamber or a committee, if passed, ends that day's session.
• Administrative costs: means costs incurred by the Department of Energy and Natural Resources in the administration of the program, including but not limited to:

              (a) Program startup costs. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 33:1419.2

• Advice and consent: Under the Constitution, presidential nominations for executive and judicial posts take effect only when confirmed by the Senate, and international treaties become effective only when the Senate approves them by a two-thirds vote.
• Agency: means an organization or facility that delivers social work services and employs social workers. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 37:2703
• agricultural laborers: means only those persons employed in the ginning processing cotton seed and compressing of cotton, the irrigation, harvesting, drying and milling of rice, the sowing, tending, reaping or harvesting of crops, livestock, or other agricultural products on farms and plantations or those persons employed in the processing of raw sugar cane into brown sugar where such persons or their employees are not directly connected or concerned with any operation to further process such cane; except that those persons working for the raisers of such cane may process sugar beyond the brown sugar stage for such raisers and still remain within the definition of agricultural laborers but except as provided above, such term does not include persons employed in mills, plants, factories, wholesale or retail sales outlets, or otherwise in the transportation, storage, preparation, processing or sale of such crops, livestock or produce, except for transportation by the grower of rice from the field to the mill, or initial storage warehouse, for transportation of cotton by the grower from the field to the gin, or for transportation of sugar cane by the grower from the field to the mill at which the cane is to be initially processed, and for the transportation of cotton seed from the gin to the mill. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 23:881
• Alternative fuel: means a fuel which results in emissions of oxides of nitrogen, volatile organic compounds, carbon monoxide, or particulates, or any combination of these which are comparably lower than emissions from gasoline or diesel and which meets or exceeds federal clean air standards, including but not limited to compressed natural gas, liquefied natural gas, liquefied petroleum gas, biofuel, biodiesel, methanol, ethanol, and electricity. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 33:1419.2
• Alternative Fuel Vehicle Revolving Loan Fund: means the revolving loan fund provided for pursuant to this Subpart. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 33:1419.2
• Amendment: A proposal to alter the text of a pending bill or other measure by striking out some of it, by inserting new language, or both. Before an amendment becomes part of the measure, thelegislature must agree to it.
• Amortization: Paying off a loan by regular installments.
• Answer: The formal written statement by a defendant responding to a civil complaint and setting forth the grounds for defense.
• Applicant: means a person who has submitted an application to the division seeking a license or permit, or the renewal thereof. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 27:44
• Application: means the forms and schedules prescribed by the division upon which an applicant seeks a license or permit or the renewal thereof. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 27:44
• Appropriation: The provision of funds, through an annual appropriations act or a permanent law, for federal agencies to make payments out of the Treasury for specified purposes. The formal federal spending process consists of two sequential steps: authorization
• Arrest: Taking physical custody of a person by lawful authority.
• Assets: (1) The property comprising the estate of a deceased person, or (2) the property in a trust account.
• Attachment: A procedure by which a person's property is seized to pay judgments levied by the court.
• Attack: means any action or series of actions taken by an enemy of the United States resulting in substantial damage or injury to persons or property in this state, whether through sabotage, bombs, missiles, shellfire, or atomic, radiological, chemical, bacteriological or biological means or other weapons or methods. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 24:63
• Authority: means a parish or municipality, or both, authorized by law to perform governmental functions and any special district created for the purpose of drainage and/or flood control. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 38:90.1
• Beneficiary: A person who is entitled to receive the benefits or proceeds of a will, trust, insurance policy, retirement plan, annuity, or other contract. ^{Source: OCC}
• Bequest: Property gifted by will.
• bid: means any offer or proposal by an exhibitor to a distributor for the right to exhibit a motion picture or which states terms under which the exhibitor will agree to exhibit a motion picture. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 37:2902
• blind bidding: means the bidding for, negotiating for, or offering or agreeing to terms for the licensing or exhibition of a motion picture at any time before such motion picture has either been trade screened within the state or before such motion picture, at the option of the distributor, otherwise has been made available for viewing within the state by all exhibitors from whom the distributor is soliciting bids or with whom the distributor is negotiating for the right to exhibit such motion picture. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 37:2902
• Board: means the Louisiana State Board of Optometry Examiners. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 37:1041
• Board: means the Louisiana State Board of Social Work Examiners. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 37:2703
• Board: means the ethics body which has jurisdiction over elected officials under Chapter 15 of Title 42 of the Louisiana Revised Statutes of 1950. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 24:51
• Board: means the Board of Trustees of the Louisiana State Employees' Retirement System. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 11:403
• Board: means the board of commissioners of the Tri-Parish Juvenile Justice Commission. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 15:1096
• Bond commission: means the State Bond Commission or any other entity authorized to approve and/or issue bonds for a municipality, including without limitation, the Board of Liquidation, City Debt, which is the appropriate bond commission for the city of New Orleans and the Sewerage and Water Board of New Orleans. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 38:90.1
• Case management: means a method to plan, provide, evaluate, and monitor services from a variety of resources on behalf of and in collaboration with a client. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 37:2703
• Caucus: From the Algonquian Indian language, a caucus meant "to meet together." An informal organization of members of the legislature that exists to discuss issues of mutual concern and possibly to perform legislative research and policy planning for its members. There are regional, political or ideological, ethnic, and economic-based caucuses.
• Commission: means the Louisiana Workforce Commission. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 23:1
• Commission: means the Tri-Parish Juvenile Justice Commission. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 15:1096
• Committee: means the Joint Legislative Committee on Transportation, Highways and Public Works. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 38:90.1
• Concurrent resolution: A legislative measure, designated "S. Con. Res." and numbered consecutively upon introduction, generally employed to address the sentiments of both chambers, to deal with issues or matters affecting both houses, such as a concurrent budget resolution, or to create a temporary joint committee. Concurrent resolutions are not submitted to the President/Governor and thus do not have the force of law.
• Consultation: means a problem-solving process in which expertise is offered to an individual, group, organization, or community. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 37:2703
• Contract: A legal written agreement that becomes binding when signed.
• Contract: includes any agreement conferring the rights and obligations of a timeshare ownership on the purchaser. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 9:1131.2
• Corporation: A legal entity owned by the holders of shares of stock that have been issued, and that can own, receive, and transfer property, and carry on business in its own name.
• Council: means the Legislative Audit Advisory Council. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 38:90.1
• Council on Social Work Education: means the national organization which accredits graduate and undergraduate social work programs or its predecessor or successor organization. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 37:2703
• Cross examine: Questioning of a witness by the attorney for the other side.
• Deed: The legal instrument used to transfer title in real property from one person to another.
• Department: means the Department of Energy and Natural Resources. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 33:1419.2
• Deposition: An oral statement made before an officer authorized by law to administer oaths. Such statements are often taken to examine potential witnesses, to obtain discovery, or to be used later in trial.
• Designated gaming area: means that portion of a riverboat in which gaming activities may be conducted. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 27:44
• designated waterway: means those rivers or bodies of water listed in Louisiana Revised Statutes 27:44
• Discovery: Lawyers' examination, before trial, of facts and documents in possession of the opponents to help the lawyers prepare for trial.
• distributor: means any person engaged in the business of distributing or supplying motion pictures to exhibitors by rental, sale or licensing. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 37:2902
• District: means the Tri-Parish Juvenile Justice District. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 15:1096
• Docket: A log containing brief entries of court proceedings.
• Enrolled bill: The final copy of a bill or joint resolution which has passed both chambers in identical form. It is printed on parchment paper, signed by appropriate officials, and submitted to the President/Governor for signature.
• Equitable: Pertaining to civil suits in "equity" rather than in "law." In English legal history, the courts of "law" could order the payment of damages and could afford no other remedy. See damages. A separate court of "equity" could order someone to do something or to cease to do something. See, e.g., injunction. In American jurisprudence, the federal courts have both legal and equitable power, but the distinction is still an important one. For example, a trial by jury is normally available in "law" cases but not in "equity" cases. ^{Source: U.S. Courts}
• Evaluation committee: means the Flood Control Project Evaluation Committee. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 38:90.1
• Executive session: A portion of the Senate's daily session in which it considers executive business.
• exhibition: means showing a motion picture to the public for a charge. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 37:2902
• exhibitor: means any person engaged in the business of operating one or more theatres. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 37:2902
• Expenditure: means the gift or payment of money or any thing of value for the purchase of food, drink, or refreshment for a legislator, for the spouse or minor child of a legislator, or for a public servant, other than a legislator, in the legislative branch of state government and any gift or payment as permitted by Louisiana Revised Statutes 24:51
• Facility: means any juvenile detention facility, shelter care facility, or such other juvenile justice facility. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 15:1096
• Fair market value: The price at which an asset would change hands in a transaction between a willing, informed buyer and a willing, informed seller.
• Federal assistance under a state transportation plan: means federal matching funds or other federal money which may be available under a State Implementation Plan (SIP), maintenance plan, or other transportation plan of the Department of Transportation and Development, a Metropolitan Planning Organization, or other state entity pursuant to the federal Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality (CMAQ) Improvement Program funding which provides funds for public fleet conversions to cleaner fuels. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 33:1419.2
• Fee simple: Absolute title to property with no limitations or restrictions regarding the person who may inherit it.
• fleet conversion: means both of the following:

              (a) The installation of qualified clean fuel vehicle equipment in order to modify all or a portion of a local governing authority's fleet of motor vehicles which are propelled by gasoline or diesel so that the motor vehicles may be partially or wholly propelled by an alternative fuel. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 33:1419.2

• Fraud: Intentional deception resulting in injury to another.
• Game: means any banking or percentage game which is played with cards, dice, or any electronic, electrical, or mechanical device or machine for money, property, or any thing of value. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 27:44
• gaming equipment: means any equipment or mechanical, electro-mechanical, or electronic contrivance, component, or machine, including a slot machine, used directly or indirectly in connection with gaming or any game, which affects the result of a wager by determining wins or losses. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 27:44
• gaming license: means a license or authorization to conduct gaming activities on a riverboat issued pursuant to the provisions of this Chapter. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 27:44
• gaming operations: means the use, operation, or conducting of any game or gaming device upon a riverboat including all activities related to and integral to the operation and profitability of a riverboat, including accounting procedures and internal controls governing the licensee's operations. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 27:44
• Garnishment: Generally, garnishment is a court proceeding in which a creditor asks a court to order a third party who owes money to the debtor or otherwise holds assets belonging to the debtor to turn over to the creditor any of the debtor
• Gift: A voluntary transfer or conveyance of property without consideration, or for less than full and adequate consideration based on fair market value.
• Governing authority: means the governing authority of a parish. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 15:1096
• Grace period: The number of days you'll have to pay your bill for purchases in full without triggering a finance charge. ^{Source: Federal Reserve}
• Graduate school of social work: means a program within an institution of higher education which offers a full-time course of study in social work, granting a master's degree in social work or social welfare, and accredited or under candidacy by the Council on Social Work Education or its predecessor or successor organization. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 37:2703
• Injunction: An order of the court prohibiting (or compelling) the performance of a specific act to prevent irreparable damage or injury.
• Interest rate: The amount paid by a borrower to a lender in exchange for the use of the lender's money for a certain period of time. Interest is paid on loans or on debt instruments, such as notes or bonds, either at regular intervals or as part of a lump sum payment when the issue matures. ^{Source: OCC}
• invitation to bid: means any solicitation or invitation by a distributor to one or more exhibitors to bid, negotiate or otherwise attempt to secure the right to exhibit a motion picture. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 37:2902
• Joint committee: Committees including membership from both houses of teh legislature. Joint committees are usually established with narrow jurisdictions and normally lack authority to report legislation.
• Joint resolution: A legislative measure which requires the approval of both chambers.
• Legislation: means bills, resolutions, concurrent resolutions, joint resolutions, amendments, nominations, and other matters pending or proposed in either house of the legislature and includes any other matter which may be the subject of action by either house. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 24:51
• Legislative session: That part of a chamber's daily session in which it considers legislative business (bills, resolutions, and actions related thereto).
• Liabilities: The aggregate of all debts and other legal obligations of a particular person or legal entity.
• license agreement: means any contract, agreement, understanding or condition between a distributor and an exhibitor relating to the licensing or exhibition of a motion picture by the exhibitor. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 37:2902
• Licensed optometrist: means a person licensed and holding a certificate issued under the provisions of this Chapter. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 37:1041
• licensee: means any person holding or applying for a gaming license to conduct gaming activities. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 27:44
• Litigation: A case, controversy, or lawsuit. Participants (plaintiffs and defendants) in lawsuits are called litigants.
• Loan: means a loan of money from the Alternative Fuel Revolving Loan Fund for eligible costs of the conversion of a fleet of motor vehicles of a local governing authority to qualified clean fuel vehicles. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 33:1419.2
• Lobbyist: means either of the following:

  (i)  Any person who is employed or engaged for compensation to act in a representative capacity for the purpose of lobbying if lobbying constitutes one of the principal duties of such employment or engagement. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 24:51

• Local governing authority: means the governing authority of a parish, municipality, school board, port or port harbor and terminal district, levee district, or any other political subdivision of the state, and the governing authorities of their agencies, offices, or instrumentalities. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 33:1419.2
• Member: means any person included in the membership of the system. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 11:403
• Mortgage: The written agreement pledging property to a creditor as collateral for a loan.
• Municipal drainage authority: means the city of New Orleans and any special district or board located in such municipality, including but not limited to the Sewerage and Water Board of New Orleans, created for the purpose of drainage and/or flood control. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 38:90.1
• Net gaming proceeds: means the total of all cash and property, including checks received by a licensee, whether collected or not, received by the licensee from gaming operations, less the total of all cash paid out as winnings to patrons and five million dollars annually directly attributable to promotional play wagers. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 27:44
• Net proceeds: means the funds raised from the sale of bonds minus issuance costs, which costs include but are not limited to the underwriting discount, printing of disclosure documents, bond certificates, and the fees of the underwriter's legal counsel, bond counsel, financial advisor, rating agency, and trustee banks. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 33:1419.2
• Nolo contendere: No contest-has the same effect as a plea of guilty, as far as the criminal sentence is concerned, but may not be considered as an admission of guilt for any other purpose.
• Oath: A promise to tell the truth.
• Office: means the office of engineering of the Department of Transportation and Development. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 38:90.1
• Optometry: means that practice in which a person employs primary eye care procedures including ophthalmic surgery such as YAG laser capsulotomy, laser peripheral iridotomy, and laser trabeculoplasty, except for those surgery procedures specifically excluded in Subsection D of this Section; measures the powers and range of vision of the human eye using subjective or objective means, including the use of lenses and prisms before the eye and autorefractors or other automated testing devices to determine its accommodative and refractive state and general scope of function; and the adaptation, sale, and dispensing of frames and lenses in all their forms, including plano or zero power contact lenses, to overcome errors of refraction and restore as near as possible, normal human vision, or for orthotic, prosthetic, therapeutic, or cosmetic purposes with respect to contact lenses. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 37:1041
• Oversight: Committee review of the activities of a Federal agency or program.
• Participating parish: means any parish which has entered into a participation agreement with the commission by which certain space within the facility is subleased to house juveniles from the participating parish. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 15:1096
• Partnership: A voluntary contract between two or more persons to pool some or all of their assets into a business, with the agreement that there will be a proportional sharing of profits and losses.
• Passenger: means a natural person who is present on a riverboat but has no part in the vessel's operation. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 27:44
• person: includes one or more individuals, partnerships, associations, societies, trusts, organizations, or corporations. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 37:2902
• Person: means any individual, partnership, unincorporated association, or corporate body, except that only an individual may be licensed under this Chapter. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 37:3003
• Person: includes an individual, partnership, committee, association, corporation, and any other organization or group of persons. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 24:51
• Personal property: All property that is not real property.
• political subdivision: means a parish, municipality, and any other unit of local government, including a school board and a special district, authorized by law to perform governmental functions. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 33:1418
• Precedent: A court decision in an earlier case with facts and law similar to a dispute currently before a court. Precedent will ordinarily govern the decision of a later similar case, unless a party can show that it was wrongly decided or that it differed in some significant way.
• President pro tempore: A constitutionally recognized officer of the Senate who presides over the chamber in the absence of the Vice President. The President Pro Tempore (or, "president for a time") is elected by the Senate and is, by custom, the Senator of the majority party with the longest record of continuous service.
• Presiding officer: A majority-party Senator who presides over the Senate and is charged with maintaining order and decorum, recognizing Members to speak, and interpreting the Senate's rules, practices and precedents.
• Probate: Proving a will
• Program: means the flood control system which may include, but not be limited to, floodproofing, waterproofing, ring dikes, relocation assistance, information programs, formulation of codes, and engineering studies. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 38:90.1
• Program: means the Alternative Fuel Revolving Loan Fund Program as established by this Subpart. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 33:1419.2
• Project: means a program or engineering activity, either new or continuing, exclusive of modifications to drainage structures located within state highway rights-of-way, that will be planned and implemented with the primary goal being the reduction of existing flood damages. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 38:90.1
• Prosecute: To charge someone with a crime. A prosecutor tries a criminal case on behalf of the government.
• Purchaser: means any person to whom a timeshare interest is offered or who has contracted to purchase a timeshare interest. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 9:1131.2
• Qualified clean fuel vehicle equipment: means equipment necessary for a motor vehicle to partially or wholly operate on an alternative fuel, but shall not include equipment necessary for operation of a motor vehicle on gasoline or diesel. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 33:1419.2
• Quorum: The number of legislators that must be present to do business.
• Racehorse wagering: means wagers placed on horse racing conducted under the pari-mutuel form of wagering at licensed racing facilities that is accepted by a licensed racehorse wagering operator under the provisions of this Chapter. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 27:44
• Racehorse wagering operator: means the licensed racing association whose facility is located closest to the licensed berth of the riverboat on which gaming activities are approved. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 27:44
• Real property: Land, and all immovable fixtures erected on, growing on, or affixed to the land.
• Recess: A temporary interruption of the legislative business.
• Remand: When an appellate court sends a case back to a lower court for further proceedings.
• Rescission: The cancellation of budget authority previously provided by Congress. The Impoundment Control Act of 1974 specifies that the President may propose to Congress that funds be rescinded. If both Houses have not approved a rescission proposal (by passing legislation) within 45 days of continuous session, any funds being withheld must be made available for obligation.
• Restitution: The court-ordered payment of money by the defendant to the victim for damages caused by the criminal action.
• Retirement: means termination of active service, with a retirement allowance granted under the provisions of this Chapter. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 11:403
• Riverboat: means one of the following:

              (a) A vessel that carries a valid Certificate of Inspection issued by the United States Coast Guard with regard to the carriage of passengers on designated rivers or waterways within or contiguous to the boundaries of the state of Louisiana and for the carriage of a minimum of six hundred passengers and crew. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 27:44

• run: means the continuous exhibition of a motion picture in a defined geographic area for a specified period of time. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 37:2902
• Rural grant opportunity authority: means a municipality with a population of fewer than five thousand people or a parish with a population of fewer than fifty thousand people located in a rural area. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 38:90.1
• Rural Grant Opportunity Program: means a mechanism for a rural grant opportunity authority located in a rural area that lacks the financial ability to satisfy the local match requirements to participate in the Statewide Flood Control Program. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 38:90.1
• Secretary: means the secretary of the commission. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 23:1
• Settlement: Parties to a lawsuit resolve their difference without having a trial. Settlements often involve the payment of compensation by one party in satisfaction of the other party's claims.
• Slot machine: means any mechanical, electrical, or other device, contrivance, or machine which, upon insertion of a coin, token, or similar object therein or upon payment of any consideration whatsoever, is available to play or operate, the play or operation of which, whether by reason of the skill of the operator or application of the element of chance, or both, may deliver or entitle the person playing or operating the machine to receive cash, premiums, merchandise, tokens, or anything of value, whether the payoff is made automatically from the machine or in any other manner. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 27:44
• Social work practice: means the professional application of social work values, theories, and interventions to one or more of the following: enhancing the development, problem-solving, and coping capacities of people; promoting the effective and humane operations of systems that provide resources and services to people; linking people with systems that provide them with resources, services, and opportunities; developing and improving social policy; and engaging in research related to the professional activities. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 37:2703
• Social worker: means a person who holds a degree in social work, having successfully completed an undergraduate or graduate level academic social work program. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 37:2703
• State: means the state of Louisiana. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 11:403
• Subpoena: A command to a witness to appear and give testimony.
• Supervision: means the professional relationship between a supervisor and a supervisee that provides guidance and evaluation of the services provided by the supervisee. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 37:2703
• Supervisor: means the person in charge of the division. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 27:44
• System: means the Louisiana State Employees' Retirement System. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 11:403
• Temporary restraining order: Prohibits a person from an action that is likely to cause irreparable harm. This differs from an injunction in that it may be granted immediately, without notice to the opposing party, and without a hearing. It is intended to last only until a hearing can be held.
• Termination: means complete cessation of employment with the state. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 11:403
• Testify: Answer questions in court.
• theatre: means any establishment in which motion pictures are exhibited to the public regularly for a charge. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 37:2902
• Timeshare interest: means an ownership "timeshare interest" a lease timeshare interest, a timeshare estate, and a timeshare use unless expressly provided otherwise and includes any of the following:

  (a)  A "timeshare estate" which is the right to occupy a timeshare property, coupled with present ownership or some right to future ownership in a timeshare property or a specified portion thereof. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 9:1131.2

• to lobby: means any of the following:

  (a)  Any direct act or communication with a legislator, the purpose of which is to aid in influencing the passage or defeat of any legislation. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 24:51

• trade screening: means the showing of a motion picture by a distributor at some location within the state which is open to any exhibitor from whom the distributor intends to solicit bids or with whom the distributor intends to negotiate for the right to exhibit the motion picture. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 37:2902
• Trust account: A general term that covers all types of accounts in a trust department, such as estates, guardianships, and agencies. ^{Source: OCC}
• Trustee: A person or institution holding and administering property in trust.
• Unavailable: means absent from the place of session (other than on official business of the legislature), or unable for physical, mental or legal reasons to exercise the powers and discharge the duties of a legislator, whether or not such absence or inability would give rise to a vacancy under existing constitutional or statutory provisions. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 24:63
• Verdict: The decision of a petit jury or a judge.
• Veto: The procedure established under the Constitution by which the President/Governor refuses to approve a bill or joint resolution and thus prevents its enactment into law. A regular veto occurs when the President/Governor returns the legislation to the house in which it originated. The President/Governor usually returns a vetoed bill with a message indicating his reasons for rejecting the measure. In Congress, the veto can be overridden only by a two-thirds vote in both the Senate and the House.