Oregon Public Broadcasting

An ongoing dispute between Oregon Governor Ted Kulongoski and state lawmakers took another surprising turn Wednesday. By one vote, the Oregon Senate failed to override the governor's veto of the state's K-through-12 budget. Salem Correspondent Chris Lehman reports.

This was the first attempt to override a veto in Governor Kulongoski's six-and-a-half years in office. The uncharted waters didn't stop Democratic House Speaker Dave Hunt from expressing what has now proven to be pre-vote hubris.

Rep. Dave Hunt: “I'm not sure you've seen vetoes in the past that have been so cordial and expeditious and that will be so expeditiously and cordially overridden.”

Hunt never got the chance to let his House members show their stuff. That's because the Senate, which had the first move, came up short in its attempt to override the governor's veto.

Only one Republican voted with every Democrat, but that still left lawmakers one vote short of the required two-thirds majority.

It wasn't immediately clear what the next move would be in the intra-party feud. There is no education budget at the moment for a budget cycle that starts next week.

In his veto, the Governor complained that lawmakers were using too many of the state's reserves to balance their budget.