The rare move came the day after Perdue vetoed the budget, which included a $142 million one-time property tax break for Georgia homeowners. Perdue said the $700 million spending plan failed to fund critical state spending needs.
Two-thirds of the Senate must now override the veto for the spending plan to take effect. Before the vote, House Republican leaders talked of the need for the legislative branch to flex its muscles in the face of a powerful governor.
``We have to matter,'' said House Speaker Pro Tem Mark Burkhalter. ``If we don't matter, the people that sent us up here don't matter. And their voice in this building is diminished.''
State Rep. Ben Harbin, the House's top budget writer, urged his colleagues to unite to reverse the governor's veto. ``This House must stand together,'' he said, ``because the people of Georgia have elected us to do so.''
Democrats, eager to weaken Perdue, also supported the move.``We have got to be able to participate in that process so are priorities are set in the budget,'' said DuBose Porter, the chamber's top Democrat. ``And the only way to do that is by an independent House. The only way to do that is by being an independent House.''
The move puts the Republican-controlled House directly at odds with Perdue, a popular GOP governor who coasted to a second term in November. House Speaker Glenn Richardson said he understood the awkward stance he's asked his fellow Republicans to take.
`I hurt right now that I'm going to ask you to do this, and I wish you had not been put in this position,'' said Richardson, the chamber's first Republican leader in generations. ``But you have been, and you took an oath, and there's only one thing to do.''
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