Terms Used In Louisiana Revised Statutes > Title 24 > Chapter 3 - Statutes

• Activity: means a distinct subset of functions or services within a program. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 39:2
• Adult arcade: means any place to which the public is permitted or invited in which coin-operated, slug-operated, or electronically, electrically, or mechanically controlled still or motion picture machines, projectors, or other image-producing devices are regularly maintained to show images to five or fewer persons per machine at any one time, and in which the images so displayed are distinguished or characterized by their emphasis upon matter exhibiting or describing specified sexual activities or specified anatomical areas. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 23:1019.1
• Adult cabaret: means a nightclub, bar, juice bar, restaurant, bottle club, gentleman's club, strip club, or similar commercial establishment, whether or not alcoholic beverages are served, that regularly features any of the following:

              (a) Persons who appear in a state of nudity or seminudity for the purpose of enticing sexual arousal or otherwise sexually excite a patron or customer. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 23:1019.1

• Adult motion picture theater: means a commercial establishment where films, motion pictures, video cassettes, slides, or similar photographic reproductions that are distinguished or characterized by their emphasis upon the exhibition or description of specified sexual activities or specified anatomical areas are regularly shown for any form of consideration. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 23:1019.1
• Adult theater: means a theater, concert hall, auditorium, or similar commercial establishment that, for any form of consideration, regularly features persons who appear in a state of nudity or seminudity or live performances that are characterized by their emphasis upon the exposure of specified anatomical areas or specified sexual activities. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 23:1019.1
• adult video store: means a commercial establishment that, for any form of consideration, has as a significant or substantial portion of its stock-in-trade in, derives a significant or substantial portion of its revenues from, devotes a significant or substantial portion of its interior business or advertising to, or maintains a substantial section of its sales or display space for the sale or rental of any of the following:

              (a) Books, magazines, periodicals, or other printed matter, or photographs, films, motion pictures, video cassettes, compact discs, slides, or other visual representations, that are characterized by their emphasis upon the exhibition or description of specified sexual activities or specified anatomical areas. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 23:1019.1

• AEIC: means the Advance Earned Income Credit. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 23:1018.1
• Affidavit: A written statement of facts confirmed by the oath of the party making it, before a notary or officer having authority to administer oaths.
• Affirmed: In the practice of the appellate courts, the decree or order is declared valid and will stand as rendered in the lower court.
• Agency: means any state office, department, board, commission, institution, division, officer or other person, or functional group, heretofore existing or hereafter created, that is authorized to exercise, or that does exercise, any functions of the government of the state in the executive branch, but not any governing body or officer of any local government or subdivision of the state, or any parochial officer who exercises functions coterminous with the municipality in which he performs those functions. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 39:2
• 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.
• Appeal: A request made after a trial, asking another court (usually the court of appeals) to decide whether the trial was conducted properly. To make such a request is "to appeal" or "to take an appeal." One who appeals is called the appellant.
• 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
• Applicant: means a person who seeks to be examined for licensure by the board. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 37:1473
• 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
• Appraisal: A determination of property value.
• Appropriation: means an authorization by the legislature to a budget unit for a program to expend from public funds a sum of money, for purposes designated, under the procedure prescribed in this Chapter. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 39:2
• 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.
• average compensation: means his average earnable compensation for the five highest successive years of employment, or the highest five successive joined years where interruption of service occurred. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 11:701
• 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}
• Board: means the Radiologic Technology Board of Examiners. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 37:3200
• Board: means the Louisiana State Board of Medical Examiners. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 37:3241
• Board: means the Louisiana State Board of Home Inspectors. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 37:1473
• Board of trustees: means the board provided for in Part V of this Chapter to administer the retirement system. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 11:701
• Budget office: means the section of the division of administration which monitors budgeting functions. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 39:2
• Budget unit: means any spending agency of the state which is declared to be a budget unit by the division of administration and which is identified for accounting purposes by a five-digit number code. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 39:2
• Buyer: includes a lessee. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 37:1431
• Certified nurse midwife: means a nurse authorized by the Louisiana State Board of Nursing to practice as a certified nurse midwife in the state. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 37:3241
• Commission: means the Louisiana Cybersecurity Commission. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 39:15.12
• Commission: means the Louisiana Real Estate Commission. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 37:1431
• Commission: means the Louisiana Workforce Commission. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 23:1
• Compensation: means normal or regular base pay, but does not include overtime, per diem, differential pay or any other allowance for expenses incurred. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 23:1017.1
• Component: means a readily accessible and observable aspect of a system, such as a floor or wall, but not individual pieces such as boards or nails where many similar pieces make up a component. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 37:1473
• Consensus estimating conference: means the Economic Estimating Conference, the Demographic Estimating Conference, the Education Estimating Conference, the Criminal Justice Estimating Conference, the Health and Social Services Estimating Conference, and the Transportation Estimating Conference. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 39:2
• 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.
• Creditable service: means "Prior Service" plus "Membership Service" for which credit is allowable as provided in Part III of this Chapter. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 11:701
• Current tax collections: means the current collections of the taxes imposed by Subtitle II of Title 47 of the Louisiana Revised Statutes of 1950. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 39:2
• Damages: Money paid by defendants to successful plaintiffs in civil cases to compensate the plaintiffs for their injuries.
• Deed: The legal instrument used to transfer title in real property from one person to another.
• Defendant: In a civil suit, the person complained against; in a criminal case, the person accused of the crime.
• Deficit: means the excess for any fiscal year of actual expenditures paid by warrant or transfer over the actual monies received and any monies or balances carried forward for any fund at the close of the fiscal year as such are reported by the office of statewide reporting within the division of administration. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 39:2
• Department: means the Louisiana Department of Health. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 37:3241
• Dependent: A person dependent for support upon another.
• Dependent: means the person or persons to whom, under the provisions of Part II of this Chapter, compensation shall be paid upon the death of the injured employee. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 23:1021
• 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 La. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 27:44
• Devise: To gift property by will.
• Discovery: Lawyers' examination, before trial, of facts and documents in possession of the opponents to help the lawyers prepare for trial.
• Efficiency: means cost-effectiveness or productivity relative to achievement of an objective. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 39:2
• EITC: means the federal Earned Income Tax Credit. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 23:1018.1
• Employee: means any person employed by any private or public employer including an elected or appointed official. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 23:1017.1
• Employee: means any person who is employed by an employer for compensation in return for the performance of services. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 23:1018.1
• Employee: means any individual employed by a sexually oriented business for remuneration pursuant to a contract for hire but does not include an independent contractor. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 23:1019.1
• Employer: means any Louisiana business establishment that has twenty or more full-time or part-time employees. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 23:1018.1
• Employer: means any entity who is required to pay and has paid into the fund. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 23:1371.1
• 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}
• Escrow: Money given to a third party to be held for payment until certain conditions are met.
• Evidence-based program: means a program or practice that has had multiple site random controlled trials across heterogeneous populations demonstrating that the program or practice is effective for the population. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 39:2
• Ex officio: Literally, by virtue of one's office.
• Executive budget: means the document submitted to the legislature at each regular session, pursuant to the provisions of this Chapter and La. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 39:2
• Existing operating budget: means the initial operating budget as adjusted for actions taken by the Joint Legislative Committee on the Budget, the Interim Emergency Board, the legislature, or the governor in accordance with the provisions of this Chapter or any other provision of law. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 39:2
• Expenses: means amounts represented by cash paid out or by obligations to pay cash or partly by each for maintaining and operating government services. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 39:2
• 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.
• Fiduciary: A trustee, executor, or administrator.
• Foreclosure: A legal process in which property that is collateral or security for a loan may be sold to help repay the loan when the loan is in default. ^{Source: OCC}
• Fraud: Intentional deception resulting in injury to another.
• Functions: means duties, jurisdiction, powers, rights, and obligations, conferred or imposed upon, or vested in, any agency by law, or exercised, performed, or discharged by any agency without contravention of any provision of law. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 39:2
• Fund: means an independent fiscal and accounting entity with a self-balancing set of accounts recording cash or other resources together with all related liabilities, obligations, reserves, and equities which are segregated for the purpose of carrying on specific activities or attaining certain objectives in accordance with regulations, restrictions, and limitations. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 39:2
• Fusion technology: means the operation of positron emission tomography (PET) and computed tomography (CT) imaging equipment or any other hybrid imaging equipment identified and recognized by the board. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 37:3200
• 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
• Germane: On the subject of the pending bill or other business; a strict standard of relevance.
• Gift: A voluntary transfer or conveyance of property without consideration, or for less than full and adequate consideration based on fair market value.
• Goal: means a general purpose toward which the efforts of an agency are directed. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 39:2
• Home inspection: means a written evaluation of two or more of the following component systems of a resale residential building:

              (a) Electrical system. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 37:1473

• Home inspector: means any person who, in accordance with the provisions of this Chapter, holds himself out as a home inspector to the general public or engages in the business of performing home inspections on resale residential buildings for compensation and who examines any component of a building, through visual means and through normal user controls, without the use of mathematical sciences. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 37:1473
• Independent contractor: means an individual contracted to perform services for a sexually oriented business on a non-exclusive basis pursuant to a written agreement specifying that the individual is a contractor and not an employee of the sexually oriented business. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 23:1019.1
• Initial operating budget: means the amount of the appropriation on July first of a particular fiscal year for that fiscal year. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 39:2
• Injunction: An order of the court prohibiting (or compelling) the performance of a specific act to prevent irreparable damage or injury.
• Input: means any resource used to implement a policy, program, or specific service. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 39:2
• Interrogatories: Written questions asked by one party of an opposing party, who must answer them in writing under oath; a discovery device in a lawsuit.
• Lease: A contract transferring the use of property or occupancy of land, space, structures, or equipment in consideration of a payment (e.g., rent). ^{Source: OCC}
• Liabilities: The aggregate of all debts and other legal obligations of a particular person or legal entity.
• License: means a certificate issued by the board authorizing the licensee to use radioactive materials or equipment emitting or detecting ionizing radiation on humans for diagnostic or therapeutic purposes in accordance with the provisions of this Chapter. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 37:3200
• Licensed midwife: means a person who has completed all requirements of La. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 37:3241
• Licensed practitioner: means a person licensed to practice medicine, dentistry, podiatry, chiropractic, or osteopathy in this state, or an advanced practice registered nurse licensed to practice in this state. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 37:3200
• licensee: means any person holding or applying for a gaming license to conduct gaming activities. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 27:44
• Licensee: means any person who has been issued a license by the commission to participate in any activity described in this Section. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 37:1431
• Licensee: means any person who has been issued a license by the board in accordance with the provisions of this Chapter. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 37:1473
• Lien: A claim against real or personal property in satisfaction of a debt.
• Litigation: A case, controversy, or lawsuit. Participants (plaintiffs and defendants) in lawsuits are called litigants.
• Member: means any teacher included in the membership of the system as provided in Part II of this Chapter. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 11:701
• Mold: means any form of multicellular fungi that live on plant or animal matter and in indoor or outdoor environments. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 37:1431
• Money available for appropriation: means the amount of money to be received for a fiscal year by the state general fund and dedicated funds, exclusive of federal funds and those amounts appropriated or allocated by the Constitution of Louisiana. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 39:2
• Mortgage: The written agreement pledging property to a creditor as collateral for a loan.
• Mortgagee: The person to whom property is mortgaged and who has loaned the money.
• 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
• 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.
• Nondiscretionary adjusted standstill budget: shall mean and shall contain the following:

              (a) The budget unit's current-year existing operating budget as of December first. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 39:2

• Nudity: means the exposure of the vulva, penis, testicles, anus, female nipples, or female areola with less than a fully opaque covering. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 23:1019.1
• Objective: is a specific and measurable target for achievement which describes the exact results sought, which is expressed in an outcome-oriented statement that may reflect effectiveness, efficiency, or quality of work, and which may be either numeric or non-numeric. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 39:2
• Obligation: An order placed, contract awarded, service received, or similar transaction during a given period that will require payments during the same or a future period.
• Office: means the office of workers' compensation administration established pursuant to La. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 23:1021
• Official forecast: means the most recently adopted estimate of money available for appropriation by the Revenue Estimating Conference as provided in La. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 39:2
• Operator: means any individual on the premises of a sexually oriented business authorized to manage the business, exercise overall operational control of the premises, or cause the business to function. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 23:1019.1
• Outcome: means evidence or demonstration of the actual impact or public benefit of a program. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 39:2
• Output: means the quantity of actual service or product delivered by an agency or program. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 39:2
• Oversight: Committee review of the activities of a Federal agency or program.
• parties: means the employee or his dependent and the employer or his insurer. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 23:1271
• 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
• Payor: means the entity responsible, whether by law or contract, for the payment of benefits incurred by a claimant as a result of a work related injury. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 23:1021
• Performance indicator: means a statement identifying an activity, input, output, outcome, achievement, ratio, efficiency, or quality to be measured relative to a particular goal or objective in order to assess an agency's performance. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 39:2
• Permanent partial disability: shall mean any permanent condition, whether congenital or due to injury or disease, of such seriousness as to constitute a hindrance or obstacle to obtaining employment, to retention by an employer, or to obtaining re-employment, if the employee becomes unemployed. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 23:1371.1
• Personal property: All property that is not real property.
• Physician: means a person who is currently practicing obstetrics and is licensed to practice medicine or osteopathy in Louisiana. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 37:3241
• Plea: In a criminal case, the defendant's statement pleading "guilty" or "not guilty" in answer to the charges, a declaration made in open court.
• 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.
• Program: means a grouping of activities directed toward the accomplishment of a clearly defined objective or set of objectives. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 39:2
• Promising practices: means a practice that presents, based upon preliminary information, potential for becoming a research-based or evidence-based program or practice. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 39:2
• Prosecute: To charge someone with a crime. A prosecutor tries a criminal case on behalf of the government.
• Quality: means degree or grade of excellence. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 39:2
• 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
• Radiologic technologist: means any person who is a radiographer, a radiation therapy technologist, a fusion technologist, or a nuclear medicine technologist licensed under this Chapter who under the direction and supervision of a licensed practitioner applies radiation to humans upon prescription of a licensed practitioner. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 37:3200
• Radiologic technology: means the use of a radioactive substance or equipment emitting or detecting ionizing radiation on humans for diagnostic or therapeutic purposes upon prescription of a licensed practitioner. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 37:3200
• Real estate: shall mean and include condominiums and leaseholds, as well as any other interest in land, with the exceptions of oil, gas and other minerals and whether the real estate is situated in this state or elsewhere. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 37:1431
• Real estate transaction: means the selling, offering for sale, buying, offering to buy, soliciting for prospective purchasers, managing, offering to manage, leasing, offering to lease, renting, or offering to rent any real estate or improvements thereon, or any business or other entity whose assets include real estate or leases of real estate. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 37:1431
• Real property: Land, and all immovable fixtures erected on, growing on, or affixed to the land.
• Recourse: An arrangement in which a bank retains, in form or in substance, any credit risk directly or indirectly associated with an asset it has sold (in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles) that exceeds a pro rata share of the bank's claim on the asset. If a bank has no claim on an asset it has sold, then the retention of any credit risk is recourse. ^{Source: FDIC}
• Representative: shall include , but not be limited to, third party administrators, attorneys, or adjusting firms of the party filing the claim on behalf of the employer, insurer or group self-insurance fund. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 23:1371.1
• Retirement: means withdrawal from active service with a retirement allowance granted under the provisions of this Chapter. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 11:701
• Retirement allowance: means the sum of the annuity and the pensions or any optional benefit payable in lieu thereof. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 11:701
• Retirement system: means the Teachers' Retirement System of Louisiana as defined in La. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 11:701
• 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

• Secretary: means the secretary of the commission. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 23:1
• Seminudity: means any of the following:

              (i) Exposure of the female breast below a horizontal line across the top of the areola and extending across the width of the breasts at that point including the lower portion of the breasts. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 23:1019.1

• Service: means service as a teacher within the meaning of Paragraph (33) of this Section. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 11:701
• 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.
• Sexually oriented business: means any business that is part of the sex industry that offers services that include the exposure of specified anatomical areas or specified sexual activities, or the purchase of erotic paraphernalia. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 23:1019.1
• 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
• State planning and budgeting system: refers to the processes and functions prescribed in Subtitle I of this Title. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 39:2
• Strategic planning: is a process of agency self-assessment and objective setting which considers an organization's purpose, capacities and environment, and results in a strategic plan which determines a path for development of the organization's resources in order to achieve meaningful results. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 39:2
• Summons: Another word for subpoena used by the criminal justice system.
• Supervision: means the coordination, direction, and continued evaluation at first hand of the person in training and obtaining clinical experience as an apprentice midwife within the scope of these provisions. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 37:3241
• Supervisor: means the person in charge of the division. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 27:44
• Supporting document: means the document prepared by the budget office and composed of supporting information, data, and documentation used to develop the executive budget. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 39:2
• Supporting objective: means an objective that is designated as such by the commissioner of administration and is included in the executive budget supporting document and not included in the executive budget. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 39:2
• Supporting performance indicator: means a performance indicator which is designated as such by the commissioner of administration and is included in the executive budget supporting document and not included in the executive budget. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 39:2
• Surplus: means the excess for any fiscal year of the actual monies received and any monies or balances carried forward over the actual expenditures paid by warrant or transfer for any fund at the close of the fiscal year as such are reported by the office of statewide reporting within the division of administration. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 39:2
• System: means a combination of interactive or interdependent components assembled to carry out one or more functions. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 37:1473
• Trustee: A person or institution holding and administering property in trust.
• 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.