Lawmakers voted 31-12 Tuesday to approve $2.5 million in payments for group homes, counselors and other services left in limbo when a state contractor failed to pay them.
The providers had signed agreements the Boys and Girls Home of Sioux City, Iowa, which lost its state contract in 2010 because it had not paid subcontractors.
Heineman used his line-item veto power to strike the payments out of a larger state claims bill. The governor argued that Nebraska had no legal basis to make the payments.
Omaha Sen. Steve Lathrop, who filed the override motion, said
the state did have a legal obligation.
Overriding a veto requires at least 30 of the Legislature's 49
senators.
