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Gov. Ronald Reagan cherished the “line item veto” and often lamented not possessing the tool as president.

Caught in the political crossfire are nearly 2,000 legislative workers who risk losing their paychecks after Abbott slashed funding for their salaries from the state budget in a punitive line item veto after Democratic lawmakers walked out in May.

Democratic lawmakers sued Abbott over the June line item veto of more than $400 million in salary funds, claiming the action was unconstitutional.

But the provision later was folded into the state budget, and — lacking Ohio’s line item veto authority — Sununu signed it on June 25.

Shortly after the enactment of the Line Item Veto Act of 1996, a bipartisan group of senators began legal proceedings to oppose a law that they knew to be fundamentally unconstitutional.