One of the basic powers the Governor exercises over the legislative process is the veto, which enables governors to nullify bills, concurrent resolutions, and appropriation items. A skillful governor can use the threat of the veto to influence legislation during the session. The veto can also be used as a last resort intervention in the budget process to affect spending priorities at the end of a legislative session. Look at the "vetoes" column on the interactive governors table to review governors' use of the veto.

The power to veto specific budget items, called the line-item veto, adds another dimension to the governor's veto power. The line-item veto provides a surgical tool that governors can use to cut elements out of a bill without vetoing the entire measure. But as with other vetoes, a governor who has not laid the political groundwork for such action may be subject to criticism and can expect to be called upon publicly to justify such action in high-visibility cases.

If a governor neither signs nor vetoes a bill, it automatically becomes law without the governor's signature. This is in contrast to the process at the federal level, which in some circumstances allows a president to kill a bill without signing it or vetoing it. This process is called the pocket veto, and it is not available to Texas governors.