State House Speaker Calvin Say said yesterday that the House would not return to override Gov. Linda Lingle's vetoes, and while there was some interest in returning in the Senate, Say's decision ended chances for an override session this year.

Lingle is expected to announce her last vetoes by today's deadline, and Say asked her to not veto a bill that would provide basic health insurance to children not covered by state or private health plans.

Say, D-20th (St. Louis Heights, Palolo, Wilhelmina Rise), said the House considered the administration's analysis of the 28 bills on the governor's veto list and the request by labor unions that they return and override any vetoes. Union leaders had told House and Senate Democrats that overriding the vetoes would show voters political contrasts with the popular Republican governor.

Several of the bills on Lingle's list were of interest to labor, including bills dealing with unemployment insurance, workers' compensation and prevailing wages.

"The legislation we pass should be in consideration for all the people of Hawai'i, not just Democrats or Republicans, union or nonunion," Say said in a statement. "These bills have gone through a lengthy and thorough legislative process, and many of them, even some of the labor bills, had bipartisan support.

"We don't agree with the governor's position, but for the sake of ensuring that we pass the best laws possible, we will take another look at these issues next session and work with all the stakeholders to reach consensus."

Two-thirds votes are required in both the House and Senate to override vetoes. Lingle vetoed five bills during session that were not overridden by the Legislature.

"There just hasn't been a groundswell of support in the Senate for an override session," said state Senate President Robert Bunda, D-22nd (North Shore, Wahiawa). "Nonetheless, we continue to support the merits of the bills on the governor's veto list, and we feel we can bring people together on these initiatives and make them stronger in the next legislative session."

State Sen. Brian Taniguchi, D-10th (Manoa, McCully), said he talked with several senators who wanted to return for special session, but momentum fell after Lingle left bills raising the cigarette tax to pay for cancer research and barring residential development in Kaka'ako off the list. But he said several of the bills on the list had broad support in the Legislature and would likely have been overridden.

"That's what I was pushing the president to take a look at, especially the one for uninsured children," he said.

The health insurance bill is a partnership between the state and the Hawai'i Medical Service Association to create a basic health plan for uninsured children who have fallen into the gap between state and private coverage. It would be a three-year pilot program.

Administration officials have said the program could inadvertently compete with the state's health plan for the poor, which offers more comprehensive care, and lead some private companies to drop insurance for workers' children.

Lingle told reporters yesterday at a bill-signing event that Lillian Koller, director of the state Department of Human Services, had reviewed the bill carefully and had spoken to people on both sides.

"So I think all of Lillian's concerns were always focused on one thing: Is this going to increase or decrease health coverage for children?" the governor said. "And she believed, and we believed, it would have decreased coverage for children."

"We look forward to working with the Legislature on the issue of health insurance for children. We think in these last 3 1/2 years we have almost covered all children in our state. We've made tremendous progress, and Lillian has led the effort on that."

Reach Derrick DePledge at ddepledge@honoluluadvertiser.com.