Editing Calvin Coolidge (section)

===Legislation and vetoes as governor===
By the time Coolidge was inaugurated on January 2, 1919, the First World War had ended, and Coolidge pushed the legislature to give a $100 bonus ({{Inflation|US|100|1919|fmt=eq}}) to Massachusetts veterans. He signed a bill reducing the work week for women and [[child labor|children]] from 54 hours to 48, saying, "We must humanize the industry, or the system will break down."{{sfnm|Sobel|1998a|1p=117|Fuess|1940|2p=195}} He passed a budget that kept the tax rates the same, while trimming $4 million from expenditures, allowing the state to retire some of its debt.{{sfn|Fuess|1940|p=186}}

Coolidge wielded the veto pen as governor. His most publicized veto prevented an increase in legislators' pay by 50%.{{sfnm|Fuess|1940|1p=187|McCoy|1967|2p=81}} Although he was personally opposed to Prohibition, he vetoed a bill in May 1920 that would have allowed the sale of beer or wine of [[Low-alcohol beer#Small beer|2.75% alcohol or less]], in Massachusetts in violation of the [[Eighteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution]]. "Opinions and instructions do not outmatch the Constitution," he said in his veto message. "Against it, they are void."{{sfn|Fuess|1940|pp=187–188}}