Just days from graduation, Jevin Hodge got a lesson in politics last week when Gov. Jan Brewer vetoed a bill that would have required a governor's commendation to students with more than 200 hours of approved community service.

"I thought that when she saw a piece of good policy, she would have instantly jumped on it," said Hodge, an 18-year-old senior at McClintock High School in Tempe, who had persuaded a Democratic legislator to champion the bill. "It's very disheartening to see that she doesn't want to award the youth that are serving her state."

In her veto letter, Brewer called the bill unnecessary and an infringement on the state Constitution's separation of powers. "In this bill, one branch of government is obligating another branch of government to do something it already can do," she wrote.

Hodge, who has more than 800 hours of community service under his belt, brought the idea for Senate Bill 1066 to state Sen. David Schapira, D-Tempe, last fall.

The bill passed unanimously in the Senate, Schapira said, and he expected the governor to sign it. The commendation would have been a certificate or diploma seal.

"I thought we had a chance here at putting partisanship aside and passing a bill into law that would actually have an impact," he said, calling the governor's reasons for vetoing it "total baloney."

In the veto letter, Brewer said she has "encouraged everyone, including high school students, to volunteer 100 hours of community service to celebrate Arizona's Centennial."

Her Commission on Service and Volunteerism has tracked more than 35,000 volunteers and 2.3 million service hours because of the challenge, she wrote.

She also said the Governor's Youth Commission has discussed ways to promote volunteerism since 2009. Hodge is co-chairman of the commission.

If the co-chair of the Governor's Youth Commission "doesn't think that enough is done," Schapira said, "I would take some advice from him, and I would hope that the governor would."

The governor's separation of powers justification "is just a joke," he said. "There's a reason the governor has the opportunity to sign or veto a bill. It gives her the opportunity to make a choice. Let the buck stop there. Instead she's going to put blame on the Legislature for passing the bill."

Schapira said he and Brewer have disagreed in the past, which he thinks played into her decision. "I'm the leader of the Senate Democrats. I'm a leader who very vocally, very publicly holds this governor accountable," he said.

Matthew Benson, a spokesman for the governor, said in an e-mail that Schapira's statement "is an example of exactly the kind of over-the-top partisan rhetoric that he claims to oppose. Gov. Brewer vetoed this measure based on its merits -- or lack thereof."

Schapira and Hodge's political affiliations played no role in the choice, Benson said.

"Indeed, this was the one and only bill vetoed by Governor Brewer this session in which the primary sponsor was a Democrat," he said.

Hodge said he was not expecting the governor's action.

"I know she's all for service, and I know how excited she can get when it comes to seeing people involved," he said. "I feel like if this was sponsored by someone else and created by someone else, this would have been a policy that would have passed."