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SACRAMENTO (AP) — Gov. Gray Davis vetoed a bill Monday that called for a state study of the amount of weight California pupils are carrying in their backpacks. 

The measure, by Assemblyman Rod Pacheco, R-Riverside, sought to determine if a shortage of locker space exists and whether increasingly heavy backpacks are hurting children’s spines. 

But Davis said the $140,000 to conduct the study was not included in the 2001-02 budget. 

He also said in a statement that the weight of backpacks and the length of time students carry them “varies widely among districts and solutions need to be developed at the local level.” 

The state education and health departments would have conducted the study, which was to include the weight of hardcover textbooks, the lack of lockers on many campuses and possible alternatives to students carrying heavy backpacks. 

Lawmakers wrapped up their 2001 session on Sept. 14 and Davis has until Oct. 14 to sign hundreds of bills approved at the last minute.