Governor Youngkin’s vetoes of 26 pieces of legislation are the most since 1998. They would’ve meant some new policies for the Commonwealth.
Six of the bills Governor Glenn Youngkin vetoed passed unanimously. That’s according to the Virginia Public Access Project.
.@GovernorVA vetoed 26 bills -- the most for a first-year governor since 1998. Visual has links to the list/details of Youngkin-vetoed measures. https://t.co/rcSTnhHo7S pic.twitter.com/dGtee4AZOk
— Virginia Public Access Project (@vpapupdates) April 12, 2022
Youngkin also issued the most amendments in 10 years, according to numbers from the governor’s office.
Scott Surovell is a Democrat. He represents parts of Fairfax County in the Senate. He says the way the governor went about his changes makes it a harder prospect of passing them.
“I think perhaps if the governor had had some conversation and dialogue with us before proposing it, we’d be a lot more likely to say yes or no on it," Surovell explains. "But given the fact we weren't consulted on this at all, before it got proposed, you know, the odds of it getting approved probably decline because it gets into some stuff that was very delicately drafted compromises that were made last year.”
These bills also passed the House of Delegates, which is controlled by Republicans. Whether they’ll stick to their guns or not will depend on the amendment, says Delegate Tony Wilt of Harrisonburg.
“We’ll take it issue by issue but that's, you know, you gotta be honest. That's kind of a hard lift to undo what the governor's done, but it, but if it's that important to the whole body, then we'll see how that shakes out,” Wilt says.
Legislators will vote on the governor’s actions in two weeks. They’ll need a two thirds vote to overturn any veto, and a majority to agree to any amendment.
This report, provided by Virginia Public Radio, was made possible with support from the Virginia Education Association.
