Members of the General Assembly may have concluded their session. But, the fight over the budget isn't.
House Speaker Don Scott says he did not appreciate Governor Glenn Youngkin showing up on the last day of the General Assembly session and asking Republicans to vote against the budget.
"Which is crazy. Like, he comes in lobbying against the budget that morning, taking over and trying to usurp the role of the legislature," Scott says. "And thank God many Republicans, at least in the House, didn't give up their responsibilities and obligation to pass a budget."
The governor has a line-item veto, which he can use to make all kinds of changes to the budget. He even has the ability to veto the budget altogether, although that would require the process to start again just as the summertime deadline approaches. Speaking at an event on Thursday, Youngkin said lawmakers sent him a budget that’s broken and needs to be fixed.
"We will not have a tax increase," the governor said. "I'm going to create an opportunity for us to get together and figure out where we’re going to invest and other places where we might have to cut back a little bit in order to deliver a budget for Virginians that recognizes that we've got to move forward, not backwards."
Members of the General Assembly will return to Richmond next month to consider the governor's vetoes and amendments. That might be a time when they could come to a final agreement on the budget. Or perhaps they'll continue the standoff toward the beginning of the next fiscal year on July the 1st.
This report, provided by Virginia Public Radio, was made possible with support from the Virginia Education Association.
