The House will be returning on June 18th, and senators will have their own session the Monday after the Juneteenth holiday weekend.
Former Republican Delegate Chris Saxman of the business group Virginia Free says the governor needs to be careful she's not getting steamrolled by members of the General Assembly.
"Governors have got to be very careful when they call special sessions," Saxman advises. "When you give the legislature more power and more time to meet, they're going to use it, and not to the governor's benefit. So, a lesson for future governors: don't call special sessions unless you absolutely need it."
Bill Leighty is a former chief of staff for two governors, and he says Governor Abigail Spanberger is doing everything she can to use her leverage as governor.
"Beginning with the downfall of Governor McDonnell and the Ralph Northam blackface scandal, and the lack of understanding the role of a governor by Governor Youngkin, the legislature for well over a decade has pretty much been able to ignore the office of the governor. And what we see now is a governor acting like a governor and doing her job," says Leighty.
Virginia has never had a government shutdown, but that streak will end if the House and Senate can't come to some compromise with the governor before the end of the month.
