By KATIE KING,
Virginian-Pilot
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Amid rising tension between the General Assembly’s Democratic majority and Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin, the legislature will reconvene Wednesday to take up the governor’s unprecedented number of vetoes and budget amendments — and Democrats appear ready for a fight. “Buckle Up Glenn,” Sen. Louise Lucas, D-Portsmouth, wrote Friday on social media. “I am coming back to Richmond on Wednesday to deal with your nonsense.” Lucas, who chairs the Senate Finance and Appropriations Committee, shared the message alongside a photoshopped picture of herself with the governor, with Lucas poised to knock him out while donning red boxing gloves.
By SARAH RANKIN,
Associated Press
Gambling regulations, school construction and the state budget were on the agenda for Virginia lawmakers returning to Richmond on Wednesday to consider Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s proposed amendments to legislation and his record number of vetoes.
Democrats who control the General Assembly don’t have the numbers to override Youngkin’s vetoes without GOP support, but their leaders have signaled that they plan to reject many of his proposed changes, including most of those he made to the two-year budget bill. Youngkin’s rewrite of the spending plan — he’s submitted more than 200 amendments — was so extensive, it exceeded the governor’s authority, legislative leaders say.
By GRAHAM MOOMAW,
Virginia Mercury
The debate over how high taxes need to be to properly fund core government services is a more normal topic than many of the hyperpartisan culture war issues that now dominate politics. But the budget battle playing out between Gov. Glenn Youngkin and the Democratic-led General Assembly is anything but routine.
One day before state lawmakers were set to return to Richmond to take up Youngkin’s amendments and vetoes, House Speaker Don Scott, D-Portsmouth, posted a campaign-style video accusing Youngkin of standing in the way of a bipartisan budget that boosted funding for K-12 education.
By DEAN MIRSHAHI,
WRIC-TV
Virginia’s Democrat-controlled General Assembly will meet Wednesday to act on Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s amendments to the new proposed state budget.
Gov. Youngkin has called his 233 changes to the two-year spending plan a “Common Ground Budget” after making campaign-like tour stops in Virginia labeling the proposed deal passed by lawmakers as a “backward” plan that would raise taxes.
By JAHD KHALIL,
VPM
A day before legislators are set to return to Richmond, Democratic leadership in the General Assembly and Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin seemingly have not reached a budget agreement.
Lawmakers on Wednesday will consider Youngkin’s actions on legislation, after he amended 116 bills and vetoed a record 153 others. They’ll also consider his 242 recommendations on the budget, which center around maintaining current tax levels and funds Democrats’ priorities at a lower level than what they proposed.
By CAMERON THOMPSON,
WTVR-TV
The way localities can choose to help pay for new school construction and renovation is up for debate this week at the Virginia General Assembly.
Governor Glenn Youngkin (R - Virginia) vetoed a bill passed by the Democratic-controlled General Assembly that would have allowed Virginia cities and counties to add a one-percent sales tax to fund school construction and renovation projects if approved by voters in a referendum.
By BRAD KUTNER,
WVTF-FM
Virginia’s legislature returns to Richmond Wednesday to review Governor Glenn Youngkin’s vetoes and amendments. While tension remains high, at least one bill with strong bipartisan support could see Youngkin rebuked.
The last Virginia governor to have a veto overridden was Bob McDonnell in 2011. McDonnell said a bill increasing payouts for medical malpractice cases would hurt businesses. Legislators disagreed and after a 2/3rds vote in both chambers, the law is still increasing maximum payouts in the Commonwealth to this day.
By JOEY LOMONACO,
Fredericksburg Free Press
The General Assembly is likely headed for a special session before adopting its budget ahead of a statutory July 1 deadline, an outcome that could leave school districts — including Fredericksburg’s — in limbo as they look to finalize their own funding.
“Because of the conversation happening around Richmond… there is not agreement on the budget and the governor’s amendments on the budget,” Del. Joshua Cole (D-Fredericksburg) told the Free Press in a phone interview Tuesday afternoon.
Cole’s comments come on the eve of a pivotal veto session where legislators will also address more than 200 of Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s proposed amendments to the budget.
By JUSTIN FAULCONER,
News & Advance
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Amherst County public schools’ officials plan to write Lynchburg-area legislators in the Virginia General Assembly in hopes of urging Gov. Glenn Youngkin to reconsider a recent veto of Senate Bill 14, which would allow any locality to levy a 1% surcharge on sales taxes to fund school construction if voters approve it in a local referendum. Superintendent William Wells has expressed support for the bill he said could provide a much-needed revenue stream for school capital needs that are mounting.
By CHARLOTTE RENE WOODS,
Richmond Times-Dispatch
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Rather than sign or veto a legislature-approved right-to-contraception proposal, Gov. Glenn Youngkin offered a substitute that the bill’s patrons and legal experts say is not as strong. The legislature returns Wednesday to take up Youngkin’s proposed amendments to 116 bills as well as his 153 vetoes. The proposals’ patrons — Sen. Ghazala Hashmi, D-Chesterfield, and Del. Cia Price, D-Newport News — say the bill matters because of the shifting national landscape surrounding reproductive health care laws.
By NATALIE ANDERSON,
Virginian-Pilot
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When she was 16, Sara Tasneem said she had been forced to marry her rapist while she was six months pregnant. “My abuser was 13 years older than me and he was able to marry me and continue abusing me for the following seven years under the protection of a marriage certificate,” Tasneem said. Tasneem said she faced legal barriers when trying to leave the marriage. ... She was one of several abuse victims who shared personal testimonies with Virginia lawmakers last month before the General Assembly ultimately voted to end the practice in the commonwealth. Gov. Glenn Youngkin signed the bill, filed by Del. Karen Keys-Gamarra (D-Fairfax County), into law this month.
