Virginia lawmakers will reconvene in Richmond on Wednesday to consider Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s recent vetoes and amendments following this year’s legislative session.
Youngkin signed 599 bills, amended 159 and vetoed 157. He also returned the budget with 205 amendments.
Overriding Youngkin鈥檚 vetoes would require a two-thirds supermajority 鈥� an unlikely scenario given Democrats鈥� razor-thin majorities in the state Senate and House of Delegates.
“I don’t expect any of those to be overridden,” said Democratic Sen. Scott Surovell, the Senate majority leader.
However, lawmakers only need a simple majority to reject Youngkin鈥檚 amendments. Still, the governor has the final say on any legislation that reaches his desk after Wednesday鈥檚 session.
Youngkin’s budget amendments are expected to be the main focus.
“The governor has made about 205 amendments to the budget, and I suspect that the vast bulk of them 鈥� probably 90% to 95% 鈥� will probably be rejected,” Surovell said.
The budget bill modifies the final year of the state鈥檚 two-year spending plan.
“The governor will have a bill in front of him that probably has a few of his amendments in it and a whole bunch of our amendments in it,” Surovell said. “He will have to decide whether or not he wants to try to line-item veto any additional amendments in the bill, or he has to decide whether to sign the bill as a whole or veto the bill as a whole.”
“Those are the three choices he has,” Surovell added.
Youngkin said that he hoped to bolster Virginia鈥檚 rainy-day fund by $300 million in light of economic uncertainty surrounding the White House鈥檚 overhaul of federal jobs and its impact on the state鈥檚 workforce.
The $300 million would be on top of nearly $295 million already slated to be set aside over the biennium. Youngkin said the reserved revenue would give Virginia a cushion of $5 billion.
鈥淚t enables us to feel confident that if there is a bump in the road, we can deal with it,鈥� he said.
Surovell said the idea does not have support from Democrats.
“Virginia already has about $4 billion in our rainy day fund and our revenue reserve fund, and $300 million is about 8% of that,” Surovell said. “We have a lot of money ready in case it’s needed.”
Youngkin鈥檚 original budget proposal in December aimed to provide permanent tax relief by eliminating taxes on tips and personal vehicles for lower- and middle-income earners. Lawmakers rejected the idea, instead approving a plan to give each taxpayer a $200 rebate.
Youngkin said he would support the rebates, which had bipartisan backing.
“We have agreement about that,” Surovell said.
In the budget bill, lawmakers removed Youngkin鈥檚 proposal to withhold state funding from localities that do not fully comply with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. They also scrapped his $50 million Opportunity Scholarship program, which would have provided low-income families with vouchers for private school tuition.
In his amendments, Youngkin reinstated versions of both provisions.
鈥淚 pared back my request: Let鈥檚 take $25 million, and let鈥檚 provide lower-income Virginia families an opportunity to pursue an alternative education path that might fit their family and their children鈥檚 best opportunities,鈥� he said. 鈥淲hy not try it?鈥�
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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