VIRGINIA, USA — Virginia House Speaker Del. Don Scott, D-Portsmouth, says he's not surprised by Governor Glenn Youngkin's recent sweep of vetoes, including bills related to a minimum wage increase, gun control and marijuana sales, which are key priorities for Democrats.
"Nothing that he did was unexpected," said Scott on Monday.
In Virginia, the governor can amend or veto line items to the budget.
Scott said he thinks Youngkin used his power in a "punitive" way after key Democrats rejected the Governor's coveted arena deal.
"I'm not surprised that he used some vetoes to continue to punish some folks," said Scott.
Scott mentioned Louise Lucas, a fellow Portsmouth lawmaker and a key antagonist to Youngkin’s arena aspirations, supports the legal marijuana bills.
Before his veto, Youngkin signaled that he would not support legislation to approve the sale of marijuana and that he didn't think the minimum wage legislation was needed.
“I review every bill on its individual merit. I believe that every bill deserves a full reading and review, which I give every bill. I make a judgment based on what I think that bill will do to move Virginia forward or damage Virginia," said Youngkin.
But what does this mean for budget negotiations?
Last week on X, a Republican state senator from Chesterfield suggested lawmakers scrap the plan and start over.
Meanwhile, Scott stressed the proposed budget deal passed with bipartisan votes. Both he and Youngkin said they remain optimistic lawmakers can work together to approve a budget.
'I will just ask people to continue to be patient. We are going to continue to try to work with the governor to get things done," said Del. Don Scott, Va. House Speaker (D-Portsmouth).
“We have a lot of work to do on the budget, but I am optimistic that we can in fact land a compromise common-sense budget that can fund our shared priorities without raising taxes on Virginia families by $2.6 billion," said Youngkin in a statement.
Scott said the General Assembly had two months to work on the budget and passed deals on time for the first time since 2017. He said they received bipartisan support because the deal aims to raise teacher pay and minimum wage, invest in schools and state workers and provide family leave.
Virginia lawmakers are scheduled to meet to consider the governor's amendments and vetoes on April 17.
The governor could also veto the spending plan and force a special session to start again, but if that happens, Scott said the priorities for Democrats will not change.
As for the bills Youngkin has vetoed, Scott said he does not expect to have the necessary votes to push them through and they are likely dead for this session.
"But we’ll come back next year and then if we have to, we’ll come back in about 19 months when we have a new governor and try to get these priorities done,” he said.