RICHMOND, Va. — Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin and negotiators in the General Assembly have agreed to set aside the proposed state budget and reconvene in May for a special session, multiple sources confirmed to 13News Now.
The agreement comes amid an impasse in getting the state budget for 2024-26 finalized due to disagreements between the Republican governor and Democratic lawmakers in the majority. The deadline to finish the budget is June 30.
House Speaker Don Scott, Sen. Louise Lucas, and Del. Luke Torian were among the representatives involved in the negotiations to restart the process.
After Democrats passed their own budget during the regular session, Youngkin sent the legislation back to the legislature with more than 200 amendments. During a Wednesday vote, all 100 members of the House of Delegates voted to rule those amendments "specific and severable."
According to a resolution passed in the General Assembly on Wednesday, the legislature will reconvene on May 13.
The move marks a change in course from what had been expected as recently as Tuesday and was made in an effort to reduce the tension surrounding the budget negotiations, top leaders said.
Youngkin and Assembly Democrats, at odds over tax policy and other provisions of the next two-year spending plan, have spent the weeks since the regular session ended launching partisan attacks at one another and seemed headed toward a protracted standoff, which would threaten a government shutdown unless they could strike a deal by the end of June.
“Everybody's had their posturing. We've got to get this done," Gilbert said.
Members of the part-time Assembly, who reconvened Wednesday for a short session to consider Youngkin's vetoes and proposed amendments to legislation, voted to use a procedural maneuver to effectively scrap the current budget bill so they can start anew.
House Speaker Don Scott told reporters the decision was made in the hopes of restarting talks in a more conciliatory manner, with the goal of bringing lawmakers back to the Capitol in May for a vote on a compromise spending plan.
Democratic leaders had been saying as recently as Tuesday afternoon that they planned to reject nearly all of the governor's proposed budget amendments. That would have forced Youngkin to decide whether to veto the bill — a move that would have been seen as extraordinary.
After the last-minute meetings between Youngkin and Assembly leaders, lawmakers settled on the change in course.
Youngkin, who spoke with leaders from both parties and both chambers at a brief news conference in the Capitol, said there's broad agreement that policymakers are close to agreement on the budget.
“I think this is a very positive step forward to reaching a budget that serves the Commonwealth of Virginia and reflects the collective ... priorities — from everyone — including the General Assembly,” Youngkin said.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.