Governor Youngkin’s Bad Veto Session: Fails to Pass Signature Policy Initiative While Democrats Protect Progress

Governor Youngkin’s Bad Veto Session: Fails to Pass Signature Policy Initiative While Democrats Protect Progress

Democrats kill all of the Governor’s controversial amendments while Republicans turn their backs on  everyday Virginians

Richmond, VA – Yesterday during the reconvene session, Governor Youngkin failed to pass his main policy promise to suspend the gas tax holiday in a bipartisan rebuttal. Along with his failure on the gas tax, Democrats rejected all of his controversial amendments including his amendment which would attempt to roll back the cannabis legalization law, reinstating criminal penalties into the law.

The Republican Party reaffirmed their commitment to maintaining higher insurance costs, supporting negligent slum lords, and harming minority-owned businesses by sustaining Governor Youngkin’s most egregious vetoes. These Republican-sustained vetoes include:

• H.B. 675 – Sustained veto of bill that could have cut health insurance premiums by 4.5% and lowered the number of uninsured by 14,000.
• H.B. 573 – Sustained veto of a bill to grant life-altering medical debt amnesty for thousands of Virginians by putting a statute of limitations on medical debt, so that after three years, families can’t be sued for debt they often had no choice in procuring.
• H.B. 802 – Sustained veto of a bill to empower localities to take greater steps against negligent slumlords, allowing them to help tenants and ensure community members are living in safe and healthy environments.
• H.B. 820 – Sustained veto of a bill that would address disparities affecting minority-owned small businesses.
• S.B. 271 – Sustained veto of a bill to protect living organ donors from health insurance discrimination.
• S.B. 297 –  Sustained veto a bill would have helped victims of crime to deal with their medical debt.

Democrats today once again reaffirmed their support for protecting Virginia’s progress and killed all of the Governor’s controversial amendments. Among the amendments Senate Democrats killed were to:

• S.B. 591 – Amendment would roll back the cannabis legalization law, reinstating criminal penalties into the law, therefore strengthening the black market for dangerous synthetic marijuana products, and specifically penalizing home growers.
• S.B. 163 – Amendment would have allowed surrogacy contracts to prohibit abortions, which could endanger women’s and unborn children’s lives.
• S.B. 474 – Amendment would have forced indigent tenants to pay bond to their landlords in eviction lawsuits.

“Governor Youngkin’s incompetence was on full display yesterday for all Virginians to see,” said DPVA spokesperson Gianni Snidle. “Governor Youngkin failed to pass his signature policy and Democrats stopped his attempts to roll back our progress. The one silver lining for Governor Youngkin and his allies is that they have shown Virginians where their allegiance lies – with negligent slumlords, skyrocketed healthcare costs, and against everyday Virginians.”