Audio: VA Del. Paul Krizek Says Youngkin Not “Adroit” at Negotiations, Doesn’t Understand How General Assembly Works, “going about this all the wrong way”; “We’ve got to get a…Democratic Governor”

Earlier this afternoon on WAMU’s “The Politics Hour” with Kojo Nnamdi and Tom Sherwood, VA Del. Paul Krizek (D-Fairfax) – a member of the House Appropriations Committee  – had some interesting things to say about Glenn Youngkin (including the possibility Youngkin might veto the entire budget, which would be “unprecedented”), the proposed Potomac Yard arena deal, setting up a cannabis marketplace, “skills games,” etc. Check out the audio, below, as well as the following highlights:

• “At the very least if [Ted Leonsis is] willing to break a lease in DC –  and our financing is predicated on his long-term lease in  Virginia, you know, for the bond financing – and he’s willing to do that, then that doesn’t bode well for for the deal or for Virginia. And of course, he’s now got to negotiate with DC to get out of this deal which, is going to…cost some money obviously, and then…we’ve got to negotiate with him…I mean, the governor’s frankly…been a bit obsessed with this; it’s his number one priority.”
• “I don’t think [Youngkin] understands the dynamics of the way the General Assembly works; he’s probably not used to having a board of directors of 140 delegates and senators…I think he’s going about this all the wrong way…from the very get-go, from the beginning…he has not been very good at…not been adroit at any kind of negotiation…I would like to see him hold a public a public hearing in Alexandria; let’s hear from the people who are going to be directly affected.”
• “I’m pretty convinced that…there’s not much he can do to make this a good deal…You just mentioned the fact that [Ted Leonsis is] willing to violate the lease in in DC…The traffic down there is going to be much worse, you only have one Metro track going through there, you don’t have the intersection you have in Chinatown, with you can walk from a number of different Metro stations there – in Alexandria you can only…get there from one…Again, like I said, we don’t see this as economic development for the region, because you’re just kind of robbing Peter to pay Paul, you’re moving the development from Chinatown to Alexandria…it’s just a redistribution – the same workers, the same everything, and it’s just in a worse place.”
• “[Youngkin vetoing the entire budget] would be unprecedented, frankly it’s never happened that I’m aware of and certainly in my nine years in the General Assembly it’s not happened…This is a bipartisan budget…we worked across the aisle; there’s things in this budget for…the entire Commonwealth – a historic investment in public schools, brings down the cost of living, improves access to health care, and it really creates opportunities for families to thrive across the Commonwealth…For him to veto the entire budget based on this one $2 billion deal that he’s been working on…It would really be unprecedented…our constitution says we must have a balanced budget, we must have that budget done by July 1st, which is the fiscal year.”
• “…we have a $3 billion illicit market [for marijuana]…all over Virginia, you can buy it illegally, and you’ve got to remember drug dealers aren’t IDing for age verification, they’re not checking products in a lab for purity or potency, they’re not accurately labeling them, they don’t use childproof packaging…[the bill] should stand on its own merits, it  shouldn’t be a part of any arena deal, but unfortunately it looks like it may be…the idea is obviously to get rid of the black market and also to recognize the high price paid by the
  Black communities and the war on marijuana use…We estimate that by the third year, there would be a billion dollars of revenue…for retail sales...[Youngkin] said a cannabis store on every corner, which this bill does not do at all, this bill does the opposite in fact, it gives out 350 licenses, which is less than what you see, I think we have over 400 ABC stores in Virginia…and you don’t see them on every street corner…We’re just going…keep coming back two more years…We’ve got to get a…Democratic Governor and that’s what we’re going to keep fighting for.”
• “So far, [Youngkin] has 91 vetoes, the record is 120 – he already has the record for his four-year term and he still has another year to go…I’m hoping that he will take the bill that I passed, I had a substitute that we laid over the original skills game bill…a lot more things in it that would make it a safer…”
• “That’s certainly a possibility [that Youngkin could run against Mark Warner in 2026]; I think he’s trying to angle for Vice President with Trump right now.”
• “Normally with big public works projects, we have years of
  public engagement, you get to have public hearings and this is I think one of the reasons these kinds of big deals get this blowback from the community is because the community is not involved in it…That’s why I’d like to see the governor come and hold a public form in Alexandria, but…that’s not going to happen.”