Richmond – Today, Governor Abigail Spanberger has vetoed a number life-changing pieces of legislation, all of which passed the General Assembly with unanimous or near-unanimous Democratic support, and all of which were the product of years of hard work by community leaders, advocacy organizations, and people impacted by the issues.
The vetoes began midday, with the veto of the Prescription Drug Affordability Board, despite the fact that helping to defray the costs of healthcare was a signature part of her campaign for governor last year. The bill was championed by Senator Creigh Deeds and passed with strong support, even from some Republicans. The bill would have brought federal price controls on certain expensive medications into the Virginia market and would have helped community members struggling with prescription costs.
Next, she vetoed Senator Deed’s bill helping rein in college governing boards and boards of visitors, which became an issue during former Governor Glenn Youngkin’s term, when his political appointees tried to radically remake the University of Virginia to fit the dictates of the Trump administration.
After that, she vetoed Delegate Katrina Callsen’s bill to protect sensitive areas like courthouses, schools, and polling places from the kind of broad, overreaching federal immigration enforcement we saw in Minnesota and other targeted communities. Then she vetoed legislation that would have created the framework for a retail cannabis market. The retail market would have both allowed the cannabis that people in our community already buy to be taxed, tested, and regulated, and would have provided a critical source of revenue for the Commonwealth during a contested budget cycle where the Governor has also spoken out against a fair share tax on high earners and revenue generated by eliminating an expensive tax credit for data centers.
“These vetoes are absolutely baffling, and a profound betrayal of the millions of community members who campaigned for, advocated for, knocked doors for, and voted for this Governor,” said Ashleigh Crocker, Interim Executive Director of Progress Virginia. “People voted for Governor Spanberger because they believed she would work with progressive legislators to pass laws that would make people’s lives a little better, a little easier, a little fairer. They’ve watched in disappointment as she has vetoed bill after bill that would have made a real difference to their ability to survive federal chaos and the slowing economy. While the party label may have changed, for the people impacted by these vetoes, the outcome feels painfully familiar. This Governor’s party affiliation does not allow her to escape accountability, and we will be here demanding better for people in our community.”
Background:
- Senator Creigh Deeds’s SB271 would have established a prescription drug affordability law to adopt some federal price controls into the Virginia marketplace in order to control the cost of several expensive prescriptions. Its passage was one of the most bipartisan in this year’s General Assembly session, passing on a vote of 95-4.
- Senator Deed’s SB494 concerning boards of visitors and other higher education governing boards passed on a vote of 62-35.
- Delegate Katrina Callsen’s HB650 would have protected some sensitive areas like schools, courthouses, and polling places from federal immigration enforcement. The bill passed the Senate on a vote of 21-19. The Governor’s proposed amendments, rejected by the General Assembly, hollowed out the primary protections of the bill and limited it down to a simple bill requiring federal immigration officers to have judicial warrants when conducting immigration raids in sensitive locations.
- SB542, sponsored by Delegate Lashrecse Aird, would have established a retail cannabis market. The Governor’s amendments would have delayed the creation of the market by a significant margin and increased penalties for some small marijuana possession crimes by more than 200%.