Democrats hold a majority in both chambers of the General Assembly, so it was no surprise that Gov. Abigail Spanberger signed most of the hundreds of bills that were sent to her desk this session. Still, the governor didn’t hesitate to veto and amend bills in the weeks and hours leading up to the April 13 11:59pm deadline.
The Virginia Legislative Information System lists 972 bills as approved or enacted by the governor as of press time. Spanberger vetoed eight pieces of legislation and recommended amendments to 112 more. Another 68 measures were marked as “awaiting governor’s action.”
Governors must act on legislation sent to their desk during a session of the General Assembly within seven days of receipt, says the Code of Virginia. Any bills passed in the last seven days of a session must be acted on within 30 days of the session adjourning. If the governor fails to sign, veto, or amend legislation passed by the General Assembly by the deadline, the bills become law.
Spanberger’s eight vetoes cover everything from judicial reforms and skill games, to local Del. Amy Laufer’s proposed mattress stewardship program.
The governor spiked HB1288, and its Senate cognate SB17. As passed, the bills would have increased the maximum value of repossessed vehicles sold at public auction without a court order, from the current $12,500 cap to $17,000. “House Bill 1288 [Senate Bill 17] would put more vehicle owners at risk by increasing the vehicle valuation limit,” reads an excerpt from the veto. “[The bill] would result in a significant increase in the number of vehicles that could be sold without going through the process of getting a court order.”
Concerns about consumer protections and affordability drove several of Spanberger’s vetoes, including skill game legislation and a bill advancing the proposed Fairfax County casino to a referendum.
“The rapid expansion of gaming in Virginia over the last decade has outpaced the Commonwealth’s ability to provide consistent enforcement, robust public safety oversight, and meaningful assessments of the potential impacts or harms of gaming in all its forms,” said Spanberger in her veto of SB661. “Without an entity in place to evaluate and mitigate social, economic, and public impacts, the Commonwealth is not positioned to expand gaming and legalize electronic skill gaming devices.”
Spanberger struck down SB756, which would have allowed Fairfax County residents to directly vote on the creation of a casino and sidestep the county’s board of supervisors, because of the potentially dangerous precedent created by circumventing local government.
She mentioned public safety, accountability, and potential unintended consequences in blocking SB764 and HB637, bills that recommended the expansion of deferred dispositions for DUI charges and creation of a lesser tier of punishment for trace possession of controlled substances, respectively.
“[HB637] would create a new offense with misdemeanor penalties for possession of drug residue, which would have the unintended and regrettable consequence of making offenders who are arrested for possession of residue ineligible for drug court,” Spanberger wrote. “Drug courts in Virginia help provide comprehensive substance abuse treatment under intensive supervision to defendants who struggle with substance use disorders and have proven valuable to offenders and public safety.”
The governor also vetoed the judicial system reform proposed in SB23, which would have ended the ability for defendants to waive their fourth amendment rights (privacy and protections against unreasonable search and seizure) as a condition of a plea agreement. Under current law, Virginians do not have to waive their fourth amendment rights to receive a plea agreement. But it’s a common practice with established standards in place to protect defendants, something Spanberger asserts is a valuable option for both parties.
In an interesting departure from the other vetoes, Spanberger snuffed out 55th District Del. Laufer’s bill that would have created a mattress recycling program. “[HB86] would require Virginians to pay a new fee for a mattress recycling program earmarked for one specific organization,” wrote Spanberger in the last-minute veto. “While I value the need for reliable recycling for mattresses—which crowd landfills, mandating that all mattress retailers that sell to Virginians participate in a single recycling program and increase their prices makes this program unworkable for the Commonwealth.”
The Virginia General Assembly will reconvene on April 22 to consider the governor’s vetoes and amendments. A special session the next day will focus on the budget, which legislators have yet to set for the upcoming fiscal year.
