In addition to vetoing HB 805 (Rasoul)/SB 14 (McPike) and SB 597 (McPike), as discussed above in Capitol Contact, Governor Youngkin issued vetoes for 150 bills, for a total of 153 vetoes. The legislature will have the opportunity to override these vetoes at the April 17 reconvened session; a supermajority vote of two-thirds of members present in each chamber is required, a high hurdle in many instances, given the narrow margins in both the House and Senate.
Several bills of interest to local governments were vetoed:
- HB 1 (Ward)/SB 1 (Lucas), which would increase the minimum wage from $12 per hour to $13.50 per hour, effective January 1, 2025, and to $15 per hour, effective January 1, 2026
- HB 4 (Martinez), which would require counties imposing a tax on disposable plastic bags to distribute a portion of the revenue to towns located within the county
- HB 265 (Simon), which would make certain revisions to the process of removing public officers
- HB 354 (Hope), which would direct the Board of Health to promulgate regulations governing swimming pools, to include requirements for water treatment and disinfection, safety equipment and features, and facility staffing, among other elements
- HB 529 (Hope), which would expand certain local authority for tree conservation or replacement during the development process
- HB 570 (Delaney)/SB 274 (Deeds), which would establish the Prescription Drug Affordability Board and empower the Board to conduct affordability reviews of certain high-cost drugs and impose upper payment limits on a limited number of drugs annually
- HB 623 (Price), which would revise the state-level Virginia Voting Rights Act preclearance process established in 2021
- HB 698 (Krizek)/SB 448 (Rouse), which would establish a framework for the retail sale of cannabis
- HB 990 (Maldonado)/SB 370 (Boysko), which would bar prospective employers from seeking wage or salary history from a prospective employee or from failing to disclose wage or salary ranges in job postings, among other provisions
- HB 1100 (Carr), which would expand to all localities current authority granted to localities within Planning District 8 to adopt an ordinance providing for the conservation of trees during the land development process
- HB 1177 (Sickles)/SB 606 (VanValkenburg), which would require Virginia to rejoin the Electronic Registration Information Center (ERIC)
- HB 1398 (Bennett-Parker), which would allow a locality to adopt an ordinance to preserve affordable housing by providing for a right of first refusal to purchase certain properties
- HB 1408 (Srinivasan), which would direct the Department of Elections to establish standards and guidelines for the number and locations of voter satellite offices
- SB 373 (Boysko), which would establish a paid family and medical leave program for covered employees (defined to exclude state employees, constitutional officers and their employees, and employees of local school divisions)
- SB 428 (VanValkenburg), which would clarify certain logistical aspects of conducting local elections via ranked-choice voting
- SB 570 (Ebbin), which would expand the definition of “employer” under the Virginia Human Rights Act to include political subdivisions in requirements to provide reasonable accommodations for persons with disabilities and waive sovereign immunity to civil actions under the Act
VACo Contact: VACo Legislative Team