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Today’s Sponsor: Fairfax County Jobs Coalition
Fairfax County is projecting a $300 million budget shortfall.
That’s why the Fairfax County Jobs Coalition, a group of unions and community groups, supports the proposed Entertainment District & Casino in Tysons Corner.
5,000 New Union Jobs
A world-class project featuring a high-end hotel, performing arts venue, restaurants, retail, and dedicated workforce housing.
Essential Revenue: A 2019 JLARC estimate of $155 million in state tax revenue— over $100 million annually for Fairfax County.—funding for teacher raises, public schools, and critical services.
VANSM
Virginia families are looking to our leaders to make life more affordable, all while predatory “skill” games are targeting the very communities that can least afford financial losses. The majority of illegal machines are placed in low-income neighborhoods. Virginians see what’s happening – 67% oppose legalizing these machines.
Guest Commentary: The General Assembly has gone home; now it’s the governor’s turn
By Ali Ahmad
Ahmad is a senior managing director for PLUS Communications and senior visiting fellow at the Thomas Jefferson Institute for Public Policy. He previously served as a deputy chief of staff and director of policy and legislative affairs for former Gov. Glenn Youngkin.
When the House and Senate adjourn sine die, the citizen legislators do indeed head home without delay. Even with a biennial budget left undone, the end of the regular General Assembly session is a chance for everyone to breathe. Except for Gov. Abigail D. Spanberger and her staff.
Welcome to “Bill Review.” Here’s the basics: Article V Section 6 of the Constitution of Virginia gives the governor 30 days from sine die to act on all legislation passed during the General Assembly session, in this case, by 11:59 p.m. on April 13, 2026. If the governor does not act on legislation by the deadline, it automatically becomes law. The governor can sign a bill, veto it, or offer a “governor’s recommendation” (amendment), which can be as simple as a technical correction requested by the Division of Legislative Services or the Office of Attorney General, or a completely rewritten substitute bill.
The General Assembly reconvenes shortly after that to vote up or down on the bills returned with “governor’s recommendations” and possibly challenge some of the governor’s vetoes. If the General Assembly returns the bill by rejecting an amendment, the governor is on another 30-day clock to either sign or veto the bill outright.
From the view of the Third Floor, the legislative season doesn’t really end until late May or even June; the Capitol just gets a lot quieter. Meriwether’s will be infinitely less crowded over the next 27 days, but lobbyists are still calling, legislators are still haggling over language, and stakeholders on opposite sides of an issue are still being summoned to find “peace in the valley.”
But all of that action and attention will focus on the governor and those who have her ear.
My boss, Gov. Glenn Youngkin, read every bill line by line, poring over the Fiscal Impact Statements, agency analyses, cabinet recommendations, stakeholder correspondences, and memos from his staff. He dispatched us to follow up with subject-matter experts, General Assembly members in support and in opposition, and, most importantly, the Virginians who would be affected by a bill.
As chief executive, he did not view his job as simply “voting” like the 101st delegate or the 41st senator on any bill before him. Charged with implementing the law, the governor must first and foremost focus on what the bill will actually do, whether there will be collateral damage, and the holistic impact of all legislative changes on Virginia families and businesses.
Gov. Youngkin judged every bill he reviewed by the campaign promises he made: did it cut costs for families, improve education, keep communities safe, support job and opportunity growth, or make government work better for Virginians? If it did none of those things and was not completely innocuous, the bill faced a substantive amendment or a veto regardless of the patron or the party vote totals.
In the case of our new governor, she must now look at over 1,000 bills presented to her and determine not just whether they were part of her Affordable Virginia Agenda, but whether they, on balance, raise or lower Virginians’ cost of living.
Of the 11 bills acted on by the governor to date, the most attention has zeroed in on HB 1384 and HB 29, budget bills that will effectuate the Democratic “10-1” gerrymander if their constitutional amendment passes on April 21 (barring further court action).
But HB 29, the traditional “caboose” budget, also mandates the commonwealth rejoin the interstate Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI) compact; membership in which is funded by mandatory fees passed on to all electricity customers, costs which are expected to exceed $500 million a year.
When it comes to affordability, the governor is looking at not only increased electricity bills through RGGI, but also a new billion-dollar payroll tax for a state-run insurance program. Also, the fiscal impact of funding new state, local, university, and health care worker collective bargaining agreements.
Also the costs passed on to consumers through a host of new regulations, fees, and liability costs imposed on employers.
Legislators have cast votes on all of these individual bills, but the governor now has the constitutional responsibility to step back and consider the cumulative effect on Virginians’ wallets… and the opportunity to use her pen wisely.
McGuire and Wittman withdraw redistricting lawsuit
Reps. John McGuire, R-VA05, and Rob Wittman, R-VA01, asked the Richmond Circuit Court to dismiss their lawsuit that was seeking an injunction against the redistricting referendum. This move is merely a technicality, as the Virginia Supreme Court has already ruled that the referendum will move forward.
The Supreme Court stated they still plan to take up the case and rule on the legality of the redistricting referendum, but they do not want to interfere in the voting process while that happens.
