The General Assembly has hundreds of the governor’s amendments to tackle
RICHMOND, Va. – The Virginia General Assembly will be busy on Wednesday, working to sort through
hundreds of bills that Governor Glenn Youngkin has amended.Among those pieces of legislation are 205 amendments to the state budget, some of which address national issues such as immigration cooperation and federal government downsizing.“One of the governor’s amendments is to require local governments to cooperate with ICE. I think that’s something that’s got to be in there. We’ve got to get that passed,” said State Sen. Glen Sturtevant, (R) 12th District.Additionally, the proposed budget change also includes a push to bolster Virginia’s rainy-day fund by $300 million in the wake of widespread layoffs at federal agencies across the Commonwealth. Youngkin hopes to use those additional funds to support unemployed federal workers in Virginia.“That investment has already been made, and to add additional money to the rainy day fund means that we are not making investments where we actually could be,” said State Sen. Lashrecse Aird, (D) 13th District.Lawmakers will also be tasked with reviewing 159 amended bills. This includes a bill that was passed by the General Assembly, requiring school boards to alert parents about the importance of safely storing prescription drugs and firearms. Youngkin’s proposed amendment added a clause that would require schools to notify parents if a student requests faculty or staff to affirm their gender identity in the classroom.“I expect that the Republican caucus will support our Republican governor and say that he’s making good changes to most of the legislation,” said Del. Mike Cherry (R), 74th District.Another amended bill includes legislation to regulate license plate readers used by law enforcement.The governor wants data to be retained for 30 days instead of 21 days.He also amended a bill limiting social media use for kids and teenagers under the age of 16.“I’m going to ask my Senate colleagues to accept his amendments around my social media bill. We could see legislators accept his amendments on the cell phone policy bill,” said State Sen. Schuyler VanValkenburg (D), 16th District.If amendments are rejected, the governor can either sign the original bill or veto it, including the state budget.
