Senate Dems criticize Youngkin’s budget amendments

Virginia Senate Democrats had a lot of criticism Tuesday for Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s proposed reworking of the state’s 2024-26 budget but held back on saying whether they would vote yea or nay on his 233 amendments.

Senate Majority Leader Scott Surovell, D-Fairfax, said late Tuesday afternoon that he and fellow legislators had not had time to read and fully digest Youngkin’s suggested amendments, which were posted late Monday to the state budget website and provided to lawmakers a few hours earlier. Surovell noted that in 15 years serving in the General Assembly that he has never seen a governor suggest so many amendments after the legislature has passed its amended budget.

“The governor’s amendments are supposed to be nips and tucks, not organ transplants,” Surovell said in an interview with Virginia Business. “We really haven’t had a chance to process it.”

After the governor releases his amendments, the legislature returns to Richmond to vote on each amendment, which require a simple majority of each chamber to succeed — a process that typically takes one day but could take up to the 10-day limit under the state’s constitution, during which the legislature must complete its business. All of this is out of the ordinary, Surovell said.

Surovell added that the governor had reached out to Democratic finance leaders Sen. Louise Lucas and Del. Luke Torian for their input on his changes, noting that was highly unusual too. “They explained to him that the way the process works, he’s supposed to make his amendments. We’re not supposed to have input in his amendments, and that’s the way every governor has operated for the 15 years I’ve served, and the same thing with Sen. Lucas,” Surovell said. “I’ve talked to prior governors. The governor needs to take responsibility for the amendments he wants to make.”

On Monday, Youngkin announced that he had made 233 amendments to the 2024-26 budget as passed by the Democratic-controlled House of Delegates and state Senate, as well as 11 changes to the 2022-24 state budget, including the removal of wording added by Democrats to require Virginia’s future participation in the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative, a major priority for Democrats. However, Youngkin backed off from some of his priorities, including cutting personal income taxes.

Youngkin’s 2024-26 budget includes $21.2 billion in K-12 education spending, increases higher education spending by $1 billion and increases health and human resources spending by $3.2 billion. It also proposes a 3% teacher pay raise each year, caps college tuition increases at 3%, fully funds Virginia’s share of Metro’s operating shortfall, and provides toll relief in Hampton Roads and additional funding for Interstate 81, according to the governor’s presentation.

In the introduction to his budget amendments released Monday, Youngkin wrote, “The budget passed by the General Assembly eliminated over $850 million of my priority spending items in the introduced budget and $1 billion of tax relief; the Common Ground budget restores only $230 million of those priorities.”

In a news release Tuesday from the Virginia Senate Democratic Caucus, Lucas blasted the amendments: “Gov. Youngkin’s so-called ‘common ground’ budget is a farce. As Senate Finance and Appropriations chair, I find his amendments to be shortsighted and not in the best interest of the commonwealth. His budget defies common sense and highlights a significant disconnect that cannot be overlooked.”

In a press gaggle held Monday, Surovell said that he has “a lot of questions” about the budget, particularly about one-time funds he says Youngkin is relying on to balance his budget, and whether all the  amendments meet constitutional requirements. Also, Surovell said, “He did not explain in his presentation what he’s doing with the $2.4 billion revenue carry-forward from last year’s budget or the $800 million revenue reserve fund. … You don’t structurally balance a two-year budget by using one-time money in year one and then figuring it out later.”

Meanwhile, the governor vetoed a total 153 bills passed by the General Assembly, a single-year record for the state that exceeds the number of bills vetoed by any other modern Virginia governor in a four-year term. Among Monday’s vetoes was a measure that would have established a prescription drug affordability board to conduct a review on drug costs.

On Sunday, the Senate Democratic Caucus is expected to meet virtually and discuss their plans regarding Youngkin’s budget, Surovell said. The General Assembly returns to Richmond on April 17 to take up the amended budget, and the legislature must complete their work and vote on the budget within 10 days, according to the state Constitution.