An expansion in flood relief, money for Virginia Military Institute, and an attempt to resurrect his school voucher program were among the more than 200 budget amendments Gov. Glenn Youngkin unveiled Monday.
The governor took action on 213 items total in the budget amendment package adopted by the General Assembly in February. Those actions include 205 line amendments and 8 item vetoes. The full list of actions the governor took was not yet available online Monday evening. The General Assembly will return to Richmond on April 2 to take up the governor’s vetoes and proposed amendments.
The changes were made to a budget package that had wide bipartisan support, after the Senate voted 37-3 in support of the spending bill and the House approved the measure in a 81-18 vote on the last day of the 2025 legislation session. The conference budget package included 515 amendments to the 2025-2026 biennium which passed during a special session in 2024.
Youngkin’s changes include a $300 million addition to the state’s rainy day fund for a total of $5 billion in rainy day fund.
“There are a substantial number of opportunities for us to simply rein in spending,” Youngkin said, when asked about the increase. “We are setting Virginia up to have literally a fortress balance sheet.”
Federal cuts top of mind for governor, Democrats
The governor acknowledged the possibility of financial disruption, attributable to federal workforce and funding cuts at the federal level, but called the actions of the Trump administration needed to rein in government spending. President Donald Trump and his administration launched a sweeping effort that began on inauguration day to cut the federal workforce along with spending in a number of different government agencies.
“It’s our first budget since we’ve been discussing these topics,” Youngkin said. “The actions that are being taken to restore fiscal responsibility in Washington are necessary.”
There were about 145,000 federal jobs in Virginia, according to the Office of Personnel Management, before the federal funding and workforce cuts began. About 315,000 federal workers lived in Virginia, according to the Census Bureau — that included federal employees who lived in Virginia and commuted into Washington, D.C., or Maryland — and there were about 400,000 contracted employees in the commonwealth, before the cuts began.
“Trump is destroying Virginia’s economy, hurting workers, decimating health care and our schools. Virginia Democrats’ budget stands up to Trump — delivers $1.1 billion back in the pockets of Virginians, $782 million for K-12, $134 million for teacher bonuses, $55 million to lower tuition and millions for housing,” House Speaker Don Scott, D-Portsmouth, said in response to the governor’s budget amendments. “We need a governor who will support Virginians, not cave to Trump and [Elon] Musk.”
Flood relief expanded to include February storms
Youngkin’s budget amendments retain $50 million for disaster response and recovery following Hurricane Helene, and broaden the recipients of that money to include those affected by February flooding.
Many homes and businesses were damaged and some destroyed in February in Dickenson County, Tazewell County and Buchanan County, where the community of Hurley was particularly hard hit again.
“If approved by the General Assembly, this program will be similar to what we provided for the communities of Hurley, Whitewood, and Bandy in previous floods,” Del Will Morefield, R-Tazewell County, said in a statement. “To date, roughly $20 million dollars in grant assistance has been awarded directly to individuals and businesses to help rebuild from the previous floods. We look forward to working with our colleagues in the General Assembly to ensure this is approved in the state budget.”
Youngkin attempts to restore $80 million for VMI after superintendent’s contract not renewed
The governor included $80 million for the Virginia Military Institute Center for Leadership and Ethics in his budget amendments, “because it belongs at VMI and it should be finished,” Youngkin said.
Funding for the project had been removed from the budget during a dispute between the state Senate and House of Delegates over costly commitments at Virginia Commonwealth University and the University of Virginia, according to a report by the Richmond Times-Dispatch.
The Republican governor had suggested that the Democratic-controlled General Assembly used the budget to force the VMI board of visitors to renew the four-year contract of Maj. Gen. Cedric Wins, the first Black superintendent of the 186-year-old public military college, according to the Times-Dispatch report.
The board of visitors voted at the end of February not to renew Wins’ contract, effectively ousting the superintendent.
The move followed weeks of debate among Virginia lawmakers about whether Wins’ tenure should be extended or whether efforts to keep him were solely based on efforts to advance a diversity, equity and inclusion agenda. All 10 board members who voted against an extension for Wins were appointed by Gov. Glenn Youngkin.
Wins, a VMI alumnus, was named interim superintendent in November 2020 and was formally appointed in April 2021. His contract expires June 30.
Speaker Scott’s office did not respond to a request for comment on the $80 million added back into the budget for VMI by Youngkin. Scott was critical of Wins’ ouster, and called it “political.”
Other items resurrected, added or maintained by Youngkin
The governor included $25 million for a proposed school voucher program that had been included in his December budget proposal. That item was removed from the conference budget.
“I’m hoping that [the General Assembly] will have a moment to reconsider things,” Youngkin said when asked if he thought the measure would be passed by the General Assembly during the April 2 reconvene session. “We’re not taking any money away from public education.”
The governor also maintained a pay bonus for teachers and state employees.
A $20 million line of credit to support runway extension at the Roanoke-Blacksburg Regional Airport was also restored.
About $7.5 million was also included for utility infrastructure investment at a key business site in Pulaski County.
Here are some bills the governor acted on
Midnight on Monday was the deadline for Gov. Glenn Youngkin to either sign, veto or amend the 917 bills the General Assembly passed in the recent session. We’ll have a longer account on some of the bills we’ve been following after the legislative website has updated, but here are some where we know the outcome:
- The governor signed the bill that gives Bristol the power to deal with the former Virginia Intermont College property, which it considers blighted.
- He also signed a bill to set up a grant program to encourage more people to become large animal veterinarians.
- He vetoed a bill that would have allowed localities to require developers of commercial property to install canopies of solar panels over large parking lots.
