The morning after the dust settled following Democratic Gov. Abigail Spanberger’s actions on more than a thousand pieces of legislation, Democratic senators expressed their disapproval of her vetoes and amendments.
Democratic members of the Senate Finance Committee meeting hammered Secretary of Finance Mark Sickles, a member of Spanberger’s cabinet, Tuesday morning over the governor’s veto of a bill that would have legalized skill games and an amendment to the cannabis retail framework bill that would push the start of recreational sale to July 2027.
Her actions on both of those bills, they said, would make it more difficult for budget conferees to balance the biennial spending bill. The two chambers don’t appear any closer to an agreement on the budget than in mid March, when the 2026 regular legislative session concluded. The General Assembly is slated to gavel in for a special session to tackle the budget on April 23.
“The only new revenue source in the House budget was skill games — has been vetoed,” said Sen. Creigh Deeds, of Charlottesville, while posing a question about available revenue sources in the budget to Sickles during the Senate committee meeting. “You’ve taken skill games off the table. What’s on the table?”
Sickles said that the administration is “working with the revenues that we have.”
“We are doing well and we probably need, over the future, to look at things if the governor has a goal to help reform the K-12 funding formula… that’s probably going to take more revenue to do so,” he said.
Sen. Aaron Rouse, D-Virginia Beach, who patroned the Senate bill to legalize skill games, reiterated Deeds’ question.
“If the conferees could meet, and start working together, maybe we would find compromise and I think we need to start doing our work. Conferees haven’t met yet,” Sickles said. He added that the administration had not considered alternative revenue sources before vetoing Rouse’s skill games bill.
In conversation later that day, Deeds, a budget conferee, said that the group tasked with smoothing over the budget differences has met but that it’s difficult to negotiate a budget in earnest without a full picture of the revenue that they will be able to work with.
“The governor has now taken one majority revenue source out, she has proposed to delay cannabis by a significant period of time plus scale back the number of licenses available which was another major revenue source we were planning on,” said Sen. Scott Surovell, D-Fairfax, during the finance committee meeting. “It makes it very hard for us to plan when things like that are revealed to us after we’ve already passed bills.”
The Department of Planning and Budget had estimated that the tax revenue brought in by skill games could have been upwards of $249 million. The cannabis framework bill, as passed by the General Assembly, would have allowed recreational sales to begin — and therefore tax revenue of those sales to begin — in January 2027. Spanberger’s amendment pushed the start of recreational sales to July of that year.
Sickles told Surovell that the legislators can accept or not accept the amendments.
“Twenty-one votes will vote it down,” he said.
The General Assembly is slated to reconvene on April 22, ahead of the special session, to take up Spanberger’s actions. The legislative body can reject an amendment from the governor with a majority vote but it would take a two-thirds vote to enact the bill without the governor’s amendment. If the General Assembly rejects an amendment with a simple majority vote, then the bill is sent back to the governor who can then sign it without the amendment or veto it.
Not all of the governor’s party colleagues are upset, however.
Among the hundreds of bills that Spanberger signed were energy-related legislation that included efforts to create an online dashboard of utility disconnection data, increase the amount of battery energy storage that Dominion Energy and Appalachian Power should aim to add to their portfolios, and create a task force to study how to get more low-income residents to enroll in energy-efficiency and weatherization programs.
[Disclosure: Dominion is one of our donors, but donors have no say in news decisions; see our policy.]
Some bills have been sent back to the General Assembly with generally small amendments. Those include bills to fast-track adding battery energy storage to utility-scale solar sites, allowing Virginians to use plug-in “balcony solar” devices to more easily generate solar power at home, and to require localities to individually consider utility-scale solar proposals instead of banning them outright.
“The Governor’s amendments are minor technical changes — the FAST Act is fully intact and Virginia is still making history,” Del. Phil Hernandez, D-Norfolk, said about her actions on his bill, HB 1065.
The bill directs Dominion Energy and Appalachian Power to assess their available interconnection capacity — locations where new power generation resources could more easily be added to the grid because the grid can handle more electricity there than it’s already receiving — and propose pilot programs for adding solar power and battery storage at those locations.
“We’re the first state in the nation to pass something like this, and for good reason: we don’t need to wait years and spend billions to build from scratch when there’s capacity already sitting on the grid. This gets power to Virginians faster and at lower cost. That’s the whole ballgame,” Hernandez added.
Sen. Schuyler VanValkenburg, D-Henrico County, agreed that the governor’s amendments were mostly technical adjustments. VanValkenburg patroned SB 508 — the cognate to HB 1065 — and SB 347, which also received an amendment.
SB 347 would prevent local governments from banning utility-scale solar outright, instead requiring project proposals to be reviewed individually. It would create standardized guidelines for setbacks and other aspects of development that localities could use. It would require localities that reject solar proposals to explain why to the State Corporation Commission, which would create a database tracking such rejections.
“I’m excited that we are going to have a good energy session that I think is going to increase energy supply in the two ways that we know are the cheapest and are going to do the most to keep ratepayer bills down and that’s by building up solar and modernizing the grid that we already have,” VanValkenburg said.
Cannabis, collective bargaining amendments draw ire
Spanberger issued amendments to the cannabis retail framework legislation that bill patrons Sen. Lashrecse Aird, D-Henrico County, and Del. Paul Krizek, D-Fairfax County, said falls short of the standard established in the bill as it passed the General Assembly.
Spanberger’s changes to the legislation include:
- Pushing the start of retail sales from January 2027 to July 2027;
- Reducing the possession limit from 2.5 to 2 ounces;
- Reducing the number of retail stores from 400 to 200;
- Eliminating dedicated allocations for cannabis tax revenues (previously 40% of cannabis tax revenues directed to early childhood care and education, and 30% to support the Cannabis Equity Reinvestment Fund);
- Eliminating detailed statutory licensing framework, shifting key decisions to regulatory action which the lawmakers said would create confusion and lack of clarity for prospective businesses;
- Eliminating support for Cannabis Impact Business Support Team, helping small businesses receive the support they need entering the marketplace; and
- Changes in criminal penalties.
“The Governor’s Substitute represents a significant departure from the framework passed by the General Assembly, raising serious concerns about fairness, access and public safety,” Aird said in a statement. “By making the legal market harder to access, this proposal allows the illicit market to continue to thrive in every corner store in our Commonwealth.”
Spanberger’s amendments undermine the core goals of legalization and increase the likelihood of untested products, inconsistent potency, and lack of consumer protections. It also weakens safeguards designed to prevent youth access and ensure accountability ultimately posing a risk to public health and safety, she said.
What happens next
The General Assembly reconvenes April 22 to take up action on the governor’s vetoes and proposed amendments.
It’s also set for a special session on April 23 for the budget.
“The proposal creates a less accessible legal marketplace,” Krizek said in a statement. “These changes reduce the number of available licenses, delay the launch of retail sales and impose high barriers to entry, resulting in revenue losses, delayed economic opportunity for market participants and the elimination of investment to small businesses. These barriers do not eliminate demand, it simply redirects it back to the illicit market.”
Amendments to bills that would allow collective bargaining for public employees would extend the local government compliance requirement to 2030 and would give the governor more power over the policy details of implementation, Surovell, patron of SB 378, said.
“I’m very disappointed,” he said in an emailed statement. “Few of her suggestions were proposed or discussed during session including in the governor’s feedback during session which was incorporated in the final version that passed. Most of her proposals are nonstarters.”
“There are over 750,000 Virginians who work for state or local government who have been waiting for a seat at the negotiating table since 1949 and they don’t want to wait another four years,” he added.
Additional bill actions; lawmaker and advocate responses
Here are some of the key bills that the governor vetoed or amended:
Animals
Roadside zoos
SB 344, by Sen. Jennifer Boysko, D-Fairfax County
HB 112, by Del. Amy Laufer, D-Albemarle County
Bills aimed at roadside zoos and others that are trading captive wildlife would ban separating baby wild mammals from their mothers before 4 months of age, unless medically necessary, with exceptions including agricultural animals and noncommercial trades between accredited zoological facilities. Also prohibited would be so-called hybridization, or intentionally breeding wild mammals of different species.
Status: Both received amendments by the governor.
Laufer said that the governor’s amendments the bill received are largely technical in nature and do not change the overall intent of the bill.
“I thank the Governor’s administration for their collaboration,” she said.
Education
College board appointments
HB 1385, by Del. Lily Franklin, D-Montgomery County
This bill would change the appointment process to make it clear that gubernatorial appointees do not take office until they are confirmed by the General Assembly. Previously, they took office immediately.
Status: Received amendments by the governor.
VMI study
HB 1377, by Del. Dan Helmer, D-Fairfax County
This bill would initiate a study “to determine VMI’s responsiveness to the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia’s 2021 report on the institution and to explore changes to be made to distance VMI from the Lost Cause.” Initially, the bill directed the task force to examine whether VMI should receive state funding, but that provision was removed, and VMI later endorsed the bill.
Status: Received amendments by the governor.
Jeremiah Woods, a graduate of VMI and proponent of Helmer’s bill who has spoken in support of the legislation at committee meetings, said he does not support the governor’s amendments.
“The original legislation moved toward independent oversight and accountability at [VMI],” he said in a text message. “The substitute shifts that responsibility to the VMI Board of Visitors, asking the institution to evaluate itself. That change raises serious concerns about transparency and whether meaningful accountability can be achieved through an internal review process.”
Electricity
Balcony solar
HB 395, by Del. Paul Krizek, D-Fairfax County
SB 250, by Sen. Scott Surovell, D-Fairfax County
These bills would allow Virginians to use small portable solar generation devices that plug into a standard electric outlet, potentially saving money on electric bills, without entering into a contract with an electric utility. The devices are commonly called “balcony solar” because, rather than requiring solar panels to be installed on a roof or mounted on the ground, their relatively small size allows them to be used in many locations, such as an apartment balcony.
Status: Both bills received amendments by the governor.
Surovell said amendments to SB 250 were largely technical in nature.
Battery energy storage systems on solar farms
HB 891, by Del. Irene Shin, D-Fairfax County
SB 443, by Sen. Jeremy McPike, D-Prince William County
These bills fast-track adding battery energy storage systems, which store excess energy to be deployed as needed, to existing utility-scale solar facilities by saying battery storage is allowed as an accessory use wherever solar farms already have been approved.
Status: Received amendments by the governor.
McPike said Spanberger’s amendment appeared mostly technical.
“I’m still taking a look at the language and some of the implications, but I think the governor’s trying to strike a balance with some of the feedback from localities, and it looks like she’s done that,” he said in an interview. He added that he is likely to support the amendments.
Dominion Energy’s largest customers pay certain costs
SB 253, by Sen. Louise Lucas, D-Portsmouth
HB 1393, by Del. Destiny LeVere Bolling, D-Henrico County
The bills would direct state regulators to decide whether Dominion Energy’s largest category of customers, most of which are data centers, should pay certain costs related to ensuring that power is available even during peak demand times and related to infrastructure needed to connect those customers to the electric grid. It also would expand Dominion’s and Appalachian Power’s energy assistance and weatherization programs and extend the timeline for a Dominion program that buries vulnerable overhead power lines. Critics had argued that the rising cost of the undergrounding program would eventually negate savings from the cost shift to data centers.
Status: Received amendments by the governor.
LeVere Bolling said that she will be respectfully asking that the majority of the governor’s amendments to HB 1393 be rejected, after an initial assessment.
“Many of the proposed amendments go beyond technical edits and instead make significant policy shifts, altering cost recovery structures, changing key thresholds, and revising how the State Corporation Commission evaluates utility investments and customer impacts. These changes materially impact the balance that the General Assembly worked to achieve,” she said in a statement.
She added that she was not “provided with the opportunity to discuss these amendments with the governor or her team prior to their release, which is particularly concerning given the scope of the changes.”
Energy efficiency upgrades
HB 2, by Del. Mark Sickles, D-Fairfax County (now Secretary of Finance)
SB 72, by Sen. Kannan Srinivasan, D-Loudoun County
The bills would require Dominion Energy and Appalachian Power to help some low-income residents who use oil and propane heat transition to energy-efficient electric heat pumps.
Status: Both bills received amendments by the governor.
Srinivasan said that the governor’s amendment to SB 72 is a “simple, technical update that makes no substantive changes.”
“I look forward to accepting the amendment next week, and helping deliver meaningful reductions in heating costs for low-income Virginians through targeted, cost-effective energy efficiency upgrades,” he added.
Gaming
Fairfax County casino
SB 756, by Sen. Scott Surovell, D-Fairfax County
This bill would add Fairfax County to the list of localities eligible to host a casino.
Status: Vetoed by the the governor.
“Skill” games
SB 661, by Sen. Aaron Rouse, D-Virginia Beach
This bill would legalize and regulate the so-called electronic skill games often found in convenience stores.
Status: Vetoed by the the governor.
Guns
Assault weapons ban
HB 217, by Del. Dan Helmer, D-Fairfax County
SB 749, by Sen. Saddam Salim, D-Falls Church
These bills would make it a misdemeanor to import, sell, manufacture, purchase or transfer an assault firearm.
Status: Received amendments by the governor.
“I thank Gov. Spanberger for proposing amendments that are consistent with my goal when I wrote the bill: to end the sale of these weapons without criminalizing what people own today or infringing their 2nd Amendment rights,” Salim said in a statement.
Health care
Prescription drug affordability board
SB 271 by Sen. Creigh Deeds, D-Charlottesville
HB 483, by Del. Karrie Delaney, D-Fairfax County
This bill would create a state-run prescription drug affordability board that would review the pricing of high-cost prescription drugs and, in some cases, set upper payment limits. This is the fourth attempt to create such a board; Gov. Glenn Youngkin vetoed similar legislation in 2024 and 2025.
Status: Both bills received amendments by the governor.
Deeds said that the governor’s amendment turns the board into a strictly advisory board.
“That’s what New Hampshire had adopted and repealed because it was totally ineffective,” he said. “The governor’s amendments, in my view, are basically a veto. I do not intend to support the amendments.”
Delaney said that she is disappointed that the governor’s amendments “do not align with the solution we spent years crafting, and achieved, with immense bipartisan support.”
The General Assembly has voted on this bill five years in a row, and meanwhile Virginians’ medicines have become more and more expensive. Our constituents cannot wait another year for prescription drug relief,” she added.
Labor
Paid family medical leave
HB 1207, by Del. Briana Sewell, D-Prince William County
SB 2, by Sen. Jennifer Boysko, D-Fairfax County
These bills would create a paid family medical leave program, including a tax on employers and employees.
Status: Received amendments by the governor.
“While this is not the bill I originally wrote, I am grateful for Governor Spanberger’s partnership in advancing this commonsense legislation,” Sewell said in a statement.
She added that the bill would support 3.4 million Virginians who “have too often been forced to choose between their livelihoods and caring for their loved ones. This program is not only the right thing to do, but it is also vital for a healthy workforce and a stronger economy.”
Freedom Virginia said in a statement that the amendments to the legislation are largely technical in nature. Freedom Virginia is a 501(c)(4) organization, lobbies in support of “economic advancement policies.”
Face coverings
HB 1482, by Del. Charlie Schmidt, D-Richmond
SB 352, by Sen. Saddam Salim, D-Falls Church
The House bill would ban state and local police officers from wearing face coverings. The Senate bill applies to federal officers operating in Virginia.
Status: Received amendments by the governor.
“These bills were meant to draw a clear line against abuse, fear, and unnecessary cruelty. The amendments would make the bills toothless, a right without a remedy,” Salim said in a statement.
“I appreciate anyone who is willing to engage in good-faith efforts to improve these bills, but on this issue I am not interested in symbolism or half-measures. If we are serious about peace, justice, and the rule of law, then we must be willing to stand firmly behind protections that actually work in practice, not just on paper,” he added.
