The reconvened session of the 2025 General Assembly occurred on April 2. It is commonly known as the “veto” session and is held for the legislature to consider the governor’s vetoes and amendments of bills that passed in the preceding General Assembly session. As a reminder, it only takes one house by a majority vote to reject amendments, and a two-thirds vote of both to override a veto.
There weren’t any big surprises. The Governor’s vetoes were all upheld. Democrats hold slim majorities in both the House and the Senate. It is very rare for members of a governor’s party to vote to overturn a veto. The last time that occurred was in 2011. That year, Governor Bob McDonnell had a wink and a nod deal with the Virginia Trial Lawyers Association to allow for an increase in the cap on medical malpractice verdicts. He vetoed the bill but made it clear to the General Assembly that he expected the veto to be overridden. He was simply trying to uphold a promise made during his campaign to be governor.
The one slight surprise during the veto session was that Republicans in the House of Delegates gave Democrats enough votes to reject the Governor’s amendments and preemptively override a veto of four bills. The Republicans in the Senate would not go along with those plans. They are not on the ballot this year, so they lacked the election year pressure to override the Governor. Rejecting the Governor’s amendments only takes a majority. So, the bills with rejected amendments, including those four, now go back to the Governor. While he can now veto those bills, I am hopeful he will sign them into law.
Mailbag – Budget Items
The Governor amended the budget to set in place the process for the acquisition of the Oak Hill property in Loudoun County. Oak Hill was a mansion that was built by President James Monroe. The only former presidential property that the Commonwealth owns is Highlands, another Monroe property. The Oak Hill property has been in private hands for many years. The owners wish to sell it and will do so at a discount to the Commonwealth for the purpose of making it a state park. The property also comes with a sizeable endowment. The Governor’s proposal would specifically prohibit the use of state dollars to acquire or maintain the property and would leave the final approval at the hands of two people, the chairs of the House Appropriations and Senate Finance and Appropriations Committees.
First, the state already has a backlog of $360 million of maintenance reserve on existing park property. The Oak Hill Property, while noteworthy, requires a significant amount of money for ongoing expenses and maintenance. Frankly, the language itself was in many respects nothing more than a promise to let somebody else make decisions without any real creativity about how you would fund those decisions or plan for what happens if the private funding is depleted.
The second problem is the backlog in park development. There are a number of state park acquisitions in the queue already. The surrounding communities have been looking forward to the development of state parks in their area, and this would have potentially jumped those properties. While we must consider both issues, I do not think the concerns are insurmountable, especially given the property’s historical significance and natural resources.
All budget amendments were first considered in the House, since the budget originated in that chamber. The House rejected this amendment in a block, along with the vast majority of the Governor’s budget amendments. Therefore, the Senate never had an opportunity to consider the Oak Hill amendment. It is my hope that we can develop a plan by the end of the year, the owner’s deadline.
A second budget issue that has generated a lot of inquiries is local project funding. The budget we adopted in February included $1.5 million to help establish a low barrier homeless shelter in Charlottesville. A second amendment included $1.3 million for an accessible walking trail connecting Biscuit Run Park to the future Monacan Indian Nation Tribute Park in the Southwood Mobile Home Park redevelopment project. The Governor slashed those amendments to $750,000 and $300,000 respectively. These amendments were among those rejected by the House.
The Governor also offered a budget amendment to extend the data center sales and use tax exemption to 2050, without any additional restrictions or requirements. As you know, the Virginia General Assembly already considered and ultimately rejected such an extension. Unsurprisingly, the House rejected this amendment as well.
As I noted, the budget is back on the Governor’s desk, so he still can do the right thing and agree to the amendments we adopted in February.
Beyond the Budget
The Governor made amendments to a couple of controversial bills. First, he wanted to expand the definition of felony homicide to include drug dealers and he worked to restrict the ability of people to get off of probation. The legislature rejected the amendments to the first bill. We have spent several years adopting policies to reduce fentanyl deaths and expand access to treatment of substance use disorders. This policy is just not a solution to addressing the underlying problems. With respect to the second issue, the amendments were agreed to in large part because the Governor’s amendments will have no real effect, as the bill already included a reenactment clause.
Special Subcommittee
Senator Louise Lucas, as Chair of the Senate Finance and Appropriations Committee, established a special subcommittee to help prepare Virginia for the inevitable cuts in federal funding. I was honored to be appointed to the subcommittee, which met for the first time on Wednesday morning. At this point, we are reacting to rumors and potential proposals. Based on the President’s pronouncements and the outlines of bills that have passed, we anticipate funding cuts, but the federal government has not yet acted. We are doing what we can now to prepare and think through options.
We also are measuring the impacts of federal action on Virginia’s economy. We have more than 145,000 civilian federal employees who live in Virginia. We have a huge military presence here. Because of those factors, Virginia is arguably more dependent on federal spending than any other state. We have seen the impacts on our federal workforce since President Trump took office. We have also read about the potential impacts of the tariffs and are watching the volatility in the stock market. On the morning of the reconvened session, we received an update from the Federal Reserve that basically shows there is some unsteadiness in the economy because people were uncertain about the impact of the tariffs and about the direction we are headed. But the presentation also underscores that Virginia’s economy is generally in good shape. We have many strengths that other states don’t have, and we have to continue to maintain a positive business climate.
Judges
While the 2025 Session has concluded, the General Assembly has not adjourned the 2024 Special Session. As such, we also convened in special session on Wednesday to elect judges. In addition to filling seats on the Supreme Court and the Court of Appeals, we elected Kara Larson to serve as a Juvenile and Domestic Relations Judge of the Sixteenth Judicial District. The 16th District encompasses the City of Charlottesville, and the Counties of Albemarle, Culpeper, Fluvanna, Goochland, Greene, Louisa, Madison, and Orange. The judge is expected to preside in Culpeper and the other jurisdictions further north.
If you would like to hear more about the 2025 Session, please keep an eye out on social media for upcoming legislative forums. As always, please let me know if you are having problems with a state agency and need assistance, have a suggestion for a bill for the 2026 Session, or just want to chat. My office is located at 411 8th Street NE and can be reached at 434-296-5491 or by email at senatordeeds@senate.virginia.gov.
Best,
