Earlier this week, Virginia could not agree on a budget for the next two years. So, the Governor and both sides agreed to symbolically meet in the epicenter of the Capitol in the shadow of Geroge Washington’s statue and plot a way forward. That path will take the General Assembly into a Special Session in May to try to resolve what was a significant impasse between the Republican Governor and the Democrat majorities in both the Senate of Virginia and the House of Delegates.
At issue is how to develop a budget and get it passed before the end of the fiscal year on 30 June. That’s a good thing because the Governor’s 242 amendments to the proposed budget bill might have caused the General Assembly to remain on the floor into the wee hours of the morning when fatigue sets in and tempers flare. Not a good scene. I know. I’ve seen it.
So, the Governor and the legislature jointly agreed to set the amendments aside and start over from scratch in May. Governor Youngkin and the legislature have been at loggerheads for some time. Late last year, he ceremoniously announced a deal with sports owner Ted Leonsis to build a major sports arena in Arlington. The Democrats, not wanting to give a governor a “win” on—much less in—the arena, stonewalled him, not even bringing the bill up for consideration in the Senate. That happens when the political stakes are high. And they are. Younkin is a popular governor, and the Democrats know it. So, every time they can put a chink in his armor, they do.
The result? Hostage taking in the form of budget amendments and vetoes that leave just about everybody unhappy. Essentially Youngkin has killed all the Democrat bills with a sizable veto buffer supporting him, just as Democrats nixed just about all of his initiatives.
There’s lots of blame to go around and it’s not new. Blame-storming almost always outstrips brainstorming in politics. Accompanying that is much ill-will reaching back to Youngkin’s first years when the Senate blocked a number of his appointments to cabinet positions. That didn’t have to happen if the Administration had had a strong legislative agenda team that knew the people, the politics, and the policy. That was wanting. But the Democrats have played petty politics with Youngkin since his narrow victory over Terry McAuliffe in 2021. He scored an impressive and deserved victory. But the one mistake that both parties make in politics is coming into office assuming a mandate they do not have. Often hubris sits behind that.
So, what should the Governor and his legislative pals do?
Negotiate. Seriously. Without redlines or demands they know for certain will be rejected.
I have some thoughts on that, not that anybody in Richmond gives a hoot about what a washed-up former legislator has to think. I found out quickly that the best way to make sure your phone calls are not returned by your former legislative colleagues or the administration, is to become a former legislator. Your suggestions are nice…but.
Nevertheless, I have some ideas.
First, start the process with a nice dinner in the Governor’s Mansion. No business. Just food, drink, and fellowship. End with a genuine hope that all can put their cudgels aside and get on with a compromise budget.
Second, set the ground rules that the Governor would like to see from both parties. A good way to begin is to set the baseline rules for the budget negotiations to include (1) limiting new spending, (2) agreeing to adequately fund the essentials; public safety, education, transportation, universities, (3) foregoing new spending that would build into the budget outyear spending that may one day not be affordable (we called this creating a “structural imbalance”), and (4) don’t write language in the text to create laws in areas that are unrelated to the budget that had failed in previous stand-alone bills. We famously called this “legislating through the budget.”
Third, the Governor should meet separately with both sides to determine what they want to see in the budget, including general proposals and numbers. Both sides offer three pet issues.
Fourth, follow this with a joint conference to signal where he agrees with both sides as well as what he would like to see in the budget language and the numbers.
Finally, the Governor should be a willing participant, actively and personally, in the discourse. Don’t send emissaries. Do it yourself. He should show that he’s “all in” to avoid the argument that the negotiating environment somehow isn’t credible between him and the legislature. The Virginia legislature has proudly and correctly contended that it does not serve UNDER the Governor, but rather WITH him. Acknowledge that.
Who knows, we might even get a budget on time.
SCOTT LINGAMFELTER, a retired Army colonel, served in the Virginia General Assembly from 2002 to 2018. He is the author of “Desert Redleg: Artillery Warfare in the First Gulf War” (University Press of Kentucky, 2020) and “Yanks in Blue Berets: American UN Peacekeepers in the Middle East” (UPK, July 4, 2023).