Governor Glenn Youngkin formally received the budget on Thursday, launching a seven-day timeline to review the budget and amend or veto parts of the bill, but the current budget ends at the end of June, creating a tight timeline.
The budget with his changes must be available for 48 hours before the General Assembly votes on it.
“We can’t come back before the 16th, and we probably have to come back before the end of June,” House Appropriations Chair Barry Knight told The Virginia Star on Thursday. “If I had to guess, I’d say between the 16th and the 25th, and probably the sooner the better.”
The budget includes major tax relief and education spending that Youngkin has pushed for, but it doesn’t include a gas tax holiday. Additionally, the budget includes some legislation on policy, including education, that Youngkin may want to change. A spokesperson didn’t indicate what changes the governor is considering.
When legislators met to pass the budget earlier this month, Senate Republicans urged Youngkin to amend the legislation and suggested that the delayed budget compromise was a ploy to keep Youngkin from implementing changes. Senate Democrats suggested it would be better to not delay the process with more changes to the compromise.
State Senator David Suetterlein (R-Roanoke) said in the session, “I would like to see the full grocery tax repealed, and I hope we get there. I also hope that the governor will not allow for further incentivizing delays like this. I think it would be a huge mistake for him not to participate in the budget process like he’s supposed to and the Constitution envisions.”
He added, “I hope the Governor will participate. I think there’s some good things he can do, and I hope he will.”
This article originally appeared in The Virginia Star. The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the positions of The Republican Standard. Republished with permission.