After the Governor reviewed all of the General Assembly’s passed legislation, he signed 738 bills into law, amended 78, and vetoed 3. Virginia’s “veto session” commenced on April 12th. During veto session, the General Assembly votes on the Governor’s amendments and vetoed bills. Amended bills need a simple majority of votes to accept or reject the Governor’s amendments to legislation. If the amendment fails, the Governor decides to veto the bill or sign it as-is. It takes the General Assembly a 2/3rd vote to override a Governor’s veto.

The conservation community reviewed the Governor’s amendments and took a position on three amendments that affect Virginia’s environment. See how they turned out:

Prescribed Burn at the Piedmont Environmental Council’s Memorial Overlook in Fauquier County Photo by Hugh Kenny.

VCN opposed amendments to HB2026/SB1231, which were ultimately rejected by legislators. These bills were highly negotiated between the biomass and our environmental community throughout the session, eventually leading us to change our position from “oppose” to “neutral. The Governor’s amendments attempted to bring back anti-climate concepts already defeated by the Senate. The amendments would have prolonged fossil fuel operations around the state and given special treatment to a single biomass facility by exempting them from the requirements of our clean energy policy. 

VCN supported amendments to SB1441, which unfortunately were rejected by the General Asembly. The Governor’s forward-looking amendment requires a competitive solicitation process for Virginia’s next offshore wind project. Virginia is poised to be a leader in offshore wind energy development, and this amendment would have helped transition our electric grid to clean energy in the most cost-efficiency manner.

VCN opposed amendments to HB2393, which would have removed participating research universities from the Commonwealth’s research university collaborative, designed to aid state agencies when setting coastal resilience policies. 

The amendment came after the College of William and Mary announced the restructuring of their Virginia Coastal Policy Center (VCPC), since the General Assembly named both VCPC and Old Dominion University’s Institute for Coastal Adaptation and Resilience as collaborators for the Commonwealth’s coastal resilience policy strategy. The VCPC may be closing, but William & Mary will substitute the program with its new-and-improved “Virginia Coastal Resilience Collaborative,” which supports a broader, multidisciplinary, and university-wide approach.