Governor Glenn Youngkin had until midnight April 8 to take action on remaining legislation passed by the General Assembly earlier this year. Future stories will cover those bills, but in the interest of raising public awareness about how bills become laws I’m presenting this series of stories. Legislators come back to Richmond on April 17 to take action on the actions of the executive branch.
On Friday, Youngkin vetoed two bills that would have prevented the Board of Medicine from taking action against a medical professional who provide “abortion care that is not prohibited under the laws of the Commonwealth” even if the care took place out of Virginia.
“This bill also opens the door to a resurgence of unsafe, risky abortions occurring outside of clinical settings, and it places any unprofessional behavior during an abortion outside the Board’s jurisdiction for disciplinary action,” Younkin wrote in his veto statement on HB519 and SB716.
HB1539 would have prevented extradition of a medical professional if the alleged crime in another state was related to reproductive health care services as defined in the bill. Youngkin said this would threaten rule of law in the United States.
“The extradition process among the states has a long and successful history within an established legal framework required by the U.S. Constitution,” Youngkin wrote in that statement. “This bill would undermine that framework and disrupt the extradition laws in all fifty states.”
SB15 is a similar bill that was also vetoed.
A bill from Delegate Marcus Simon (D-13) would have abolished the common-law crime of suicide. This passed the House of Delegates on a 62 to 37 vote but more narrowly in the Senate on a 20 to 19 vote. Youngkin said the Commonwealth has already eliminated criminal prosecution.
“In recent years, the Commonwealth has made significant improvements in mental health, including decriminalizing the effects of mental health conditions, and increasing resources for those in crisis,” Governor Youngkin wrote in his statement.
Under Virginia law, localities have the ability to issue a tax on plastic bags. HB4 would have clarified how towns that enact their own ordinance would receive the revenue. Youngkin does not think such taxes are good policy.
“Plastic bag taxes fail to achieve their intended goals and burden Virginians amid escalating inflation,” reads the veto statement. “Redirecting tax revenues to towns may further encourage governmental reliance on these taxes, exacerbating the issue.”
SB373 would have established a paid family leave and medical leave insurance program under the Virginia Employment Commission.
“The bill provides that the amount of a benefit is 80 percent of the employee’s average weekly wage, not to exceed 80 percent of the state weekly wage, which amount is required to be adjusted annually to reflect changes in the statewide average weekly wage,” reads a summary of the bill. “The bill caps the duration of paid leave at 12 weeks in any application year and provides self-employed individuals the option of participating in the program.”
Youngkin pointed out that the legislation did not apply to state employees and that was unfair.
“The proposed paid family and medical leave program is a one-size-fits-all solution that removes the incentive for the private sector to provide these benefits,” Youngkin wrote in his veto statement. “Many businesses in Virginia already have paid family and medical leave policies.”
HB442 would have required landlords who own more than four rental units to work out a payment plan with tenants in arrears before terminating a rental agreement.
“This bill would insert the government between housing providers and tenants and interfere with these relationships and the parties’ freedom to craft an arrangement that fits their needs,” Youngkin wrote in that veto statement.
Another tenant protection bill is HB598 would have extended to 14 days the current five-day waiting period after a written notice of nonpayment and the termination of a lease and eviction.
“Under current law, tenants have a right of redemption and can pay any amounts due before an eviction to halt the eviction process, making the bill unnecessary,” Youngkin wrote.
HB817 and HB1251 also extended protections to tenants and Youngkin vetoed those as well.
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