Governor Spanberger Issues Vetoes

RICHMOND, VA - Governor Abigail Spanberger announced she is issuing additional vetoes after the 2026 reconvene session.

"I am grateful to every member of the General Assembly for their efforts during this legislative session. Together, we've taken historic action to expand paid family and medical leave to more than three million hardworking Virginians, cap the out-of-pocket cost of insulin, and enact bipartisan legislation to address the rising cost of healthcare, housing, and energy," said Governor Abigail Spanberger. "With the chaos out of Washington continuing to raise prices and create uncertainty for families and businesses alike, we have shown Virginians that we can deliver to make our communities safer, stronger, and more affordable for all."

Governor Spanberger continued, "I support the intent of many of the bills I am vetoing, however, it is my responsibility as Governor to make sure all new laws can be successfully implemented and protect against unintended consequences that harm Virginians. I look forward to continuing to work with bill patrons, state and local leaders, and advocates on legislation addressing these issues in the future."

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The Governor is vetoing House Bill 61, because the bill as enrolled would prohibit nearly 800 women-owned and minority-owned businesses in Virginia from continuing to leverage the Small, Women, and Minority-Owned program to compete for contracts.

The Governor's official veto statement for House Bill 61:

The SWaM program was officially established by Governor Kaine almost 20 years ago and has been instrumental in providing meaningful business opportunities to small businesses and women and minority-owned businesses. The Commonwealth has leveraged this program to demonstrate the value of investing in SWaM businesses, which today provide many important services to the state.

House Bill 61 would fundamentally change the SWaM program by altering the definition to limit participation to small SWaM businesses. These changes would limit state contract opportunities for nearly 800 women-owned and minority-owned businesses that currently participate in the program and would reduce Virginia's current SWaM spending by at least $340 million dollars. Excluding previously-eligible businesses from participation, as the enrolled bill does, would fundamentally change the trajectory and purpose of the SWaM program.

My amendments to this bill would have maintained the requirement for a disparity study every five years but would have given my administration additional time to work with the General Assembly to strengthen the SWaM program and avoid these unintended consequences. Unfortunately, the General Assembly rejected these amendments.

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The Governor is vetoing House Bill 111, which relates to maintaining voter rolls.

The Governor's official veto statement for House Bill 111:

I support the intent of this legislation, which is to protect the integrity of our voter rolls by ensuring that voters are not inappropriately or unduly removed. My amendments to this bill would have provided additional time to work on this legislation to ensure it achieves its purpose without risking unintended consequences, such as placing administrative burdens on grieving family members.

The General Assembly rejected these amendments. I look forward to working with legislators in the future on shared priorities related to list maintenance and election integrity.

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The Governor is vetoing House Bill 246 and Senate Bill 335, which would risk increased confusion and inconsistencies in Virginia's legal system.

The Governor's official veto statement for House Bill 246 and Senate Bill 335:

This bill would effectively create a new legal standard applicable to just one criminal charge for a specific group of people, risking increased confusion and inconsistencies in the Commonwealth's legal system. I appreciate the challenge this bill is trying to address and recognize the difficult situations that individuals with mental illnesses, neurocognitive disorders, and intellectual or developmental disabilities - and their families - face in our justice system. And as such, my amendments to this legislation sought to uphold fairness and discretion in our criminal justice system while maintaining the bill's intended purpose.

The General Assembly rejected my amendments, but I look forward to working with the bill's patron and stakeholders to address this issue in the future.

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The Governor is vetoing House Bill 449 and Senate Bill 229, which would create a new class action process in Virginia.

The Governor's official veto statement for House Bill 449 and Senate Bill 229:

I support the General Assembly's goal of providing a class action mechanism that can be used by plaintiffs in Virginia courts. I offered amendments to ensure that when Virginia adopts its first-ever class action procedure, we do so in a tailored and judicious way - building on longstanding, federal precedent while providing regional circuit courts an opportunity to develop expertise. The General Assembly did not accept these amendments.

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The Governor is vetoing House Bill 483 and Senate Bill 271, which would create a prescription drug pricing system similar to those that have not worked to lower prescription drug prices in other states.

The Governor's official veto statement for House Bill 483 and Senate Bill 271:

I share and appreciate the General Assembly's commitment to lowering prescription drug costs for Virginians. During this past General Assembly session, the legislature took important steps toward lowering healthcare costs by passing bills to hold pharmacy benefit managers accountable and to require health insurance carriers to offer plans that cap monthly out-of-pocket costs for drugs. I was proud to sign these critical bills into law. However, I am vetoing HB483 and SB271 because evidence from other states clearly show that Prescription Drug Affordability Boards ("PDABs") do not achieve this goal. They are expensive undertakings that other states have either repealed or are considering repealing due to costs and ineffectiveness.

As such, I offered amendments to the General Assembly that would have directed the Prescription Drug Affordability Advisory Panel to study a reference-based pricing system before the state spends millions of dollars on implementation. My amendments also would have required greater drug pricing transparency for consumers and policymakers, providing new data to give insight into drivers of out-of-pocket costs in Virginia. Lastly, my amendments would have expanded the Attorney General's investigatory and enforcement authority to crack down on anticompetitive behavior between pharmaceutical manufacturers and insurance carriers.

Unfortunately, the General Assembly rejected these amendments. I look forward to partnering with the General Assembly on proposals that will reduce the cost of prescription drugs for Virginians across the Commonwealth.

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The Governor is vetoing House Bill 639, which does not specify a cap on funds, property, or services election officials can accept from individuals and nongovernmental entities.

The Governor's official veto statement for House Bill 639:

In 2022, the General Assembly passed legislation prohibiting the State Board of Elections, the Virginia Department of Elections ("ELECT"), local electoral boards, and all offices of the general registrar from soliciting, accepting, using, or disposing of any money, grants, property, or services given by a private individual or nongovernmental entity for the purpose of funding voter education and outreach programs, voter registration programs, or any other expense incurred in the conduct of elections.

House Bill 639 seeks to address some of the unintended consequences of the 2022 law, particularly concerns that the law prohibits election administrators from accepting certain low-price items, like a free coffee on Election Day, or resources to assist with voter outreach. I agree with the intent of this bill, and I offered several amendments to ensure appropriate guardrails are in place for the acceptance of private funds and services. The enrolled bill includes a $1,000 cap, but does not specify whether the cap is weekly, monthly, annually, or all-time. My amendments would clarify that the $1,000 limit is on an annual basis, require recipients to disclose any money, grants, property, or services provided by a private individual or nongovernmental entity to ELECT, and require ELECT to establish guidelines for acceptable uses of funds for general registrars and local election officials.

However, the General Assembly rejected these amendments which would have ensured additional clarity and guardrails on the use of private funds in election administration and voter registration programs.

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The Governor is vetoing House Bill 642 and Senate Bill 542, which would establish a retail marketplace for cannabis products without the timeline, structure, or resources to be successfully implemented.

The Governor's official veto statement for House Bill 642 and Senate Bill 542:

I share the General Assembly's goal of establishing a safe, legal, and well-regulated cannabis retail marketplace in the Commonwealth. Virginians deserve a system that replaces the illicit cannabis market with one that prioritizes our children's health and safety, public safety, product integrity, and accountability.

As Virginia pursues a legal retail market, it is critical that we incorporate lessons learned by other states and ensure that our regulatory framework is fully prepared to provide strong oversight from day one. That includes clear enforcement authority and sufficient resources for compliance, testing, and inspections, and robust tools to crack down on bad actors who continue to profit from the illicit market.

I greatly appreciate the patrons' time crafting this important piece of legislation as well as our continued dialogue and collaboration to strengthen this framework ahead of the next legislative session. I remain committed to working with members of the General Assembly, stakeholders, and law enforcement to get this right.

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The Governor is vetoing House Bill 1173 and Senate Bill 258, which would insert menopause and perimenopause as protected categories in the Virginia Human Rights Act.

The Governor's official veto statement for House Bill 1173 and Senate Bill 258:

For too long, menopause and perimenopause have been inadequately studied, their impacts on women's health overlooked and treatment for symptoms underfunded - leaving many women without healthcare options or treatment for symptoms. As such, I was proud to sign legislation requiring mandatory insurance coverage for medically necessary menopause and perimenopause-related treatments.

Under the Virginia Human Rights Act, women experiencing menopause or perimenopause are protected from workplace discrimination based on existing protections for age and gender. As we consider whether to explicitly add menopause and perimenopause to the list of named, protected categories, my amendments to this bill would have required a study to better understand the potential impacts of doing so.

While the General Assembly rejected these amendments, I look forward to working with the bill patrons in the future to ensure Virginia is leading on issues of women's health.

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The Governor is vetoing House Bill 1222, which would mandate the full recording of child welfare interviews without discretion for social services.

The Governor's official veto statement for House Bill 1222:

In 2002, Virginia's Child Protective Services introduced the Differential Response System to create a more flexible, family-centered system with response options for valid reports of abuse or neglect. Under this system, cases are assigned either to a traditional investigation track or to a family assessment track, which focuses on identifying strengths and needs to best deliver services to families. While interviews are generally recorded on the traditional investigation track, they are not typically recorded during the family assessment track.

House Bill 1222 would change this approach. While I agree with the general purpose of the legislation, I offered amendments which would ensure the ability to record all interviews, while also providing discretion within social services when such a recording is unnecessary or not to the benefit of the child. However, the General Assembly rejected these amendments.

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The Governor is vetoing House Bill 1385 and Senate Bill 494, which would make several changes to the governance of public institutions of higher education that risk further politicizing these institutions.

The Governor's official veto statement for House Bill 1385 and Senate Bill 494:

The Commonwealth's public institutions of higher education provide world-class educations and conduct groundbreaking research. Strengthening these institutions requires strong, effective governance across our colleges and universities, and recent challenges have demonstrated the importance of reinforcing governance structures and processes so that our institutions remain resilient and successfully advance their missions.

I offered amendments that would remove certain provisions that could further politicize our institutions of higher education and undermine the current efforts of my Administration and Boards to stabilize governance of the Commonwealth's universities. I also removed provisions that had no clear connection to addressing the challenges our boards have experienced in recent years. My amendments also would have clarified various timelines and processes for appointments to affirm the General Assembly's role and responsibility in confirming appointments.

While the General Assembly rejected my amendments, I remain committed to enacting reforms that will strengthen higher education governance in Virginia.

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The Governor is vetoing House Bill 1392 and Senate Bill 83, which would make statewide changes to courthouse safety processes.

The Governor's official veto statement for House Bill 1392 and Senate Bill 83:

Without additional study or a clear public safety benefit, I do not support mandating new statewide security screening exemptions for attorneys at courthouses. Any such statewide changes to security protocols should be based on clear evidence that such changes would have no impact on - or ideally, improve - public safety.

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The Governor is vetoing Senate Bill 218, which would prohibit the placement of inmates transferring to Virginia via the Interstate Corrections Compact at Red Onion State Prison.

The Governor's official veto statement for Senate Bill 218:

The Interstate Corrections Compact is an agreement among 38 states and the District of Columbia that allows certain prison inmates to serve their time in a state other than their state of conviction. There are several reasons inmates may serve their sentence in another state, including to be closer to friends and family and to avoid potential security concerns that could arise as a result of gang affiliation or a high-profile crime. The Virginia Department of Corrections exercises discretion and careful consideration of an inmate's background and security risk when determining placements of out-of-state inmates transferring to Virginia.

Since taking office, my administration has worked diligently on reforms within the Department of Corrections, and I look forward to working with the patrons of Senate Bill 218 and other members of the General Assembly to further address the serious challenges in Virginia's maximum-security prisons. But restricting the placement of high-security inmates transferring to Virginia from out-of-state prisons does not further reforms or improve conditions, and could in fact risk heightening unsafe conditions in Virginia's correctional system.

My amendments would have provided additional time to work with legislators and proactively address any potential unintended consequences of this proposed restriction. Unfortunately, these amendments were rejected by the General Assembly.

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The Governor also last week vetoed House Bill 1263 and Senate Bill 378.

The full list of vetoed bills is available here.

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