Youngkin budget changes focus of 1-day legislative session

RICHMOND—Gov.Glenn Youngkin’s proposed changes to the Virginia budget were being reviewed by lawmakers Friday in a one-day session.

Legislators sent the Republican governor a compromise spending plan June 1, and he has returned it, asking for several dozen amendments, many of which were likely to face opposition in the Democrat-controlled Senate.

One of the first amendments taken up in the GOP-controlled House also faced opposition there.

House Republicans made a motion to shelve a proposal to create a felony penalty for certain actions during demonstrations aimed at judges or other officers of a court. Youngkin put forward the change after protests outside the northern Virginia homes of some U.S. Supreme Court justices in recent weeks.

The chamber also shelved a companion amendment that would have provided the Department of Corrections funding for the potential increase in prison bed space associated with creating a new felony.

House Speaker Todd Gilbert said his caucus voted against it because “it was a unique procedural move that we thought required additional vetting.”

The House went on to agree to many other Youngkin amendments.

The chamber signed off on his proposed change to suspend the roughly 26 cents per gallon tax on gasoline from July 1 through Sept. 30. The amendment also includes language to cap future gas tax increases. Youngkin has been calling for a gas tax holiday since his campaign.

The House voted to expand the type of institutes of higher education that can partner with K-12 systems on so-called lab schools, an initiative the Youngkin administration says will help foster innovation in education.

And it signed off on adding language to the budget that would further limit when public funds can be used for abortion services. Currently, Virginia denies state funding to women who are eligible for Medicaid and seek abortions, except when the mother’s life is at risk and in cases of rape, incest or severe fetal diagnoses. The amendment would eliminate the exception for incapacitating fetal diagnoses.

The House voted first on all the budget amendments because the legislation originated in that chamber. The Senate was expected to take them up later Friday. Both chambers must agree to an amendment for it to be approved.

Friday’s meeting came as the governor and General Assembly inch toward a June 30 deadline to pass the two-year spending plan that would take effect July 1.