Governor Glenn Youngkin on Friday vetoed bills to regulate marijuana and raise the minimum wage, which were positioned by Democrats in the Virginia General Assembly as possible bargaining chips in negotiations to build an arena for the Washington Wizards and Capitals in Alexandria, Virginia.
The arena project was officially pronounced dead last week, when Monumental Sports and Entertainment announced a deal with Washington, D.C. to stay in the nation’s capitol for decades on Wednesday.
While some Democrats blamed Youngkin’s management of the arena proposal, Senator L. Louise Lucas (D-Portsmouth) called the deal a “non-starter” just days before Monumental announced its agreement.
On Friday, the governor confirmed he was “vetoing bills that would implement drastic wage mandates, raise costs on families and small businesses, jeopardize jobs, and fail to recognize regional economic differences across Virginia.”
The minimum wage legislation was originally sponsored by Lucas, and would have established a $15 per hour minimum wage by 2026. Lucas at one point suggested Youngkin’s signature on the minimum wage legislation was a prerequisite for her support on legislation to fund the Potomac Yards arena, but nonetheless blocked blocked bills to fund it twice.
Youngkin similarly called the legislation to legalize the regulated sale of retail marijuana a threat to “Virginians’ health and safety.”
He said in a statement, “States following this path have seen adverse effects on children’s and adolescent’s health and safety, increased gang activity and violent crime, significant deterioration in mental health, decreased road safety, and significant costs associated with retail marijuana that far exceed tax revenue. It also does not eliminate the illegal black-market sale of cannabis, nor guarantee product safety.”
Despite the vetoes, Youngkin also signed 100 bills, which his administration said in a press release will “strengthen law enforcement’s ability to prosecute child predators and expand Department of Corrections inmate access to quality health services.”
While the governor vetoed two Democratic priorities, Youngkin has yet to act on SB 212, the controversial bill to legalize skill games throughout the commonwealth.
Resembling slot machines, proponents argue the devices are not gambling because they require skill to operate and help small businesses, while detractors warn the bill would bring the equivalent of gambling to neighborhoods across Virginia.
Some speculated that Youngkin could veto the skill games bill as another casualty of the arena fallout, with The Washington Post reporting the possibility in March after the governor described the Democratic Party’s vision for Virginia as placing “a pot shop on every corner” and “a slot machine in every 7/11.”
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Tom Pappert is the lead reporter for The Tennessee Star, and also reports for The Georgia Star News, The Virginia Star, and The Arizona Sun Times. Follow Tom on X/Twitter. Email tips to [email protected].
Photo “Gov Glenn Youngkin” by Gov. Glenn Youngkin CC2.0.
