Youngkin vetoes 25 bills, signs 700 into law following General Assembly legislative session

Virginia GOP Gov. Glenn Youngkin has vetoed 25 bills – including several that would have raised fees on household waste collection – and made Virginia the second U.S. state to prohibit "name, image, likeness" deals for high school athletes.

"My goal as governor is to make Virginia the best place to live, work and raise a family, and the bills I vetoed today reaffirm that commitment," said Youngkin, elected last year on a platform that promoted creating a most industrious Virginia.  

"I look forward to working together with members of the General Assembly in the future to ensure that we're working for all Virginians," he also said Monday. "Together we can make the Commonwealth a place where businesses can prosper, students can thrive, and communities are safer." 

In addition to vetoing the dozens of bills, Youngkin amended over 100 others and signed more than 700 into law.

According to the governor's office, many of the amendments were small and technical in nature – though some pertained to larger-scale measures like eliminating potential tax increases and changes to a bill that would have allowed law enforcement the limited use of facial-recognition technology.

"The bipartisan accomplishments of this legislative session will be strengthened by the amendments I have added and will increase the positive impacts on Virginians," the governor continued.

The Virginia House of Delegates is in the hands of Republicans, while the state Senate remains under Democratic control, so each bill that reached Youngkin's desk required some degree of bipartisan agreement.

The General Assembly will have a chance to override the vetoes and amendments when it returns for its "veto session" in late April.