Sen. Louise Lucas, D-Portsmouth, who chairs the Senate Appropriations Committee, wrote on social media that some of Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s proposed budget amendments have no chance of passing when the General Assembly returns to Richmond next week. Specifically, Lucas and Speaker of the House Don Scott, D-Portsmouth, say that legislation establishing the Virginia Gaming Commission is “dead on arrival.”
Despite being sponsored by Democrat Del. Paul Krizek, D-Fairfax, the gaming commission legislation never received a vote, and it was not included in the final budget that the General Assembly sent to the governor.
The commission would be tasked with overseeing and regulating all forms of legal gambling in the commonwealth, except for the state lottery.
Youngkin is trying to bring it back to life, however, by including it in his budget amendments.
“Given the rapid growth of gaming around Virginia, it is imperative that we establish a consolidated, coordinated, professional oversight,” Youngkin said during a press conference Monday.
“We are always hearing about DEI from Governor Youngkin,” Lucas wrote Wednesday while sharing a screenshot from the TV game show Wheel of Fortune. “He needs to buy some new vowels. His gaming commission is DOA when it gets to us next week.”
Speaker of the House Don Scott, D-Portsmouth, placed emphasis on Lucas’ post by sharing it on social media with the caption, “D-O-A!”
This is not the first statement that Lucas has made about Youngkin’s amendments since he released them Monday.
Youngkin signed 599 bills into law, amended 159 bills, and vetoed 158 bills. The governor returned the budget with 205 amendments and eight item vetoes.
“This trash is headed straight for the garbage,” she wrote Tuesday. “The Youngkin amendments restrict abortion, cut public education funding to provide vouchers, reduce funding for environmental protections, cut housing and extend the billion dollar giveaway to data centers until 2050.”
Senate Majority Leader Scott Surovell, D-Fairfax, also criticized the governor’s amendment proposals during a press call Tuesday.
He called the vetoes “heartless” and talked about how disruptive it is to the budgeting process when the governor suggests a long list of amendments.
“Under our Constitution, we have to have a balanced budget,” Surovell said. “And when the governor starts making amendments, it becomes very difficult to keep a budget balanced.”
The General Assembly meets on April 2 to take up Youngkin’s amendments and vetoes.
Democrats have a slim majority in both chambers.
The governor’s office did not immediately provide comment for this story.