Youngkin vetoes criminal justice bills he calls ‘unsafe’

“We have a duty to protect the people of the Commonwealth of Virginia from harm. I vetoed 22 bills: which protect illegal immigrants, or impede law enforcement officers, prosecutors, and judges from holding criminals accountable and bringing them to justice,” Youngkin said Wednesday night in a news release announcing the vetoes.

The governor has so far vetoed 50 bills since the Democratic-controlled General Assembly wrapped up its regular session on March 9, putting him on pace for a record number as he plows through some 1,000 pieces of legislation. Former governor Terry McAuliffe (D) set the modern mark with 120 vetoes over his four-year term.

Youngkin’s aggressive actions — rolling out batches of vetoes every few days and campaigning around the state against the General Assembly’s “backward budget” — highlight the contentious nature of his negotiations with Democratic leaders over their failure to pass some of his legislative priorities. Prime among them: tax cuts and a $2 billion sports arena in Alexandria.

He could revive both by sending budget amendments for lawmakers to consider when they return to Richmond on April 17 to take up the governor’s vetoes and proposed changes to legislation. But early signs suggest little appetite for compromise.

“What he’s failed to understand is he’s only going to be here another 18 months. When he’s gone, we’re still going to keep working,” Sen. L. Louise Lucas (D-Portsmouth), chairwoman of the budget-controlling Finance and Appropriations Committee, said this week, referring to the fact that all Virginia governors are prohibited from seeking a second consecutive term. Youngkin was elected in 2021. Lucas reiterated her opposition to the arena and her belief that the General Assembly’s budget needs no significant changes.

The vetoes Youngkin announced this week all involve bills sponsored by Democrats that passed on largely party-line votes, making it unlikely that any could marshal the two-thirds majorities needed to override the governor’s rejection.

* House Bill 776, sponsored by House Majority Leader Charniele Herring (D-Alexandria), which allows legal immigrants who have applied for U.S. citizenship to serve as chiefs of police or law enforcement officers. Herring wrote on social media that she had spent two years working with her city and law enforcement “to help fill vacant positions and open up opportunities for new Americans,” adding that she wished the administration had expressed specific concerns before resorting to a veto. Youngkin wrote in his veto message that law enforcement can already seek hiring waivers and that the bill would remove the ability to grant waivers for hiring people without a high school diploma.

Another vetoed bill — Senate Bill 69, sponsored by Sen. Jeremy McPike (D-Prince William) — would have allowed immigrants granted Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals status to serve as chiefs of police.

* HB 455, sponsored by Del. Katrina Callsen (D-Albemarle), which would have allowed prosecutors to seek a misdemeanor charge instead of a felony if the amount of a drug in someone’s possession consists of just a residue. Lawmakers had amended the bill to take out fentanyl, which can be fatal in extremely small amounts, and it drew some Republican support — particularly in the Senate, which passed the bill 31-8 (though one GOP senator who voted yes later filed to change her vote to no). In his veto statement, Youngkin said that “reducing charges for possession of controlled substances undermines the seriousness of drug offenses.”

* Senate Bill 23 and HB 1420, identical measures that said any child under age 11 found to have committed a delinquent act would not be charged as a delinquent, with courts instead authorized to find that the child is in need of services or supervision. It would also have made it a crime for someone to encourage a child under age 11 to commit a delinquent act. State law otherwise places no lower limit on charging a child as a juvenile delinquent. In his veto message, Youngkin said such a law might deprive some children of funds for counseling and added that it created “an additional incentive for criminal street gangs to continue the heinous practice of recruiting children younger than eleven years old to carry out gang-related offenses.”

State Sen. Mamie Locke (D-Hampton), who sponsored the Senate version, said on social media that the governor “does not believe in criminal justice reform, in any form or fashion. No redemption for anyone, even juveniles under the age of 11.” The bill had “nothing to do with gangs,” she wrote, “but if you want a bogeyman I guess you can always find one. Suffer the little children …”

* HB250, sponsored by Del. Jackie H. Glass (D-Norfolk) would have required the state Department of Criminal Justice Services to develop guidelines for police interrogations, including when it is permissible to make false promises of leniency, lie about statements from witnesses or co-conspirators or present fake documents. Youngkin called the intent “commendable” in his veto statement, but said the state already has training standards and the bill “would create unnecessary bureaucratic burdens without significant added benefit.”

In addition to the vetoes, Youngkin signed 36 bills into law and proposed amendments to two others. The signed bills include measures to restrict the use of dogs in correctional facilities; to make permanent the pandemic-era permission for restaurants to sell mixed drinks to-go; and requiring that someone convicted of a drug or alcohol offense lose their commercial driver’s license.