RICHMOND, Va. (WAVY) — Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin announced Monday that he had signed 700 bills into law, amended 100-plus other bills, and vetoed 25 bills.
In three separate news releases, Youngkin’s office described the legislation he had taken action on.
He took action on a total of 841 bills that were sent to his desk after the 2022 General Assembly session. He signed 700 of them into law.
“Today marks another important step in a journey for the people of Virginia, one which started even before our nation’s founding. Every year the duly elected representatives of the people assemble to pass new laws on behalf of their constituencies, and I am honored to sign these 700 bills into law this year,” said Youngkin. “These bills are all bipartisan and we can all be proud that together we’ve taken steps to make life easier for Virginians, make our Commonwealth’s economy more competitive, support law enforcement, protect the most vulnerable among us, increase access to health care, and take necessary steps toward making Virginia’s schools the absolute best in the nation.”
In a second news release, Youngkin described the 100-plus bills that he amended.
Many of the amendments were technical, but others included:
- Getting rid of a possible tax increase on gaming receipts paid by charitable organizations
- Clarifying hemp sale statutes and prohibiting sales of products with Delta-8
- Changing parts of a bill that lets law enforcement use facial recognition technology on a limited basis
- Requiring Loudoun County School Board members to go up for election this fall
“The bipartisan accomplishments of this legislative session will be strengthened by the amendments I have added and will increase the positive impacts on Virginians,” said Youngkin. “We engaged stakeholders on important issues in community safety and provided a commonsense path forward on facial recognition technology for law enforcement without compromising individual freedoms. We provided accountability and transparency in education by ensuring school boards reflect the will of their constituents right now. We eliminated a possible tax increase on charitable organizations and lowered the tax rate on charitable gaming receipts. We protected Virginians from potentially harmful synthetically-modified substances while preserving the market for regulated CBD products currently available. I call on the General Assembly to adopt these changes and quickly enact them into law so that they can benefit all residents of the Commonwealth.”
Youngkin also vetoed 25 bills, including legislation that:
- Raised fees on household waste collection
- Limited authority of the State Corporation Commission under the Constitution
- Would have made Virginia the second state in the country to prohibit “name, image, likeness” deals for high school athletes.
View the list of bills signed into law and the outcomes of other bills here.