'Veto Corleone': VA's Glenn Youngkin Goes on Veto Spree, Strangles Gobs of Progressive Legislation

Sometimes you just have to know when to say “no,” a concept that Republican Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin seems to have taken to heart. During a Wednesday legislation massacre, the Old Dominion State’s chief executive vetoed a staggering 159 bills sent to his desk by the Democrat legislature.

It was a legislative bloodbath, worthy of the likes of Don Corleone if he had dealt with bills instead of rival mobsters:

"You could call him ‘Veto Corleone,’" a Republican strategist told Fox News Digital in comments later Wednesday, after 159 bills were killed upon reaching Youngkin's desk.
Virginia’s General Assembly passed bills this session that would have prevented prayer in front of abortion clinics, required the commonwealth to implement a comprehensive "environmental justice" strategy and adjusted criminal bond policies.
All of those bills were vetoed by Youngkin, and the legislature’s Democratic majority is far from veto-proof — with two-seat margins in each chamber.

If California’s failure of a governor, Gavin Newsom, had a reverse mirror twin, it would be Youngkin because the VA Gov. is taking an approach diametrically opposed to what’s going on in the Golden State:

Other vetoed bills included two pertaining to gun control legislation, restricting the purchase or transfer of firearms and the like.
Ten of the bills were considered "soft on crime" legislation by critics, and about a dozen would have raised costs on Virginians, according to Republicans.
The governor also nixed a proposal to raise the state minimum wage to $13.50 per hour, and later to $15.

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Youngkin was a busy bee, not just vetoing bills, but adding amendments as well:

In addition to vetoing 158 [also reported as 159] bills, Youngkin signed roughly 600 and amended about 160 by the midnight Monday deadline, legislative records show. He also submitted 205 amendments to the budget bill, along with eight line-item vetoes.
Youngkin’s objections, which drew criticism from General Assembly Democrats, were not surprising. While the governor had not explicitly said what bills he would ax, he had suggested that he’d once again reject items he hadn’t previously supported.
“You can imagine that if I vetoed it last year, there’s a reasonable chance I will veto it again,” Youngkin said at a news conference earlier this week.

Among the measures he sent to “sleep with the fishes” was a proposal that required employers to allow their workers to use sick days for both mental and physical health, which Youngkin said would only increase the cost of doing business in the state, a bill that would have repealed the ban on collective bargaining by public employees, and legislation that would have allowed local governments to require solar canopies for development projects—an obviously expensive idea.

Youngkin is ineligible to run again in 2025, and it could be a tough battle to keep the governorship in GOP hands as the state is considered by many to be in the “purple category.” It’s a difficult electorate to predict, however, as they voted in Youngkin but failed to deliver for Donald Trump. Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris took the state by 5.78 percent in November.

There are a number of candidates on both sides readying their runs, but expect Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears to be a tough out:

News - Virginia Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears has filed paperwork to run for governor in 2025. The Republican official aims to succeed Gov. Glenn Youngkin. pic.twitter.com/jDgPYK1EEJ
— Political Polls (@PpollingNumbers) September 5, 2024