Vetoed Bills of Interest to County Governments

March 28, 2025

On Monday evening, Governor Youngkin announced that he had vetoed 157 bills, including SB 1307 (McPike), as discussed elsewhere in County Connections. At the April 2 reconvened session, the General Assembly will have the opportunity to override these actions through a supermajority vote of two-thirds of members present in each chamber.

A full list of vetoed bills is available at this link. Several bills of interest to local governments were vetoed:

HB 1724 (Delaney) would establish the Prescription Drug Affordability Board and empower the Board to conduct affordability reviews of certain high-cost drugs and impose upper payment limits on a limited number of drugs.
HB 1764 (Martinez) would require a county that has imposed a disposable plastic bag tax to distribute a portion of tax revenues to any town located within the county.
HB 1794 (Helmer) and SB 1119 (VanValkenburg) would consolidate all primaries for offices to be filled at the November election in presidential election years on the date of the presidential primary.
HB 1921 (Ward) would require that one hour of paid sick leave be provided for every 30 hours worked for all employees of private employers and state and local governments.
HB 1928 (Ward) would codify the adjusted state hourly minimum wage of $12.41 per hour that is effective January 1, 2025, and increase the minimum wage to $13.50 per hour, effective January 1, 2026, and to $15.00 per hour, effective January 1, 2027.
HB 1939 (Reid) would establish a separate classification of tangible personal property for certain electric-powered landscaping equipment employed in a trade or business and allow such property to be taxed at a rate equal to or less than the rate applied to the general class of tangible personal property.
HB 1973 (Bennett-Parker) would authorize localities to exercise a right of first refusal for publicly-supported housing under certain circumstances.
HB 2056 (Reaser) would authorize the governing body of any county or city to prescribe the dates and hours of operation for satellite offices for in-person absentee voting by ordinance.
HB 2098 (Maldonado) would provide that the exemption for the Commonwealth or any of its agencies, institutions, or political subdivisions, or any public body, under Title 40.1 does not apply when expressly provided otherwise. The bill provides a definition of “public body” for Title 40.1. Additionally, the bill provides that for the purposes of various requirements related to the protection of employees, including the payment of wages, “employer” includes the Commonwealth and its agencies, institutions, and political subdivisions, or any public body. This would have implications for labor occupational safety enforcement.
HB 2482 (Krizek) and SB 962 (Carroll Foy) would provide that public bodies shall require the contractor and its subcontractors for any capital outlay project, as defined in the bill, to complete certain safety training programs, maintain records of compliance with applicable laws, and participate in approved apprenticeship training programs, among other provisions.
HB 2485 (Krizek) and SB 970 (Rouse) would establish a framework for the creation of a retail cannabis market.
HB 2531 (Sewell) would establish a paid family and medical leave insurance program with benefits provided to covered individuals (including employees of local governments) beginning January 1, 2028.
HB 2559 (Lopez)/SB 1489 (Bagby) would permit any county, city, or town in the Commonwealth to provide for certain requirements concerning incumbent and successor service employers, defined in the bill, by local ordinance or resolution. For example, such local ordinance or resolution may require that successor service employers retain incumbent service employees during a transition period of 90 days.
HB 2561 (Lopez) would provide that an employer that violates minimum wage or overtime wages provisions is liable to the employee for the applicable remedies, damages, or other relief available in an action brought pursuant to the civil action provisions currently available for the nonpayment of wages, among other provisions.
HB 2619 (Helmer) and SB 919 (Salim) would require a local governing body or transportation district commission that contracts with a private company to provide transportation services to require such company to provide employee compensation and benefits comparable to those provided to a public employee. If the public entity subsequently elects to provide its own system of public transportation, the governing body must provide for collective bargaining and ensure all employees of such private company are offered employment without loss of compensation or benefits.
HB 2638 (Hope) would expand certain existing local government authority to adopt an ordinance providing for the planting and replacement of trees during the development process to all localities.
HB 2764 (Tran)/SB 917 (Surovell) would impose mandatory collective bargaining for local governments if a group of employees petitioned and voted to form a bargaining unit.
SB 1009 (Salim) would clarify certain logistical aspects of conducting local elections via ranked-choice voting.
SB 1132 (Boysko) would bar prospective employers from seeking wage or salary history from a prospective employee and require disclosure of wage or salary ranges in job postings, among other provisions.
SB 1233 (Williams Graves) would authorize operation of pedestrian crossing violation and stop sign violation monitoring systems in school crossing zones, highway work zones, and high-risk speed corridors; impose certain restrictions on the use of funds from civil penalties associated with use of such systems; and impose various new administrative requirements.
SB 1313 (McPike) would authorize any locality to provide for an affordable housing dwelling unit program (currently, only certain localities have been granted this authority).