RICHMOND, Va. (WWBT) – Virginia lawmakers were back in Richmond Wednesday for a reconvened session where they tackled hundreds of amendments, vetoes and changes to the state budget.
“I think we’ll get to hopefully a good place where we have a budget that, while isn’t perfect, most people can agree with,” said State Sen. Glen Sturtevant, (R) 12th District.
Inside the Democrat-controlled house, delegates passed dozens of the governor’s recommendations, forcing the original bill back on his desk.
That includes an amended bill that allows up to 10 doula visits to be covered by state health insurance.
The governor changed the wording in the bill from “birthing people” to “birthing women.”
It was also rejected in the Senate.
“These amendments go in a different direction. It’s almost like a new budget being introduced. We’re not going to adopt that,” said Del. Rodney Willett, (D) 58th District.
The Senate quickly rejected a religious exemption amendment to a bill requiring insurance carriers to cover the costs of contraceptives.
However, lawmakers accept the governor’s changes to a bill limiting social media use for children and teenagers under 16.
“There are going to be plenty of things where you know democrats and republicans, we just disagree, and we’ll fight that out on the floor,” said Sen. Sturtevant.
The house also passed an amended bill regulating automatic license plate recognition technology.
The bill initially limited data retention to 21 days; his amendment extends that to 30.
And an amended bill that would require a convicted reckless driver to install a speed limiter in their car.
The governor wants to leave discretion to a judge instead of the original 100-mile-per-hour requirement.
“We’re just trying to help people whether it’s health care access, education access just protecting those basic rights for them,” said Del. Willett.
Governor Glenn Youngkin has 30 days to act on the Virginia General Assembly’s report. He can also veto the budget line-item instead of the entire item.
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