The Virginia General Assembly held its Reconvene Session on Wednesday, April 17, 2024. The Reconvene Session allows lawmakers to act on vetoes and amendments by the Governor on legislation sent to the executive branch for consideration during the regular session of the General Assembly. This year, several pieces of legislation were either vetoed or amended by the Governor.
Included in the bills amended by the Governor was the 2024-2026 biennial budget bill, House Bill 30 (Torian). After meetings between General Assembly budget writers and the Governor produced no resolution to the differences in how to address spending in the biennium, lawmakers used a procedural maneuver to kill the budget bill adopted by the General Assembly in March. The General Assembly and the Governor agreed to begin the process of negotiating a new 2024-2026 state budget.
Following defeat of the budget bill, lawmakers adopted House Joint Resolution 428 (Herring), which calls for the General Assembly to return to Richmond for a Special Session on May 13, 2024, for the purpose of considering the 2024-2026 budget. During a press conference at the Reconvene Session, Governor Glenn Youngkin and a bipartisan group of legislative leaders agreed to begin negotiations on the spending plan immediately with the goal of having a final vote on the budget bill on May 15.
Despite calls of having a budget vote on May 15, it is
uncertain when the General Assembly will take final action on the spending plan.
At the present time, the VSBA Government Relations team cannot predict the date
of the final budget vote nor what will be included in the biennial spending
plan. VSBA will continue to advocate for increased funding for K-12
education and legislation that improves the education outcomes of all
Virginia's public-school children.
