Overview
The General Assembly was back in Richmond this week for the 2025 Reconvened Session. This is when the legislators consider the amendments and vetoes sent down by the Governor on bills that he received after the legislature adjourned Sine Die.
Governor Youngkin ultimately signed 599 bills, amended 159 bills and vetoed 157 bills that were communicated to him by the General Assembly. In addition, he sent down over 200 amendments to the budget. It takes a two-thirds majority to overturn a veto in Virginia; therefore, all of the Governor’s vetoes were sustained due to the slim margins in both the House and Senate. While many of the Governor’s amendments to bills were rejected, there were some that the General Assembly accepted. It only takes a simple majority to reject an amendment.
Legislative Action Summary:
Below you will find Governor’s Actions on key bills to the retail industry. In addition, you will see a brief summary of the General Assembly’s action at the Reconvene Session.
Click Here for the full VRF Bill list.
On the full bill list you will notice some bills are highlighted. These bills are either before the Governor again for final action, or have been signed into law and become effective July 1, 2025 (unless otherwise noted).
Summary of the General Assembly’s action at the Reconvened Session:
The Governor’s Actions:
- Signed 599 bills
- Vetoed 157 bills
- Sent back 159 bills with recommended changes— including 205 proposed amendments to the budget bill, House Bill 1600, and eight item vetoes.
The General Assembly Actions:
- Did not override any of the Governor’s vetoes, as Democrats hold slim majorities in the House and the Senate and did not have the two-thirds vote needed to override.
- Approved only 33 of the Governor’s 205 budget amendments, and those were largely technical or related to removing budget provisions that were tied to bills that the Governor had vetoed.
- Rejected amendments proposed by the Governor to many of the 159 bills the Governor attempted to amend.
Governor’s Actions on Key Bills
Signed:
- HB 1703 – ABC Tied House Exceptions
- HB 1941 – Invasive Plant Species
- Delayed effective date (January 1, 2027)
- HB 2033 – ABC Human Trafficking Training
- HB 2058 – ABC Delivery
- HB 2124 – Synthetic Digital Content
- HB 2370 – Cigarette delivery sales
- SB 754 – Consumer Protection Act – reproductive or sexual health info
- SB 811 – ABC Delivery
- SB 834 – ABC Tied House Exceptions
- SB 868 – ABC – prohibition on delivery to consumer of original bottle of alcoholic beverage (mixed beverage licensees)
- SB 1053 – Synthetic Digital Content
- SB 1057 – Unemployment insurance, weekly benefit amount increasing threshold for deduction of wages payable
- SB 1067 – Cigarette delivery sales
- SB 1166 – Invasive Plant Species
- Delayed effective date (January 1, 2027)
- SB 1218 – Covenants not to compete prohibited for low wage employees
- SB 1376 – Consumer Protection Act – Food Labeling
Vetoed:
- HB 1802 – Powers and Duties of Department of Small Business and Supplier Diversity
- Veto Sustained
- HB 1919 – Workplace Violence
- Veto sustained
- HB 1921 – Employment Paid Sick Leave
- Veto Sustained
- HB 1922 – SWaM Procurement
- Veto Sustained
- HB 1928 – Minimum Wage
- Veto sustained
- HB 1994 – ABC – requirements for restaurant retail licensees
- Veto Sustained
- HB 2094 – AI
- Veto Sustained
- HB 2098 – Labor and employment provisions –application of law, protection of employees, definition of employer
- Veto Sustained
- HB 2485 – Retail Market for Cannabis
- Veto Sustained
- HB 2531 – Paid Leave Insurance
- Veto Sustained
- HB 2561 – Employee protections – misclassification of workers
- Veto Sustained
- SB 824 – SCC Powers and Duties
- Veto Sustained
- SB 970 – Retail Market for Cannabis
- Veto Sustained
- SB 1052 – VA Human Right Act – Definition of “Employer”
- Veto Sustained
- SB 1132 – Prohibiting employer seeking wage or salary history
- Veto Sustained
- SB 1307 – Sales Tax increase for school construction
- Veto Sustained
- SB 1350 – Food Allergy Awareness notice required for restaurants
- Veto Sustained
Amended:
- HB 1600 – Budget Bill
- Over 200 Budget Amendments Issued by the Governor.
- Only 33 of those amendments were approved by both the House and the Senate.
- HB 1642 – AI based tool – definition of use of tool
- Governor’s recommendation adopted unanimously by both House and Senate
- HB 1730 – Employer Liability to vulnerable victims
- The Governor sent down a Substitute to the enrolled version of HB 1730. This substitute was rejected by the House, therefore the enrolled version is back before the Governor. He now has 30 days to veto or sign the enrolled bill.
- HB 1766 – Unemployment Compensation – weekly benefit amounts and duration of payment
- Governor’s recommendation adopted.
- HB 1844 – Labeling requirements – Baby Food Protection Act
- Governor’s recommendation was passed by for the day, therefore the enrolled version is back before the Governor. He now has 30 days to veto or sign the enrolled bill.
- HB 2515 – Junk Fees
- Governor’s Substitute was rejected, therefore the enrolled version is back before the Governor. He now has 30 days to veto or sign the enrolled bill.
- SB 854 – Consumer Data Protection – Social Media Platforms for Minors
- Governor’s recommendation was passed by for the day, therefore the enrolled version is back before the Governor. He now has 30 days to sign or veto the enrolled bill.
- SB 894 – Employer Liability to vulnerable victims
- The Governor sent down a Substitute to the enrolled version of SB 894. This substitute was rejected by the Senate by a vote of 4 to 36, therefore the enrolled version is back before the Governor. He now has 30 days to veto or sign the enrolled bill.
- SB 1056 – Unemployment Compensation – weekly benefit amounts and duration of payment
- Governor’s recommendation was adopted.
- SB 1212 – Junk Fees
- Governor’s substitute was rejected, therefore the enrolled version is back before the Governor. He now has 30 days to veto or sign the enrolled bill.
- SB 1371 – Gift Certificates – prohibits imposition of a dormancy fee
- Governor’s recommendation was adopted
Budget:
- Governor Youngkin sent down over 200 budget amendments for the General Assembly to consider at the Reconvened Session. All amendments can be found here.
- One of great interest to VRF is:
Amendment 143: Delay polystyrene ban effective dates
| Natural and Historic Resources | |||
| Department of Environmental Quality | Language |
Language:
Page 451, line 38, strike “2025” and insert “2028”.
Page 451, line 39, strike “2026” and insert “2030”.
Explanation:
(This amendment extends the effective dates to 2028 for larger retail food establishments and 2030 for smaller establishments located in the Commonwealth.)
Along with the vast majority of the Governor’s over 200 budget amendments, this delayed enactment amendment was rejected by the House at Reconvene Session. Therefore the effective date of the ban is effective July 1, 2025 for larger retail food establishments and 2030 for smaller retail food establishments. See § 10.1-1424.3 of the Virginia Code for specifics of this ban.
The Governor now has 30 days to sign or veto the bills that had amendments rejected. The bills with amendments approved are now official and will be effective as of July 1 unless otherwise set forth in the legislation.
Elections
Later this year we will have elections for all 100 seats in the House of Delegates and the three statewide offices in the Executive branch. Currently, Democrats hold a majority at 51-49 in the House. All Democrats are running for re-election while several Republicans have announced they will not seek re-election. These include Danny Marshall, Jed Arnold, Nick Freitas, and Baxter Ennis. There is the expectation that one or two more House Republicans may announce they will not run.
Today is the filing deadline for statewide and House races. Everyone is waiting to see if Lieutenant Governor Sears will have a Republican primary opponent with former Senator Amanda Chase and former Delegate David LaRock trying to gather the required petition signatures to make the ballot for the June 19 primary for Governor. Former U.S. Representative Abigail Spanberger is unopposed as the Democratic nominee for Governor.
Those who have thrown their hat into the ring are:
For Lieutenant Governor: For Attorney General:
State Sen Ghazala Hashmi – D AG Jason Miyares – R
Babur Lateef – D Jay Jones – D
State Sen Aaron Rouse – D Shannon – D
Alex Bastani – D
Levar Stoney – D
Victor Salgado – D
Carl Eggleston – D
John Reid – R
Pat Herrity – R
John Curran – R
Marlow Jones – I
Conclusion
The Virginia Retail Federation team will continue to keep you up-to-date about important actions and news that arise across the Commonwealth. Should you have any questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to reach out.
