Youngkin vetoes include bills to safeguard right to birth control, nix tax exemptions for groups with Confederate ties

Gov. Glenn Youngkin took action Friday on the last remaining legislation from the recent session, signing seven bills and vetoing 48, including high-profile measures related to birth control, skill games and tax exemptions for organizations with Confederate ties.

“While I look forward to working with the General Assembly to see if we can reach agreement on language in the future, today I must act on the language before me, and there are several bills which are not ready to become law,” Youngkin said in a statement.

Del. Cia Price and Sen. Ghazala Hashmi, D-Richmond, carried the birth control bill in their respective chambers.

“This is such a popular issue,” said Price, D-Newport News. “It was the one thing that I was holding out hope for, but the governor has his allegiances to the most extreme part of his party.”

The measure stated that health care providers have the right to prescribe contraceptives, and individuals have the right to obtain and use them. It did not pertain to abortion and defined contraceptives as any drug or device legally marketed and intended for use in the “prevention of pregnancy.” It created a right to file a lawsuit over violations and did not have a fiscal impact on the state.

Health care providers in Virginia currently can prescribe birth control, and some methods, such as condoms, are available over the counter. But some birth control advocates are concerned restrictions could be on the horizon after Roe v. Wade was overturned in 2022.

Youngkin rejected the bill due to religious concerns.

“We cannot trample on the religious freedoms of Virginians,” he said.

The Confederacy-related bill would have removed tax exemptions for real estate and personal property owned by the Virginia Division of the United Daughters of the Confederacy, the General Organization of the United Daughters of the Confederacy, the Confederate Memorial Literary Society and Stonewall Jackson Memorial, Inc.

“A more effective approach to reform would involve broad-based measures, allowing local governments autonomy in determining tax exemptions and considering the locality’s tax base and deed transfers,” Youngkin wrote in his veto statement. “Narrowly targeting specific organizations to gain or lose such tax exemptions sets an inappropriate precedent.”

A pair of local Democrats — Sen. Angelia Williams Graves of Norfolk and Del. Alex Askew of Virginia Beach — had carried the bill. Graves quickly criticized the governor’s decision on social media.

“(Youngkin) wants to keep giving our tax breaks to hate organizations like the Daughters of the Confederacy,” she wrote on X. “(Askew) and I will be back. He will be gone! It’s just a matter of time.”

Simone Nied, a junior at Kempsville High School in Virginia Beach, started pushing legislators two years ago to remove the tax breaks.

Youngkin also vetoed a bill that would have legalized and taxed skill games, which are slot machine-like devices that have proliferated across the state, popping up at bars, convenience stores and truck stops.

“In recent years, the Commonwealth of Virginia has authorized casinos, sports betting, and parimutuel wagering, on top of longer-standing gaming options like the Virginia Lottery, horse racing, and charitable gaming,” Youngkin wrote. “When it comes to additional gaming options, such as games of skill, we must proceed with a robust set of safeguards.”

Youngkin initially proposed massive amendments to the bill that would have banned the games across most of the state. The General Assembly shot down those recommendations and sent the legislation back.

“While it is regrettable that my recommendations were not adopted, I remain open to working with the General Assembly going forward on this subject,” Youngkin wrote.

Katie King, katie.king@virginiamedia.com