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RICHMOND, VA – Governor Glenn Youngkin today signed the Virginia state budget bill, HB 1600, amending the Commonwealth’s biennial budget.
“I am optimistic about Virginia’s longer-term prospects for Fiscal Year 2027 and Fiscal Year 2028, and beyond, but there are some short-term risks as President Trump resets both fiscal spending in Washington and trade policies that require us to be prudent and not spend all of the projected surplus before we bank it,” said Governor Glenn Youngkin. “Today, I have completed actions on the amendments to our biennial budget, providing an additional $1 billion in tax relief for Virginians, making $4.2 billion of additional investments in shared priorities and retaining a $900 million portion of our projected surplus as a cushion against near-term potential risks.”
“With these amendments, we’ve been able to secure a total of $9 billion in tax relief for Virginians during my term and strengthen Virginia’s financial stability, all while providing bonuses to teachers and supporting record education budgets, sending much-needed recovery aid to Southwest Virginia communities, increasing investments in maternal health care and bolstering our commitment to Right Help, Right Now,” Youngkin continued.
“We should not spend all of the projected surplus before we bank it, which is why I’m exercising my constitutional authority and vetoing 37 items from the budget. We are retaining, as a financial cushion against any near-term risks, $900 million of the projected surplus, about $691 million comes from one-time capital projects in FY25—the vast majority of those are projects for public colleges and universities,” Youngkin added. “All of these projects have planning money already appropriated and all but one are still in planning and nowhere close to being able to draw down additional money for construction. This prudent action retains some of the projected surplus the General Assembly proposed to be spent as a cushion.”
The Governor indicated in his remarks that if projected surpluses are realized he expects to include the projects in his budget proposal in December, at which point the General Assembly may fund them with cash or bonds.
Summary of the Governor’s Actions:
- $4.2 billion in incremental investment in shared priorities, including $2.9 billion in carryover funds from the last biennium and $1.3 billion from projected surplus revenues
- $1.0 billion in tax relief for Virginians
- $900 million retained from project surplus as cushion against near-term potential risks
View the full event HERE.
View the Governor’s letter including the item veto list HERE.
View the fact sheet on the Governor’s actions HERE.
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