Delegate Matt Fariss

The General Assembly will reconvene on Wednesday, April 5 for the “Veto Session” to handle Governor McAuliffe’s vetoes and amendments.

Unfortunately, Governor McAuliffe broke the record for most vetoes by a governor during a four-year term. McAuliffe vetoed 40 bills this year, bringing his four-year total to 111.

This governor seems more interested in celebrating his partisan vetoes than our bipartisan achievements. The vast majority of the governor’s vetoes were on commonsense bills to strengthen our economy, secure our elections, and expand education choice. Only 6 percent of his vetoes were on so-called “social” issues.

The governor’s introduced budget failed to deliver for teachers, law enforcement officers, and other key priorities. The House and Senate funded pay raises for teachers and law enforcement, and invested in key priorities.

Now, after spending the last several months bragging about how great the economy is doing, Governor McAuliffe is suddenly worried and nitpicking with the budget.

The Governor called President Trump a “one-man wrecking crew for Virginia’s economy” and claimed that Virginia needed to prepare for the “potential damage to the state’s economy by the new president’s actions.” But the same day, he bragged about how much the budget situation was improving because of a stronger economy. (RTD 3/28) That same week he said the economy was booming. (WaPo 3/23)

He put out several press releases talking about how much progress we were making on building the “new Virginia economy.” He bragged about the lowest unemployment rate in nine years, and called revenue growth a “great sign that our economy is continuing to build momentum.”

He doesn’t get to have it both ways. Either the economy is doing well or it’s not. It’s not doing well when the Governor is talking about his accomplishments, and then doing terrible when the Governor is talking about President Trump.

The House will vote to override some of the Governor’s vetoes and we will act on his amendments when we return to Richmond on April 5th.

It is a privilege to represent you in the Virginia House of Delegates.  I encourage you to keep in touch with me and my office.  I will be spending the coming weeks meeting and visiting with various groups, businesses and constituents giving updates on the 2017 session. You can email me at [email protected] or call me at (804)698-1059.  You can also join the conversation on our social media page www.facebook.com/DelegateMattFariss.