A proposal to clamp down on stunt-driving street takeovers drew bipartisan support during Virginia’s just-wrapped legislative session and is likely to be signed into law by Gov. Glenn Youngkin, but the Republican is expected to veto bills establishing a retail marijuana market and enshrining late-term abortion access.
Nearly 400 bills are headed to Mr. Youngkin’s desk, including on issues he has consistently opposed in the past.
Yet the commonwealth’s top executive struck a diplomatic tone in comments about the legislation coming out of the state’s Democrat-controlled House and Senate.
“This General Assembly is sending me a multitude of bills, including a budget, and over the next 30 days I will go to work to review and take action on those bills and budget,” Mr. Youngkin said Saturday after the session ended, adding that the body will have “much to address at the reconvene session” this spring.
One piece of legislation that Delegate Vivian Watts, Annandale Democrat, said she is confident it will be signed into law authorizes harsher punishments for illegal street takeovers, or “sideshows.”
In the late-night gatherings, drivers blockade intersections to perform “burnouts” and stunts. The takeovers exploded in popularity nationwide during the pandemic.
The bill, which was pushed by a host of Democrats from the D.C. suburbs, targets both drivers and organizers who help set up the illegal exhibitions that can attract unruly, sometimes violent crowds.
“What’s going on is not just innocent gunning-your-motor, but that this is very aggressive … reckless driving, that needs to have enhanced penalties,” Ms. Watts, a chief co-patron of the bill, told The Washington Times.
She said the sideshows have become a problem in Richmond and are also taking place in northern Virginia’s Winchester.
Drivers and organizers caught participating in the takeovers can be charged with reckless driving, which can land them behind bars for up to a year and result in an impounded vehicle.
Other proposals face tougher odds once they hit the governor’s desk.
A bill looking to add abortion access to the state’s constitution was staunchly opposed by the legislature’s Republican minority.
The text says the right to abortion cannot be interfered with, including in the third trimester. The bill further states that the “pregnant individual” can have an abortion if a doctor deems it necessary to protect the patient’s mental health.
“Virginia Democrats have now passed an extreme constitutional amendment to enshrine late-term abortions in the Virginia Constitution that goes far beyond Roe v. Wade, and removes the parental consent requirement currently in law for minors,” Sen. Glen Sturtevant, a Republican from the Richmond suburbs, said last month. “Parents matter, and I will never vote in favor of any measure that cuts parents out of their ability to decide what is right for their children.”
Last year, Mr. Youngkin vetoed the legislature’s bill calling for the creation of a retail marijuana market by saying it “endangers Virginians’ health and safety.”
Christian Martinez, the governor’s press secretary, told reporters before the session began that Mr. Youngkin’s stance on retail marijuana hasn’t changed.
Some bills failed but still managed to garner outsized attention, including the proposal to allow a casino to be built near Tysons Corner Center in Fairfax County.
Ms. Watts, the Democrat from Annandale, said she was relieved the bill died in committee because it would have been a poor fit for the regional shopping mecca.
She said Tysons already generates enough business as is, so creating a competitor to the MGM National Harbor Hotel & Casino in Maryland — without having the acreage — would have been ill-advised.
Ms. Watts also said she didn’t like the idea of the casino’s business being supported by people who may struggle with gambling addiction.
On more kitchen table issues, Ms. Watts said she kick-started the conversation to raise the state’s standard tax deduction and keep it tacked to the rate of inflation. Her bill died in committee earlier this month.
Mr. Youngkin shifted his focus Monday to promoting job openings in the commonwealth as a deluge of federal workers have found themselves on the market.
The federal job cuts come amid President Trump’s interest in slashing the national debt, which is being spearheaded by billionaire tech magnate Elon Musk, a close adviser to Mr. Trump.
• Matt Delaney can be reached at mdelaney@washingtontimes.com.