In the final year of his tenure, Gov. Glenn Youngkin carried out his duty to sign, veto and amend hundreds of bills handed to him by the Democratic-controlled legislature for the last time Monday, rejecting a proposal to raise the minimum wage incrementally to $15 per hour, a multi-year attempt to establish a Prescription Drug Affordability Board and several voter registration and election measures.

Youngkin also signed into law a bill that classifies fusion as a clean energy source, one that expands maternal health care access and a bill banning the personal use of political campaign funds, the most significant campaign finance reform measure the state has passed in years.

“The legislation that I’ve signed into law and the budget amendments I’ve put forward this year will go a long way to helping ensure Virginia remains a great place to live, work, and raise a family,” Youngkin stated in a news release announcing his actions.

“And I have vetoed bills that I think will take the commonwealth backward by raising the cost of living, hurting our strong job growth, stifling innovation, undermining our All-American All-of-the-Above Power and Energy Plan or making our communities less safe,” Youngkin added, relaying his thanks to legislators for their work during the General Assembly session.

With the action deadline Monday night at 11:59 p.m., much of Youngkin’s actions were still trickling onto Virginia’s Legislative Information System website well into Tuesday.

Though still digesting some of what he’d seen by 11:30 a.m., Senate Majority Leader Scott Surovell, D-Fairfax, participated in a virtual press gathering to relay his thoughts.

Surovell said during his 16 years as a lawmaker, governors typically call legislative leaders to discuss amendments in the period between when session ends and their action deadline begins. This is done sometimes in lieu of some vetoes, Surovell said, and in other instances, representatives from the governor’s administration have been more actively engaged in the committee process during session.

But when it comes to the Youngkin administration, Surovell claimed, “the first time a member finds out they got a problem with the bill is usually when the veto drops, or when the amendment drops.”

It’s also part of why he thinks Youngkin has a higher veto count than other governors have had. The governor issued a record 201 bills from the 2024 General Assembly session, according to the Virginia Public Access Project,“more legislation than any recent Governor of Virginia has in their full four-year term.”

This story originally appeared at VirgniaMerury.com.