Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell wielded his executive powers to outflank the General Assembly last week and score victories on a pair of major items lawmakers had previously rejected. When lawmakers reconvened to consider amendments the governor proposed to previously passed legislation and the budget, McDonnell was able to push through a measure that allows him to appoint a member of the Metro board of directors and another that prevents plans offered through a state insurance exchange from providing coverage for most abortions.
Similar proposals were killed by the General Assembly during its regular session.
“The ability to amend legislation the way a Virginia governor can do is really unusual,” said Stephen Farnsworth, a professor of communication at George Mason University. “It [allows] the governor to take a much more significant role in the shaping of legislation than others can.”
The long-sought power to appoint a director to the Metro board, introduced by Del. Jim LeMunyon, R-Loudoun, had cleared the Republican-controlled House during the assembly’s regular session but was killed by the Senate Finance Committee. When McDonnell got the measure in front of the full Senate as a budget amendment, however, three Northern Virginia Democrats broke ranks and helped Republicans pass it.
“I was very sorry it was killed in Senate Finance,” said Linda “Toddy” Puller, D-Fairfax, who, along with Sens. Chap Petersen, D-Fairfax, and Charles Colgan, D-Prince William, voted for the measure. “A lot of legislating is done through the budget process.”
McDonnell also altered a bill that starts the process of setting up a state health insurance exchange required by the federal health care overhaul by adding a provision that prohibits plans offered on the exchange from providing coverage for abortion, except in the case of rape, incest or when the life of the mother is in danger.
Del. Bob Marshall, R-Prince William, had offered a similar amendment to the bill during the regular session, but it was rejected by the Republican-controlled House of Delegates. McDonnell’s fixes, though, cleared both the House and the Democratic-controlled Senate after Lt. Gov. Bill Bolling broke a 20-20 tie in the assembly’s upper chamber.
McDonnell also scored a victory when lawmakers were unable to override his veto of a bill that would have mandated 150 minutes a week of physical education for K-8 students starting in 2014.
Still, lawmakers did override McDonnell’s veto on a bill to incrementally increase the state’s cap on medical malpractice awards from $2 million to $3 million over the next 20 years, and they rejected a proposed amendment that would have narrowed the scope of a bill that extends health insurance coverage to autistic children.
