Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell on Thursday vetoed a bill that would have required elementary and middle school students to take about 150 minutes of physical education a week by 2014, saying it was an unfunded mandate on localities. While the bill’s objective was laudable — one in five Northern Virginia kids is obese, according to the Virginia Foundation for Healthy Youth — mandatory P.E. would cost too much and cut into classroom time, McDonnell said. Fairfax County estimated that staffing alone would cost $18 million to $24 million.
“In the fight against childhood obesity and preventable disease, we all have a role to play,” McDonnell said. “Government cannot just pass legislation and make this problem go away.”
McDonnell pledged to work with the bill’s sponsors, Sen. Ralph Northam, D-Norfolk, and Del. John O’Bannon, R-Richmond, on the issue.
“I am disappointed,” said O’Bannon, a neurologist. “I’m going to hold the governor to his word that he will do something to get our children healthy and more involved in exercise.”
Legislators need a two-thirds vote to override the governor’s veto of the bill, which sailed through the Senate but narrowly passed the House on a 55-40 vote.
