Bill Amendment: VA HB333 | 2024 | Regular Session
Bill Title: Environmental Justice, Virginia Council on; meetings and staffing, appointment of members.
Status: 2024-04-17 - House sustained Governor's veto [HB333 Detail]
Download: Virginia-2024-HB333-Governor_s_veto_explanation.html
GOVERNOR'S VETO
Pursuant to Article V, Section 6 of the Constitution of Virginia, I veto House Bill 333, relating to the scope and staffing of the Virginia Council on Environmental Justice.
Under the proposal, the Virginia Council of Environmental Justice (the Council) would be eligible for increased taxpayer-funded travel reimbursement and gain extensive authority over the Secretary of Natural and Historic Resources staff despite its statutorily defined status as an advisory collegial body.
While I oppose those specific provisions, the Council was established with the ostensibly proper recognition that environmental issues can have varying effects on different communities. In a broader context, however, the theory of the Council conflicts with its duties as a state-level body capable of obstructing local projects.
The proposed top-down approach would perpetuate past disparities, preventing the construction of infrastructure in underserved communities, hindering permits necessary for the advancement of clean energy, and imposing regressive costs that disproportionately affect Virginia's poorest citizens. Consequently, this approach reinforces historical barriers to achieving overdue objectives.
Accordingly, I veto this bill.
