RICHMOND, Va. — Work on compromise budget legislation that Virginia lawmakers will take up later this week is complete and the bill does not contain language allowing for a proposed move of the NBA’s Washington Wizards and the NHL’s Washington Capitals to Alexandria, top lawmakers said Thursday.
The development doesn’t necessarily mark the end of the road for Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s plan to lure the teams across the Potomac River with a $2 billion development district that includes a new arena. But it deals another blow to the proposal, a top priority for Youngkin.
The governor said he believes lawmakers will make a big mistake. He defended the main points of the proposal at a news conference in front of the Capitol.
“It could really be a huge opportunity,” Youngkin said, touting the project’s job and revenue creation potential and saying he fears the Senate’s handling of the discussions could damage the state’s business climate can damage.
Senator L. Louise Lucas, the Senate’s top negotiator, stood on the steps of the Capitol and watched as he spoke. She previously told reporters that she remains firmly opposed to a deal that relies on bonds backed by state and city governments.
Del. Luke Torian, who chairs the House Appropriations Committee and led negotiations for his chamber, confirmed that the arena-related provisions had been removed from the legislation, which is expected to be passed by lawmakers on Saturday.
Torian, who had sponsored a standalone version of the legislation that was defeated earlier in the session, said he was “maybe a little disappointed” that the language did not make it into the budget.
“But that’s the nature of trying to govern here in the Commonwealth,” he said.
The budget was the last remaining vehicle for the legislation underpinning the deal, after other standalone versions failed earlier this session. The governor could make an amendment to the budget as soon as lawmakers send it to him, restoring the project language, or he could call a special session on the issue.
Torian said the bill includes raises for teachers and other government employees every year, as well as major investments in core government services.
The text of the bill was not immediately available in the state’s online information system.
Youngkin and entrepreneur Ted Leonsis, the CEO of Monumental Sports and Entertainment, announced in December that they had agreed to a deal to relocate the Capitals and Wizards.
The plan calls for the creation of a $2 billion project, funded in part with public money, in the Potomac Yard section of Alexandria, which would include an arena, practice facility and headquarters for Monumental, plus a separate performing arts venue, all just a few miles from Capital One Arena, where the Washington teams currently play.
The AP sent an inquiry seeking comment to a Monumental representative about the budget development.