Gov. Glenn Youngkin (R) has vetoed legislation that would have allowed Arlington County to change the structure of its government for the first time in 93 years.
Del. Patrick Hope (D-Arlington), who sponsored the bill, has vowed to continue fighting for the change that passed both chambers of the General Assembly. Locally, the legislation has the backing of the Arlington County Civic Federation but lacks support from the Arlington County Board.
“Arlington County is the only locality governed under this structure, which has functioned with a five-member, at-large board and a one-year rotating chair since the 1930s,” Youngkin wrote in a brief veto message. “The Arlington County Board also formally opposed this bill, citing the need for more time and community engagement before making such significant changes.”
Hope argued that this decision is a blow to self-determination at the local level.
“With this veto, the governor has blocked the will of Arlington voters from having a voice in their form of government,” he told ARLnow.
The bill’s provisions included the following.
- Allowing the County Board or public to seek a referendum allowing the five-member County Board to be contracted or expanded to any number between three and 11.
- Allowing a referendum to permit the Board chair to be a separate elected official. Currently, the chair’s position rotates annually among members.
- Allowing a referendum on changing the current at-large method of selecting Board members to districts or a combination of districts and at-large positions.
Referendums would be triggered either by a majority vote of the Board, or a petition signed by 10% of registered county voters.
Under Hope’s bill, successful referendums on changing the number of Board members and whether there were districts would not have obligated incumbent Board members from enacting the changes.
A successful referendum on electing a separate Board chair would have triggered that provision automatically, without a final say by Board members.
The measure was among 157 bills Youngkin vetoed this year. Legislators can attempt overrides, but in the first three years of the Republican governor’s term, all of his vetoes have been sustained.
Even had the governor signed the bill, governance changes wouldn’t have been able to move forward immediately.
A re-enactment clause imposed by a Senate committee during the legislative process required that, for the bill’s provisions to go into effect, it would need to be approved again in 2026 and signed by Virginia’s next governor.
Youngkin’s signature this year might have provided some assistance in gaining final passage in 2026, one political insider told ARLnow, but would have provided no guarantee it would win ultimate passage.
Alternatively, Youngkin could have amended the bill, perhaps returning it to Hope’s original version, and let the legislature decide what it wanted to do with it.
Hope’s bill initially passed the House of Delegates on a 54-40 vote. After a Senate committee attached the re-enactment clause, the revamped bill passed the upper house on a 21-18 vote. The House of Delegates accepted the revision on a 53-44 vote.
One of the governance-change effort’s most vocal supporters has been the Arlington County Civic Federation. However, the proposal has run into headwinds at the county-government level.
Last year, several Board members actively lobbied against Hope’s first try at a governance bill. Legislators ultimately killed that measure.
This year, Board interest in discussing governance changes, which appeared tepid at best, seems to have declined even more as the government faces the impacts of Trump administration policies and the possibility of a regional economic slowdown.
Hope said he is undaunted by the setback and predicted victory in 2026.
“Next year we will pass this bill again — and Virginia will have a new governor to sign it,” he said.
Arlington’s current form of government, with an elected five-member Board and appointed county manager, came into being in 1932. For the 60 years that preceded it, the county was governed by a three-member Board of Supervisors with members elected in districts.
