(HB1939)

GOVERNOR'S VETO

Pursuant to Article V, Section 6, of the Constitution of Virginia, I veto House Bill 1939, which would lower the tangible personal property tax rate for landscaping companies who use electric lawn equipment.

While this bill is permissive in nature, it does not take into account landscaping companies who may benefit from the lowered property tax but cannot afford to replace their current equipment. Further, opposition to legislation introduced in 2024 that would have allowed localities to ban gas powered equipment rightfully cited low battery life and decreased performance in electric equipment when compared to their gas-powered counterparts.

Finally, this bill does not account for the additional costs many landscaping companies would need to incur to sustain battery-powered equipment throughout the day.

Accordingly, I veto this bill.