(HB61)

GOVERNOR'S VETO

Pursuant to Article V, Section 6, of the Constitution of Virginia, I veto House Bill 61, which would prohibit nearly 800 women-owned and minority-owned businesses in Virginia currently leveraging the Small, Women, and Minority-Owned ("SWaM") program from continuing to participate in the program.

The SWaM program was officially established by Governor Kaine almost 20 years ago and has been instrumental in providing meaningful business opportunities to small businesses and women and minority-owned businesses. The Commonwealth has leveraged this program to demonstrate the value of investing in SWaM businesses, which today provide many important services to the state.

House Bill 61 would fundamentally change the SWaM program by altering the definition to limit participation to small SWaM businesses. These changes would limit state contract opportunities for nearly 800 women-owned and minority-owned businesses that currently participate in the program and would reduce Virginia's current SWaM spending by at least $340 million dollars. Excluding previously-eligible businesses from participation, as the enrolled bill does, would fundamentally change the trajectory and purpose of the SWaM program.

My amendments to this bill would have maintained the requirement for a disparity study every five years but would have given my administration additional time to work with the General Assembly to strengthen the SWaM program and avoid these unintended consequences. Unfortunately, the General Assembly rejected these amendments.

Accordingly, I veto this bill.