RICHMOND, Va. (WTVR) -- Virginia House of Delegates Speaker William J. Howell ruled two of Governor Terry McAuliffe's vetoes out of order Monday including an item that would more easily allow McAuliffe to expand Medicaid on his own.
The ruling came during Monday evening's session to review Governor Terry McAuliffe's eight state budget vetoes from the past week.
"I cannot idly allow unconstitutional actions to be considered by this body," House Speaker Howell said. "To do otherwise would be an unacceptable acquiescence of legislative branch authority."
In total, six of the eight McAuliffe's vetoes from last were upheld by the General Assembly.
Another veto - that dealt with the funding of state judgeships - was also ruled out of order by Speaker Howell.
Governor McAuliffe issued the following statement Monday.
“With respect to the Speaker’s ruling on my veto of the Stanley floor amendment, I am continually surprised and disappointed by the lengths to which Republicans in the House of Delegates will go to prevent their own constituents from getting access to health care. Instead of putting all of my vetoes through the process prescribed by the Constitution of Virginia, House Republicans robbed the voters of their voice by using a procedural gimmick to obstruct the normal legislative process where this veto was concerned. If my veto was as objectionable as House leadership claimed, they should not have had any difficulty overriding it in both chambers. Instead, the Speaker elected to exercise powers that the Constitution of Virginia reserves solely for members of the Judicial Branch.
Stay with CBS 6 for updates on this developing story.
