General Assembly update

In a marathon one-day session Wednesday, General Assembly reconvened to consider McDonnell's vetoes and amendments to legislation passed during the 2011 session.

Budget adjustments

McDonnell amended 86 line items in the $80 billion state budget, and legislators rejected 20 of those amendments. Among those he lost were efforts to create an optional defined contribution plan, such as a 401(k), for state and local employees, and to cut funding for public broadcasting in Virginia.

The legislature accepted his plan to accelerate payments into the woefully underfunded public employee pension system, give more funding to sheriffs, and offer incentives for movie makers to choose Virginia.

No abortion coverage

The General Assembly approved Gov. Bob McDonnell's attempt to prohibit federally-mandated state health insurance exchanges from covering abortion.

McDonnell added the provision onto a bill that outlined how Virginia would create a health exchange. By 2014, the federal healthcare overhaul requires all states to have exchanges that allow individuals and small businesses to pool their buying power. The Senate tied 20-20, and Republican Lt. Gov. Bill Bolling cast the tie-breaking vote in favor of the amendment Wednesday.

Federal law prohibits federal funding for abortions. The health care overhaul law allows the exchanges to cover abortions as long as they collect a separate premium from policy holders and that money is kept apart from federal subsidies. It also allows states to deny that coverage, and Virginia joins a handful that have voted to do so.

Autism coverage stands

Lawmakers rejected McDonnell's bid to dilute mandated coverage for applied behavior analysis, a promising regimen for children with autism. McDonnell proposed voiding the entire law if a court strikes down its $35,000-per-year cap on benefits for each covered child.

Without debate, the Senate voted 25-14 to reject the amendment and the House voted 28-71 against it. The insurance and business lobby and tea party groups opposed the measure, likening it to federal mandates in the Democratic health care reform law.

Abstinence education funded

After a 20-20 tie, the Virginia Senate approved Governor McDonnell's amendment to add abstinence funding to the Virginia budget. The measure passed the House 69-29 and then crossed over to the Senate, where Lieutenant Governor Bill Bolling cast the tie-breaking vote.

Abstinence education funding, match money corresponding to a federal grant, was initially presented in the House budget, then voted down in the Senate near the end of the session.

P.E. vetoed

Lawmakers upheld the governor's veto of a bill that would have mandated physical education for public school pupils. The Senate's 24-16 vote was three votes shy of the two-thirds majority needed to enact the bill over McDonnell's veto.

The bill's sponsor, Sen. Ralph Northam, a Norfolk physician, said today's sedentary students would become the first generation ever to have a shorter life expectancy than their parents. McDonnell said the bill would have imposed new costs on local school districts.

Medical malpractice cap stands

The General Assembly overwhelmingly rejected McDonnell's veto of a bill to boost the maximum medical malpractice court judgment from $2 million to $3 million over 20 years. The House vote was 93-7; the Senate vote was 30-10.

Even fellow Republicans voted against the governor to affirm a measure that represented a compromise among some of Virginia's most potent lobbies: doctors, insurers and defense lawyers. The bill received strong bipartisan support in the House and Senate, but McDonnell said the increase would drive up already high medical insurance premiums.

No increased fines for environmental violations

McDonnell also got his way in vetoing two bills that would have increased fines for violating environmental laws and failing to report water-withdrawal information.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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