While speaking on air with WTOP Thursday, Gov. Glenn Youngkin mentioned the possibility of resurrecting a plan to build a sports arena in Alexandria, Virginia, by including the project in his state budget resubmission. But, the Senate majority leader is pressing back on that idea.
Following the governor’s interview, State Sen. Scott Surovell told WTOP he encourages Youngkin to “compromise” with legislators if he wants the sports arena and entertainment complex to be built. The Democrat said a rewritten bill could possibly pass if the project is reworked.
“It would take a lot of work and discussion and dialogue, and would also take some compromise by the governor on some of our priorities, which so far has been unwilling to show any willingness to engage in,” Surovell told WTOP.
The plan would move the Washington Capitals and Wizards teams out of downtown D.C. and into a new Alexandria arena sponsored by the Monumental Sports & Entertainment organization.
The Democratic-led General Assembly left the proposal out of the state budget earlier this month. But Youngkin has a couple of options for keeping the deal alive.
“I can include the entire project as part of my budget resubmission and we can give it a fair hearing and a vote,” Youngkin told WTOP. “That’s what I’m working on during this monthlong period where I get to work with legislators and really explain to them why this is such a unique opportunity.”
Surovell said adding the proposal back into the budget through a governor’s amendment is an “obtuse” method that he doesn’t expect legislators to be on board with.
“The problem with the governor’s amendment is it’s just an up-or-down vote, and you can’t make any amendments or changes,” he said. “The path to solving this is probably more through like a special session than it is through a governor’s amendment, if we’re even going to have a discussion.”
Surovell pointed at Youngkin’s background as a corporate executive in reference to the arena talks with legislators.
“We’re not a division of Carlyle,” Surovell said, referencing Youngkin’s former job as the CEO of the private equity firm, the Carlyle Group. “We are an independent, coequal branch of government,” Surovell said. “This has to be a negotiation, it’s not going to be … ‘take it or leave it.'”
Youngkin also praised the House for being supportive of the bill after legislators passed and sent it to the Senate. He said that happened because House lawmakers are “supportive” of the plan.
“We need to get the Senate to do the work. They’ll recognize the exact same thing that the House has … this project is, once again, a once in a lifetime economic development opportunity,” Youngkin said.
But Surovell disagreed with that characterization of the two chambers. He called the bill the House passed a “way to have dialogue and discussion.”
“The House has not endorsed a specific project or a specific version of this arena,” Surovell said. “That’s not how the legislative process works.”
Questions remain around the bill, including whether the economic projections are valid and whether jobs created by the project would provide proper wages and benefits, Surovell said.
Some members are also concerned about transportation plans.
“I think there’s concerns about risking taxpayer credit by using these bonds as the underlying financing mechanism,” he told WTOP.
Surovell, for his part, sponsored the arena legislation in the Senate.
“I put the bill in because I was willing to have dialogue and discussion about it,” he said.
He said he felt it merited discussion because of the opportunity for economic development and the benefit of having two professional sports franchises for the first time in Virginia’s history.
WTOP’s Scott Gelman contributed to this report.
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