A proposal to lure the NBA’s Washington Wizards and NHL’s Washington Capitals to Alexandria, Va., was further jeopardized Thursday, when top lawmakers confirmed the state budget would not include language enabling the deal.
"The news does not necessarily mean the end of the road for Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s ambitions of landing Virginia its first major pro sports teams through a $2 billion development district featuring a new arena," wrote Sarah Rankin of The Associated Press. "But it complicates the path forward for a top Youngkin priority that requires legislative approval."
As reported by the AP, Youngkin rolled out the proposal with great fanfare in December when he and Ted Leonsis, CEO of Monumental Sports and Entertainment, the Capitals’ and Wizards’ parent company, announced that they had reached an understanding.
Their deal calls for the creation of a $2 billion development, partly financed by public money, in the Potomac Yard section of Alexandria that would include an arena, practice facility and corporate headquarters for Monumental, plus a separate performing arts venue, all just miles from Washington’s Capital One Arena, where the teams currently play.
In Thursday's news conference at the foot of the Capitol steps, the governor said he believed the Democratic-led General Assembly was poised to make “a colossal mistake” and argued that lawmakers should reconsider and restore the project language to the budget before sending it to his desk.
“They have a chance to stand up and do what’s right. They have a chance to assess this one-of-a-kind, first-of-its-kind economic development opportunity on the merits of the opportunity,” he said.
Democratic senator L. Louise Lucas of Portsmouth, who used her perch as chair of the Senate Finance and Appropriations Committee to keep the deal out of the pending budget legislation, stood on the Capitol portico as Youngkin spoke, looking down and sometimes smiling, Rankin reported.
The deal’s leading opponent and a sharp critic of the governor, Lucas told reporters she remains firmly opposed to the proposal, in large part because of its reliance on bonds backed by the state and city governments.
The budget was the last vehicle remaining this session for legislation to pave the way for the deal. Two other standalone bills were defeated after Lucas refused to grant them a committee hearing.
According to Rankin, Youngkin and other backers have a few ways to try to keep the project alive. If lawmakers send the governor a budget without the arena language, he could pursue an amendment to restore it. Or he could call a special session, starting over with a new bill.
Legislators could also reject the budget and send it back to the conference committee, though Senate Majority Leader Scott Surovell said in an interview that’s not likely to happen.
Surovell, who said he did not anticipate budget negotiators would be open to more last-minute talks before Saturday, also criticized Youngkin for what he called an unwillingness to consider some top Democratic priorities.
