“They’ve twisted my arm, they’ve bent my ears, and I still told them, ‘No,’” she said.
On Wednesday night, Lucas tweeted a meme of herself flashing a peace sign over a grave with a headstone that read “Youngkin and Leonsis’ $5 billion arena.” Backers of the plan put the cost at less than half that amount.
“Who DID THIS?!” the caption read, with a crying-laughing emoji for emphasis.
Barring an unlikely last-minute reversal before the General Assembly adjourns Saturday, that means Youngkin (R) would have to send down a budget amendment or stand-alone bill to resurrect the arena; lawmakers would vote on those at a future session. He could call a special legislative session to consider the arena any time — a costly step Youngkin has resisted in the past on other matters — or offer the measure when the legislature returns April 17 to take up bills that the governor has vetoed or amended.
House Appropriations Vice Chair Mark Sickles (D-Fairfax), who is one of the budget negotiators, said there were too many doubts about the arena proposal as currently configured to be overcome. “It’s not ready for prime time,” he said Wednesday night. “There’s questions about it … The consensus bill has not been developed yet for the arena.”
In an interview with The Post on Wednesday night, House Speaker Don L. Scott Jr. (D-Portsmouth) said he was not quite ready to pronounce the arena dead.
“There have been several conversations back and forth. It’s not final until it’s final,” he said. But, he added, “there have been folks from labor, there’ve been folks from our side of the aisle and across the aisle who have tried in good faith to see if we can examine this opportunity for what it was. And if we don’t get there, the commonwealth will still be fine and we’ll still be able to make more economic development deals, whether this one comes through or not.”
Youngkin has kept mum about specific steps he would take if lawmakers sent him a budget without the arena language. But asking lawmakers to vote on an arena budget amendment or stand-alone bill is a riskier proposition, requiring support from a majority of legislators in both chambers to win passage. The plan could have passed much more easily had the arena language been embedded in the state budget bill that emerges from negotiations, which only gets an up-or-down vote as a whole and routinely passes.
The governor has made clear that he views the arena as a special opportunity for the state. His office declined to comment Wednesday night. A spokesman for Monumental Sports & Entertainment, which owns the teams, also declined to comment.
As bad news for the arena began spreading on X, Youngkin weighed in on another subject: announcing that he was endorsing former president Donald Trump for reelection. Trump won the state’s GOP primary the night before.
Youngkin and Monumental chief executive Ted Leonsis had announced the arena deal in December with great fanfare, promising it would generate billions in revenue for the state and the city of Alexandria and spin off 30,000 jobs across Virginia. Bringing not one, but two professional sports franchises to a state with none promised to be a major legacy maker for Youngkin, who lured Leonsis with $1.5 billion in taxpayer-backed bonds.
But the proposal has drawn opposition from the start — from D.C. leaders, who offered Monumental $500 million for upgrades to Capital One Arena before the announcement, from Alexandria residents leery of what it would do to already-crowded roadways and from lawmakers who complained they were kept out of negotiations and who expressed doubt about the public debt obligation.
Lucas has been the chief skeptic. She took the reins of the powerful finance committee this year after elections ushered in a new set of Democratic leaders in both the House and Senate. Decrying the project as the “Glenn Dome,” Lucas said she was opposed to subsidizing a billionaire team owner and worried about harming the state’s finances.
Though she suggested she might come around if the governor agreed to a host of Democratic priorities — such as providing toll relief in the Hampton Roads region, establishing a legal marijuana market and raising the minimum wage — Lucas blocked the deal from the Senate budget and refused to even schedule hearings for two stand-alone bills related to it.
Scott favored keeping the arena alive in the House, saying it was worth exploring whether the project could generate revenue to help pay for Northern Virginia transportation improvements that would be needed even without the development. House Appropriations Chairman Luke E. Torian (D-Prince William) shepherded a version of the budget that included language creating a sports and entertainment authority to oversee the construction and financing of the arena.
But because the House and Senate passed different versions of the state budget that Youngkin proposed in December, the issue was thrown this week to a small conference committee charged with hashing out a compromise spending plan that can be acted on by Saturday. Lucas chose six budget negotiators for the Senate — including herself — and Scott chose six for the House, including Torian.
They began meeting Sunday, and Lucas quickly sent signals that she wasn’t backing down from her opposition to the arena.
Lucas stopped short of saying she and Torian had reached an agreement to keep the arena language out of the budget, but she said that’s the upshot.
“I won’t say I have an agreement with him, but he understands I’m not going to budge,” she said.
Even so, Lucas said Torian asked her to meet with him Thursday morning so that he can have one more shot at convincing her; she said she’s agreed to meet but will not change her position.
“He’s fighting like the devil to get it moved forward,” she said. “I told them they were wasting their time, but Torian wants to have one more conversation.”
Torian did not immediately respond to a request for comment Wednesday night.
Youngkin, who is halfway through his four-year term and, like all Virginia governors, barred from seeking a second consecutive term, has worked since January to build support among lawmakers on both sides of the aisle. He agreed to increase funding for the Washington Metropolitan Transit Authority — which Democratic leaders said was essential regardless of the arena project — and floated a Hampton Roads toll relief plan.
But lawmakers of both parties complained that they were being asked to approve something the governor had negotiated without them, and they paid attention to a steady campaign of opposition from Northern Virginia residents. Many also expressed concern that taking the Wizards and Capitals out of Capital One Arena in the District would harm the nation’s capital, which has been struggling with crime and a lack of economic development since the coronavirus pandemic caused thousands of government employees to work from home.
Amanda Smith is a dedicated U.S. correspondent with a passion for uncovering the stories that shape the nation. With a background in political science, she provides in-depth analysis and insightful commentary on domestic affairs, ensuring readers are well-informed about the latest developments across the United States.
