CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA (CVILLE RIGHT NOW) – Despite her party controlling both houses of the General Assembly, Gov. Abigail Spanberger sent 180 bills back to the body with amendments, many comprising substantial rewrites. Sources called the proposed changes to many of the bills “surprising,” “frustrating,” “problematic,” and “contentious.”

Local legislators whose bills were amended said their work will continue.

“Every governor is different,” Sen. Creigh Deeds (D-Charlottesville) said. “It’s a significant number of bills coming back, but we’ll work through it. It’s probably the most bills that one person has ever vetoed from members of their own party. I mean, that can’t be denied. We’ve got our work cut out for us, but I’m confident we’ll get past it and move forward. We’ve got big things to do and I’m confident this governor is going to have a great four years.”

Deeds sponsored a bill creating a Prescription Drug Affordability Board, a body that would work to guarantee federal caps on drug pricing and would be applied to all state-regulated health insurance plans.

Spanberger’s proposed changes neuter the bill, Deeds said, and he would rather see it vetoed in its original form than passed with her revisions. Among the Governor’s amendments is a re-enactment clause that would cause a delay in the board beginning its work.

“I think the amendments basically gut the bill,” Deeds said. “I’m not happy with it all. I’m trying to figure out whether we’re going to respond by just rejecting the amendment or respond by rejecting the amendment and seeking a 2/3 majority to overturn. But I’m considering all the options.”

If the GA does not accept the governor’s amendments on a specific bill, it can return the bill – in its original form – to Gov. Spanberger to reconsider, risking a veto. The GA could also accept the amendments and send the revised bill to the Governor for her signature.

Del. Katrina Callsen (D-Charlottesville) had a bill limiting ICE’s authority to make arrests in courthouses passed by the GA. But despite Spanberger’s very public support for reining in ICE, her amendments render the bill toothless, Callsen told Cville Right Now.

“As a lawyer, we need people to be able to come to court and feel safe,” Callsen said. “If they’re victims of crimes or they’re witnesses or they’re having custody disputes, they need to be able to come in and have their legal rights enforced and not be afraid of civil immigration enforcement activity happening in a courthouse. That can happen in other places. Also, we just need to be protective of humans and access to core services and care like hospitals and schools.”

Callsen said she worked with lawyers across the nation to craft the bill, largely modeling it on legislation out of New York. She said she met with representatives from Spanberger’s office and Attorney General Jay Jones’s office as she worked on the bill, part of the reason she was surprised by the major rewrite the Governor proposed.

Callsen said she plans to reject the Governor’s amendments.

“When it’s a take-it or leave-it proposition, I’ll leave it,” Callsen said. “The substitute makes it so it’s a right, but provides no remedy. And a right with no ability to enforce it isn’t really a right at all.”

A bill extending collective bargaining rights to more educational workers and another legalizing the sale of cannabis in Virginia also got major rewrites that left supporters questioning whether the substitute bills are even worth enacting.

Gov. Spanberger’s office did not respond to multiple requests for an interview or comment for this story. The General Assembly passed 1,208 bills this session. Spanberger vetoed eight and substituted 180, creating at least a perception of a rift between her and legislators.

That could not come at a worse time, as Democrats are fighting to get a redistricting amendment passed by Virginia voters that would allow them to redraw voting maps in their favor, in response to a similar action in Texas. Early voting for that ended Saturday and election day is Tuesday.

“Everybody has their own way of doing things,” Deeds said. “She is a hands-on person, hands-on governor. She took the bull by the horns after the session, sat down with the bills, and I guess did what she thought was the right thing to do. I don’t agree with everything she did. And other people may or may not, but that’s what makes the world go around, right? We’re not supposed to all agree.”