Spanberger Vetoes Women-Owned and Minority-Owned Businesses Bill—Says Didn’t Go Far Enough
Douglas Blair
• May 29, 2026
As Democrats continue to hemorrhage support among white voters, legislation passed by Virginia’s Democratic-controlled Legislature offers a revealing glimpse into the party’s increasingly comfortable embrace of anti-white policymaking.
HB61, known as the Small, Women-owned, and Minority-owned Business (SWaM) certification program, sought to expand preferential treatment for women or minority-owned small businesses in state contracting and would have increased discretionary state spending directed toward such businesses by 3% annually until agencies reached a 42% target.
It also proposed reserving funds between $10,000 and $200,000 for qualifying businesses and granting them a “price preference” of up to 5%. In practice, this meant women or minority-owned businesses could charge more than white or male competitors and still receive no-contest government contracts on the sole basis of the owners’ race or sex.
The bill was ultimately vetoed by Gov. Abigail Spanberger, though not because she objected to race-focused contracting. Instead, Spanberger argued the proposal didn’t go far enough.
https://www.dailysignal.com/2026/05/29/spanberger-vetoes-women-owned-and-minority-owned-businesses-bill/
