With legislation for a new arena for the Wizards and Capitals excluded from a compromise over the state budget, the future of the project is "increasingly in question," according to Armus, Vozzella & Schneider of the WASHINGTON POST. The plan’s omission from the budget marks the "latest and biggest blow as the 60-day General Assembly session in Richmond nears its end." It "severely narrows" Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s pathways for "pushing forward his top political priority." Youngkin has "several options for reviving the plan." He could call a "special legislative session to consider the arena at any time, a costly step he has resisted in the past on other matters." He is "widely expected to resurrect the arena through a budget amendment or stand-alone bill when the legislature returns April 17 to consider bills the governor has vetoed or amended." But he indicated Thursday that he has "no immediate plans to pursue other avenues." House Speaker Don Scott Jr. said that he was "not quite ready to pronounce the arena dead" (WASHINGTON POST, 3/7).
