Listen 4 min
Share
Comment on this story Comment
RICHMOND — Gov. Glenn Youngkin signed the state budget on the steps of Virginia’s Capitol on Thursday with great fanfare and little hint that the spending plan contained far more money for schools than he’d requested and hardly any of the tax cuts he’d sought.
Wp Get the full experience.Choose your plan ArrowRight
Virginia’s divided General Assembly passed a budget bill last week — six months late thanks to a standoff centered mostly on the $1 billion in recurring tax cuts that Youngkin (R) sought for individuals and corporations.
The bill that the Republican-led House of Delegates and the Democratic-controlled Senate sent to Youngkin’s desk scrapped his proposed corporate cuts entirely and turned his recurring cuts for individuals into one-time rebates.
Youngkin didn’t get big tax cuts as Va. lawmakers pass budget compromise
But the governor — waiving his right to amend the legislation in the thick of critical legislative elections and just three months before he proposes a brand-new budget to the General Assembly — seemed to cast the bill as a big win. All 140 seats in the House and Senate are on the ballot Nov. 7 for elections that could determine whether Youngkin can enact his conservative agenda and possibly make a last-minute run for president in 2024.
Advertisement
“It’s about promises made, promises kept,” he declared, not long after descending the Capitol’s South Portico steps to Bachman–Turner Overdrive’s “Takin’ Care of Business.”
Youngkin did give a nod to the Democrats who led the Senate’s budget negotiations and extolled, as he often does, the virtues of bipartisanship.
“When we work together, we can move mountains,” he said early in his 17-minute address.
From there, he recapped his time in office, which he cast as liberating Virginia from overzealous pandemic restrictions, soaring murder rates and overly burdensome taxes.
Share this article Share
Youngkin had proposed reducing the corporate tax rate, trimming the top marginal rate for individuals and increasing the standard deduction — on top of $4 billion in tax cuts that the General Assembly passed last year. Democrats opposed the recurring cuts — which would decrease state funds into the future — and favored greater increases for spending priorities such as public education, teacher and state employee pay raises, and mental health services.
Advertisement
House Republicans, whose initial budget was similar to Youngkin’s, eventually settled for one-time taxpayer rebates of $200 for individuals and $400 for couples. The budget also increases the standard deduction to $8,500 from $8,000 for single filers and to $17,000 from $16,000 for married couples filing jointly. That change will remain in effect as long as state revenue hits certain targets. If it falls short, the deduction reverts to current levels.
Also included: restoration of the back-to-school sales tax holiday that lawmakers and the governor all forgot to reenact this year, as well as higher spending on education and mental health.
The budget boosts direct aid to K-12 by more than $640 million and includes about $55 million for a 2 percent pay raise for teachers.
Sen. George L. Barker (D-Fairfax), co-chairman of the Senate Finance and Appropriations Committee, noted that Youngkin touted the added money for schools and teacher pay in his speech even though the governor had not included those items in his proposed budget.
Advertisement
“The $650 million-something he talked about, that’s on top of what he had proposed,” Barker said.
The budget also boosts spending on mental health services by nearly $155 million, including $10 million for mobile crisis teams and $7.5 million for school-based pilot programs. Those amounts also exceed what Youngkin initially proposed, but Barker said the governor signaled early on that he would be agreeable to more spending in that area.
The event had the feel of a campaign rally — right down to the large cloth banners that read “Compete to Win,” paid for by his Spirit of Virginia political action committee. On the steps with Youngkin were Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears (R), Attorney General Jason S. Miyares (R) and dozens of other elected Republicans and GOP activists, including two women in Moms for Liberty T-shirts.
Democrats were in short supply. Barker was one of just three Democratic officeholders, along with Del. Rodney T. Willett (D-Henrico), who has embraced Youngkin as he seeks reelection in a blue-leaning suburban district, and Del. Betsy B. Carr (D-Richmond), who is running unopposed in a heavily Democratic district that encompasses Capitol Square.
Share
Comments
More coverage of Virginia
HAND CURATED
Public libraries are the latest front in culture war battle over books
July 25, 2023
Public libraries are the latest front in culture war battle over books
July 25, 2023
Va. lawmakers cut budget deal, reject Youngkin’s call for recurring tax cuts
August 25, 2023
Va. lawmakers cut budget deal, reject Youngkin’s call for recurring tax cuts
August 25, 2023
A famous pony ranch was up for sale. A tiny museum saved the day.
July 9, 2023
A famous pony ranch was up for sale. A tiny museum saved the day.
July 9, 2023
View 3 more stories
Loading...
View more