Virginia’s budget negotiators and Gov. Glenn Youngkin have announced plans for the next two years of state spending, including 3% raises for state employees and teachers, without raising taxes and risking a veto by Mr. Youngkin. A compromise was reached on the plan.
House Appropriations Chairman Luke Torian acknowledged Thursday that General Assembly budget officials have reached an agreement with Yonkin and expects lawmakers to approve it during a special session scheduled to begin Monday.
Youngkin’s press secretary, Christian Martinez, said in a statement that Youngkin “looks forward to completing work to achieve Virginia’s statewide priorities next week.”
Virginia’s First Lady and AG Team Launch Work with Recovering Addicts to Target the State’s Fentanyl Crisis
Details of the new spending plan will not be released to lawmakers or the public until Saturday. Trian told the Richmond Times-Dispatch that the deal includes additional state revenue that will go toward Democratic spending priorities, such as pay raises for teachers and state employees, as well as curbing tuition increases at state universities and providing support for people with mental illness. It also includes funding for support, he said. and pay for the increased costs of Virginia’s Medicaid program.
“All of our spending priorities remain intact,” Torian said.
Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin speaks prior to signing an executive order at the Virginia State Capitol on Saturday, January 15, 2022 in Richmond, Virginia, United States. (Al Drago/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
The $188 billion budget does not extend Virginia’s sales tax to digital services. Yonkin originally proposed the idea as part of a tax policy package that would reduce tax revenue by $1 billion and exempt video streaming and audio services from goods taxes on what the governor called “big tech.” It was meant to close a loophole.
Democrats rejected the governor’s proposal to lower the income tax rate and raise the sales tax by nearly a penny, but maintained expansion into digital services. Those tax provisions, if included in the budget that lawmakers adopted on March 9, would have raised an additional $1 billion, but Youngkin said he would refuse to sign the budget, and that Virginia For the first time in history, the state could run out of funding on July 1, he said.
The agreement includes a Democratic-led Congressional agreement that would rejoin Virginia to the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative, a multistate agreement aimed at reducing emissions of greenhouse gases that scientists say are contributing to global warming and climate change. requirements are not included. Yonkin pressed the State Air Pollution Control Board to withdraw the state from the agreement, concerned about the cost of carbon pollution surcharges that consumers would pay on their electricity bills.
Torian said the proposed budget deal does not include electronic skills games.
The Virginia Federation of Commerce and Entertainment announced that hundreds of participating convenience stores will stop selling Virginia Lottery tickets until Youngkin and lawmakers “reach an agreement on the future direction of skill games.”
CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP
The compromise reached Thursday still needs to pass review by members of the House and Senate, where Democrats hold narrow majorities in each chamber.
