Press Release from the Governor’s office:
RICHMOND, VA – This morning, Governor Glenn Youngkin unveiled his proposed “Unleashing Opportunity” budget during a presentation to the General Assembly’s Joint Money Committee. The budget proposal modernizes Virginia’s tax code and bolsters investments in job growth, workforce development, needed behavioral and mental health support for Virginians, safe communities, good governance measures, and ushers in the largest education budget in Virginia’s history.
“Today, I am proud to present our ‘Unleashing Opportunity’ budget as part of a bold, necessary path forward. Virginia is on the verge of winning the fierce competition among our peer states for jobs, innovation, residents, and opportunity,” said Governor Glenn Youngkin. “Unleashing Opportunity means allowing Virginians to keep more of their hard-earned money, being prepared to take good jobs with a great education, in safe communities, where they can find the resources they need when they need them, in a state that understands what taking care of God’s natural resources means, with a government that works efficiently for all Virginians.”
Video of the governor’s remarks to the Joint Money Committee are available here:
The governor’s full remarks on his “Unleashing Opportunity” budget is available here:
The governor’s 2024 -2026 biennial budget bill is available here:
6 comments
Here we go;
BUDGET MEASURES
Governor Youngkin’s proposed budget supports critical initiatives, including:
Tax Reform
· Provides Virginians an additional $1 billion in tax relief over the biennium
· Cuts income tax rates for all Virginians by 12%
· Enables low-income Virginians to claim an enhanced Virginia Earned Income Tax Credit, equal to 25% of the federal EITC on top of their 12% individual tax rate cut
· Modernizes Virginia’s tax code and diversifies the tax base by closing the big tech tax loophole and increasing the sales and use tax
Unleashing Opportunity
· Invites and challenges our General Assembly members to eliminate the personal property tax on vehicles.
· Unleashes $100 million to grow high-wage high-tech jobs in Virginia’s emerging “Research Triangle” focused on biotechnology, life science and pharmaceutical manufacturing industries.
· Provides $150 million to bring state IT systems into the 21st century
Further Drive Excellence in Education
· Proposes the largest education budget in the history of the Commonwealth, with a record $24 billion investment in our public schools with a nearly $1 billion increase to support our teachers, students, and parents compared to the previous budget.
· Provides $60 million in ongoing support for Lab Schools to help the operating costs of new and innovative schools throughout the Commonwealth
· Allocates $40 million to establish the “Diploma Plus” program, to help ensure that every student can obtain an industry-recognized credential in a high-demand field.
· Appropriates $17 million for campus safety and security in coordination with the State Police’s Fusion Center
· Provides a one percent bonus for K-12 for state funded instructional and support positions.
· Supports reading specialists with $61 million over the biennium; a $53 million teacher bonus, on top of the 2% early raise in teacher salaries, starting next month that carries into 2025, and another $122 million supporting a 2% raise in 2026
Ensuring a Quality Environment for Our Children and Empowering Working Parents
· Provides over $448 million for the “Building Blocks for Virginia Families” initiative to provide high quality early childhood programs for low income families.
· Ensures that the families of the 27,000 children, currently at risk of following the discontinuation of federal pandemic relief funds, will have alternatives available for their childcare needs.
· Provides $25 million in funding for an incentive grant program to create early learning hubs in partnership with our institution of higher education and localities.
· Allows greater capacity at our childcare centers by continuing the successful use of greater flexibility relating to child-to-staff ratios
Right Help, Right Now
· Delivers more than $335 million to help meet the Governor’s promise to eliminate the Priority 1 wait list for Developmental Disability Waiver slots
· Allocates more than $138 million dollars as part of the Right Help, Right Now initiative, allowing more money for start-up expenses of additional new crisis centers, increasing the number of mobile crisis units, offering student mental health services, and increasing the pay for hard-to-fill roles in our state mental health facilities.
· Improves the safety, security, and quality of our long-neglected state mental health facilities with nearly $60 million in repairs and upgrades at the Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services.
Safe Communities and Bold Blue Line Plan
· Advancing the Bold Blue Line Initiative, the Governor’s budget provides nearly $26 million to address compression for law enforcement, $18 million for law enforcement recruitment and wellness, and allocates $33 million for increased salaries for deputy sheriffs and regional jail officers
· Appropriates $25 million in FY 25 and $18 million in FY 26 for return the Lawrenceville Correctional Center to state management
In my opinion for a Governor to offer a tax reform directive it should not be leaving out him addressing Tax Fraud, his does.
He could amend it so it does but…..
Blue Virginia commenters: I was in the tax office to pay my car tax in my rural county. This is NOT NoVA where you guys feast on the federal largesse of fiat money to the tune of trillion dollar debt levels. This is a working class county. They have to own trucks for actual work… unlike what you people do counting money. They were routinely handed a 2,000 dollar bill… One young hispanic who owns a fleet of trucks for his business asked what he owed.. And he goes Are you kidding me??? What do I get for all that money??
The car tax is pretty regressive real people… not you.
I can relate but;
If the fella has a fleet of trucks then he has multiple “employees” at that point he obviously has a great deal of bookkeeping, form Va 4 payments, 940 payments, workers comp annual audits and the audits with the VEC under The Va Emploment Compensation Act.
Darn that guy is good to have all of that but yet has to go to the local Treasurer so he doesn’t get a DMV stop.
His accountant needs to step it up!
You neglected to mention that Gov. Red Vest’s budget included a raft of NEW taxes: Taxes on downloads, streaming services, computer applications, to name only a few.
Gov Red Vest also claims that by lowering taxes (which he is not doing), he will encourage people to move to Virginia. IN FACT all research about why people move shows that they move for JOBS, not because of low taxes. Of course, he is not lowering taxes except for folks like himself with a $40 million tax-free gift from Carlyle.
Then, there are all sorts of legislative proposals from the radical right.
Mark Peake has introduced a bill that would allow physicians and other health care providers to refuse to provide services with which they disagree. Peake also introduced legislation to chip away at voting rights in Virginia.
Tom Garrett – who proudly admits he was part of the Jan 6 coup attempt mob that stormed the Capitol -now wants to make it okay for his nutcase compatriots to carry firearms in the state capitol building.
A man works
***That working man’s income is taxed
That working man starts to see the reward in his work and decides to purchase a new car/truck because he feels secure and a valuable
(pulling his weight) part of the Virginia economy.
***Now you tax that working man for sales tax of the vehicle which provides transportation to work.
***Now you tax that working man a property tax (WTF) for his work transportation.
***Now you tax that working man again tags annually (ok with this)
But when does our government stop taxing those who actually contribute & have personal responsibility like this in a economy of
United We Stand?
More like
United We Demand 💴
Gov Dumbkin proposed to reduce the income tax paid by the wealthiest people, those at the top of the tax brackets. At the same time, he proposed to INCREASE the sales tax, which is a regressive tax because it hits middle- and low-income disproportionally.
It’s just more tinkle down economics — the people at the top tinkle down on everyone under them.
This regressive budget is DOA.