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Governor Glenn Youngkin signed Virginia’s budget into law today, delivering additional tax relief to Virginia families along with critical investments for the Commonwealth. “If it’s not clear, let me reiterate: the Commonwealth remains a state where your government understands that we work for you. Right now, we’re in the middle of change. Change to the way Virginia operates. Change to a culture of winning. And change to governing in a way that reflects real results. This represents the reawakening of that Spirit of Virginia,” Youngkin said during the budget signing. “It means that you keep more of your hard-earned money because it’s yours, not the government’s. It means that we support, not demean, law enforcement. It means that “Made in America” means Made in Virginia. This means we raise, not lower, academic standards because our children will rise to meet them. It means that parents aren’t just back at the decision table in their children’s lives, but they’re at the head of the decision table. And it means that providing Virginians the right help, right now is a collective responsibility that we must meet.” Youngkin touted the additional $1 billion in tax relief for hardworking families in Virginia, which builds on the historic $4 billion in tax relief Youngkin signed into law last year. Youngkin’s budget continues his pro-growth policies, which have already created more than 220,000 jobs and brought Virginia’s labor participation rate to the highest level in a decade. Youngkin also highlighted the investments in students, with support for high-intensity tutoring, and an increase in teacher pay. Finally, Youngkin lauded the measures to support law enforcement and improve Virginia’s behavioral health programs, which is a top priority for his administration. Excerpts of Youngkin’s speech are included below. Click here to watch the full speech. TAX RELIEF FOR VIRGINIANS: “$1 billion in incremental tax relief on top of last year’s historic $4 billion, bringing it to a total of $5 billion. That’s $2,200 in tax relief to a typical Virginia family since the start of our administration. We have nearly doubled the standard deduction, primarily helping lower- and middle-class families, increasing to $8,500 for single filers and $17,000 for those filing jointly. We are eliminating the age restrictions on tax relief for our military retirees. And, of course, we are reinstating the sales tax holiday for essential items – school supplies, clothing, shoes, and so much more.” FOSTERING ECONOMIC OPPORTUNITY: “Solving the cost-of-living crisis is not merely about reducing tax burdens. It is about growing incomes and opportunity. So, we’re funding an additional $200 million towards creating business-ready sites, bringing the total investment to $300 million. We’re funding workforce development across the Commonwealth, from nurses to the skilled trades, from technology to space to manufacturing. We are not just building a Virginia that simply competes for economic opportunity, we are building a Virginia that competes to win.” RESOURCES FOR STUDENTS: “No group of Virginians is more important to our future than our kids. It all starts in the classroom. That’s why, last week, we all came together to launch the ALL in Virginia plan dedicated to high-intensity tutoring and getting our kids back in the classroom and combating this chronic absenteeism which is taking opportunity away from our children. Today, on top of last year’s historic investment in K-12 education, we are investing an incremental $653 million in our K-12 schools. $418 million of that is supporting the ALL in Virginia plan – high-intensity tutoring, three-to-five hours of incremental tutoring every week in our schools, 18 to 36 months of opportunity for families to support recovering learning loss in their children and they will not have to pay a penny.” INCREASING TEACHER PAY: “Teacher pay is being raised another 2%, on top of the 10% pay increase from last year’s budget, bringing it to 12%. These quiet heroes deserve it, and we must acknowledge the incredible work they do in order to help our children realize the opportunities in front of them.” SUPPORTING LAW ENFORCEMENT: “For our law enforcement heroes, on top of the record investment in salary, and training, and equipment last year, we continue to address the salary compression issues that make it difficult to attract new law enforcement heroes.” TRANSFORMING BEHAVIORAL HEALTH CARE: “When it comes to behavioral health, and getting Virginians the right help, right now when they need it, we’re making a significant first step. Nearly $170 million towards transforming the way we deliver behavioral health here in the Commonwealth. This includes funding for expanding crisis receiving centers and stabilization units, reinforcing and expanding mobile crisis teams across the entire Commonwealth, expanding our investment in hospital-based psychiatric alternatives and building the most needed workforce in the Commonwealth of Virginia that supports our behavioral health system.” If you want to advance Governor Youngkin's commonsense agenda for Virginia, please consider donating. Every dollar you generously contribute will be put to immediate use electing committed allies to the General Assembly who will work with Governor Youngkin to continue to lower taxes, grow jobs, empower parents, and keep our communities safe.
Thank you, Team Youngkin   
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