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This past week, each chamber of the Virginia General Assembly passed amendments, or changes, to Governor Youngkin’s proposed 2-year budget that he presented in December 2023. As you know, both the Virginia House and Senate are narrowly controlled by Democrats.  I will speak to the Senate of Virginia’s budget, as that is the document I voted on last week.

VIRGINIA'S BUDGET-HOUSE & SENATE VERSIONS

Governor Youngkin proposed bold steps to modernize Virginia’s archaic tax system, including cutting tax rates for all Virginians by 12%.  Our Democrat colleagues decided to remove all but one of the Governor’s proposed tax policy changes.  Both House and Senate versions of the budget keep the closure of the “big tech loophole,” which I tend to agree with.  Before streaming and the internet, we would all pay sales tax on our DVD and video game rentals and purchases.  So, the General Assembly proposes to simply bring us back to paying sales tax on the same movies and games we previously paid for.  The Senate budget also removes the Governor’s plan for a sports arena in Northern Virginia, while the House includes it in their version.  The House version also included direction for Virginia to rejoin the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (ReGGI) since Governor Youngkin removed our state from it, while the Senate thankfully does not have that in our version.

The Senate budget includes three percent pay raises in each of the two years for teachers and a 2.5% pay raise for state employees each year.  It also includes $1.6 billion in additional K-12 spending, with a specific focus on modernizing old school buildings.

As it relates to our part of the Commonwealth, the Senate (and House) picked up my request for $1 million to fund 10 new OB-GYN graduate medical residency slots, which should help Lewis Gale in Montgomery County and increase access to obstetric services in the New River Valley.  We added $125,000 each year for the Coalfield Economic Development Authority to continue to address telehealth and telemedicine needs throughout Southwest Virginia. There is also planning money in the Senate version of the biennial budget to explore expanding a gas pipeline in Tazewell County that will benefit many businesses and residences, as well as to plan for the demolition and rebuilding of Buchanan and Tazewell Halls on the Southwest Virginia Community College campus.

The next step in the budget process is for each chamber to “swap” budgets, vote on them, and then send them back to each other.  We will then enter into what is called the “conference” process where 6-10 members of each chamber are designated to negotiate the differences between the House and Senate versions of the biennial budget. I will continue to keep you updated on the budgetary process as things develop.

 
As always, I want to encourage you to watch the General Assembly session. You are welcome to visit us in person in Richmond and view the proceedings from the gallery. But you can also stream each day’s session here: http://virginia-senate.granicus.com/ViewPublisher.php?view_id=3.

Please let me know where you stand on legislation impacting you. You can reach us at our email [email protected] or call (804) 698-7505.To get up-to-date information, please follow us on our Facebook page, Senator Travis Hackworth. I will be in touch next week with another update from the General Assembly. Have a great week!

Until next week,

Senator Travis Hackworth
Virginia State Senator, District 5