Members of the General Assembly concluded their session without passing a budget.
Governor Glenn Youngkin campaigned on a platform of doubling the standard deduction for the state income tax, and now House Republicans want to move forward with a $2 billion plan to accomplish that campaign promise. But Senate Democrats want to study the idea first to make sure state officials understand all the ramifications.
Chris Wodicka at the Commonwealth Institute says lawmakers should consider a cautious approach.
"Reducing state revenues by such a large amount in a way that would be ongoing could jeopardize future state budgets because it's unclear what the economy might look like in a future budget," Wodicka says. "So there are a lot of unknowns."
Stephen Haner at the Thomas Jefferson Institute says tax relief is needed now and in future budgets.
"Yes, it's a long-term tax cut. That's the point. That's the value of it," Haner explains. "People will know that year after year after year, there'll be more and more of their income they don't have to pay income tax on. We pay sales taxes. We pay excise taxes. We pay lots of other taxes. So the income tax is one where I think they could do a break this year."
At a cost of two billion dollars, the debate over doubling the standard deduction is the largest disparity House and Senate negotiators still need to work their way through.
This report, provided by Virginia Public Radio, was made possible with support from the Virginia Education Association.
