Members of the Virginia General Assembly return to the Capitol Wednesday to finally adopt budget amendments. Some details have become clearer.
The new fiscal year started at the beginning of July, but members of the General Assembly are still negotiating potential budget amendments well into FY24. The compromise plan now under consideration does not lower the corporate tax rate or give tax breaks to wealthy individuals. But, Laura Goren at the Commonwealth Institute says it will help students and families.
"The budget deal includes significant funding for support staff in our schools, continuing a state program that will help to reduce healthcare premiums, major investments in behavioral health," Goren says. "And because many of the items in the budget are one time, though, it leaves a lot of uncertainty about what's going to happen in the future."
The proposed budget amendments do not include an earned-income tax credit or a child tax credit. Roberto Soto at the Commonwealth Institute says that's disappointing.
"Low and middle-income families, particularly low-income families who are hardest hit deserve to be part of this tax conversation," says Soto. "And, at the end of the day, we cannot be passing tax policies that largely benefit the wealthiest among us and ignoring those who are most in need."
This compromise agreement still needs to be considered by all 140 members of the General Assembly, which means candidates on the ballot for this November will have to leave the campaign trail and temporarily halt fundraising in the heat of an election cycle.
This report, provided by Virginia Public Radio, was made possible with support from the Virginia Education Association.
