Members of the General Assembly are about to consider a proposal from the governor to modernize the sales tax.
Democrats who are about to be in control of the House and Senate have a variety of viewpoints on Governor Glenn Youngkin's proposal to create a new tax on digital personal property.
Senator Scott Surovell, who is about to become Majority Leader in the Senate, says the proposal modernizes the sales tax to account for changing consumer habits.
"People don't purchase books or purchase video tapes or Blu-Rays as much as they used to anymore," Surovell says. "They tend to stream things, and that's not taxed because it's a service. And I think it's just keeping up with technology more than anything."
But Delegate Marcus Simon says the new tax on services might be a bit much, especially considering the governor wants to pair it with a huge income tax cut that will disproportionately benefit the wealthiest Virginians.
"They don't want to just tax the new tires. They now want to tax the labor rate that you had to put the new tires on," says Simon. "It a little bit reminds me of the old Beatles song: if you walk too much, we'll tax the street."
The governor might also have a hard time getting Republicans on board with a bill that creates a new tax. So far, nobody has introduced the bill although a spokesman for the governor says that might happen closer to the first day of session next week.
This report, provided by Virginia Public Radio, was made possible with support from the Virginia Education Association.
