In an interview, President-elect Donald Trump warned he might not be able to reduce the price of groceries. But Democrats in Richmond hope to address the issue in January.
“The incoming president is finally realizing there are global markets at play,” Senator Ghazala Hashmi said Thursday morning when asked about President elect Donald Trump’s recent comments on his administration’s hopes to address inflation.
“It’s hard to bring things down once they’re up,” Trump told Time Magazine when asked about reducing costs at checkout aisles. “You know, it’s very hard.” he added
But Hashmi, joined by Senator Aaron Rouse and Delegate Josh Cole, announced a series of legislative measures they say will help drop the prices of things like prescription drugs and housing.
Most of the reforms involve tax policy. Rouse said that includes rebates on earned income taxes, and credits for first time homebuyers and childcare services.
“We can do this by fixing our broken tax code that helps millionaires and billionaires more than hard working families,” Rouse said.
Many of the reforms they proposed Thursday passed the legislature during the 2024 session only to be vetoed by Governor Glenn Youngkin. But Delegate Cole said he hopes Trump’s comments on grocery inflation may inspire Youngkin to change his tune this year.
“We hope the governor will use the budget to fund the right priorities for our families and hard-working families here in the commonwealth of Virginia,” Cole said.
Youngkin’s budget amendments are set to be announced next week.
This report, provided by Virginia Public Radio, was made possible with support from the Virginia Education Association.
