Democrats are looking for new sources of revenue, and they are considering a plan to expand Virginia's sales tax base.
"There's a lot of services that are provided today that people used to pay taxes on," Senate Majority leader Scott Surovell noted. "For example, with Netflix, you used to go down to Blockbuster, you'd rent a movie and you'd pay a sales tax on that transaction. But ever since it moved to the cloud, you don't anymore. The same thing is true with other kinds of live streaming, movies and books. And our sales tax base has eroded because so many things have moved onto the internet."
Republicans say Democrats are engaged in an affordability hoax. Senate Minority Leader Ryan McDougle outlined the array of new taxes this way.
"A tax on Netflix. A tax on Hulu. A tax on Amazon prime. A tax on dry cleaning. A tax on haircuts. A tax on your gym membership. A tax on GrubHub. A tax on DoorDash," McDougle continued. "A tax on Uber. A tax on Lyft. A tax on dog walking, and a tax on lawn care."
Democrats who control the money committees are currently considering thousands of requests for funding, a docket that will continue through the beginning of March.
