Democrats in the Virginia State Senate have beaten the attempt by Governor Glenn Youngkin and Virginia Republicans to cut the commonwealth’s income tax rates and reform Virginia’s sales tax until at least 2025.
SB 632, filed by State Senator Richard Stuart (R-Montross) (pictured above, right), was continued into 2025 on Tuesday in an overwhelming vote by the Senate Subcommittee on Finance and Appropriations, led by State Senator L. Louise Lucas (D-Portsmouth) (pictured above, left).
The bill would have cut income taxes across the board, with Virginia’s lowest earners paying a 1.75 percent tax rate, down from 2 percent, and its highest earners paying a 5.1 percent rate, lowered from 5.75 percent. It also would have increased the tax credits available to low-income Virginians and authorized an extra $5 million in Education Improvement Scholarships in 2025.
It also would have achieved Youngkin’s goal of expanding Virginia’s sales tax to include online purchases, including digital goods like video games, as well as streaming services. The money would have been earmarked for the Commonwealth Transportation Fund, with half of the revenues dedicated to the Interstate 81 Corridor Improvement Fund.
Youngkin proposed cutting Virginia’s income taxes and offsetting it with the sales tax hike when he unveiled his budget plans in December 2023.
It is the second of Youngkin’s initiatives shut down by Democrats since the governor outlined his plans for 2024 after Democrats in another subcommittee defeated a bill to regulate how social media companies can offer their services to children.
The defeats came after Lucas suggested Democrats would end all cooperation with Youngkin and Virginia Republicans if the governor did not pass her bill to increase the minimum wage in Virginia to $15 per hour by 2026. Youngkin has suggested the market is providing wage increases and legislation is unnecessary.
“If Glenn Youngkin vetoes my minimum wage bill, he will quickly find the cooperative tone from Democrats changing very quickly,” Lucas predicted in a January post to X, the platform formerly known as Twitter.
PREDICTION: If Glenn Youngkin vetoes my minimum wage bill, he will quickly find the cooperative tone from Democrats changing very quickly.
— L. Louise Lucas (@SenLouiseLucas) January 26, 2024
Lucas similarly suggested she would use her influence to block support for Youngkin’s proposed sporting complex, which is necessary for the Washington Commanders and Wizards to relocate to Virginia unless she receives the necessary support to “deliver on toll relief and for public schools in Hampton Roads.”
A spokesman for Youngkin told The Richmond Times-Dispatch that the governor remains committed to lowering taxes and “looks forward to continuing this work with members of the General Assembly on commonsense tax reform to lower the cost of living across the Commonwealth.”
Democratic leadership previously cited multiple areas of possible cooperation with the Youngkin administration, with Virginia House Speaker Don Scott (D-Portsmouth) and the governor citing education, mental health, and public safety as possible issues where Republicans and Democrats could craft bipartisan legislation.
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Tom Pappert is the lead reporter for The Tennessee Star, and also reports for The Georgia Star News, The Virginia Star, and The Arizona Sun Times. Follow Tom on X/Twitter. Email tips to [email protected].
Background Photo “Virginia Capitol” by Martin Kraft. CC BY-SA 3.0.
