Budget & Revenue

As tax day approaches, we celebrate the successes of the EITC in helping hard-working Virginians make ends meet. We should also support efforts to make it even more effective in helping workers and creating a fairer tax system.

Lawmakers in Congress have a choice to make: will they move forward with a new scheme that gives generous tax breaks to the wealthy, or will they abandon that ill-conceived plan and get to work making it easier for average people to get health care.

Virginia’s tax system is upside down. Regular Virginians pay a higher share of their income in state and local taxes than the wealthy and powerful. An array of recently proposed schemes to give new handouts to the wealthy and powerful would make it even more unfair. Virginians can’t afford that. As part of our work to educate and inform the conversations and debates in Virginia around sound fiscal policy issues, we took a look at some of these ideas to see how they would impact Virginians at different income levels and the state budget when it comes to having the resources needed to invest in core public services.

Key proposed changes to the enacted budget, Ch. 780 click image for pdf...

Policymakers have been struggling for months with revenue that fell short of forecasts despite a growing economy. Last week, the...

Wealthy individuals can profit from certain “charitable donations” in Virginia. That’s the surprising result of Virginia’s Neighborhood Assistance Program and Education Improvement Scholarship tax credits, both of which allow “double-dipping” – a 65 percent tax credit on top of federal and state deductions for charitable giving. When that 65 percent credit is combined with the federal and state deductions, many wealthy individuals who are subject to the Alternative Minimum Tax or who donate appreciated securities are able to save more money in avoided taxes than they actually donated to the charitable cause. 

Virginia’s schools, nursing homes, and local governments are facing another round of financial uncertainty as state policy makers debate how to fund these key priorities in the face of lower-than-expected revenue. And that’s just the short term. Looking over the longer term, Virginia’s revenue—the state’s ability to invest in schools, health care, and everything else that builds the foundation of strong communities—isn’t keeping up with the growing needs of a growing state.

Virginia is facing yet another round of potential cuts to vital protections for families and key investments in the future...

A series of public hearings the state Board of Education is holding on the needs of public schools is an excellent opportunity for Virginians to tell the Board that cuts in support for education have hurt schools and kids and stand in the way of helping all communities to thrive.