Budget & Revenue

The proposed House budget could mean trouble for federal employees and their families. And that’s particularly bad news for Virginia, as it has the second highest number of federal civilian employees of any state, behind California.

Loudoun County may be the nation’s highest income county, but that designation masks real problems low-income people there face. And if Congress has its way, the federal budget will make their situation even worse.

As part of our work to inform ongoing debates in Virginia around fiscal policy issues, we took a look at some recent tax proposals at the center of current debates – from candidates for Governor and from the most recent General Assembly session. 

Reduced state investment in public schools in Virginia since the recession has significantly impacted day-to-day operations in schools all over the Commonwealth. Schools have been forced to eliminate teachers and instructional specialists, place increasing responsibilities on teachers, reduce critical support positions such as nurses and school counselors, not keep pace with the changing language needs of students, eliminate student clubs and shorten afterschool programs, and allow facilities to deteriorate and fall into disrepair.

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,...