Budget Conferees Say No To Tax Breaks for Millionaires, Yes to Historic K-12 Funding and More

Ashley C. Kenneth, President and CEO of The Commonwealth Institute for Fiscal Analysis (TCI), released the following statement regarding the proposed budget compromise released by conferees today:

“Just 11 weeks ago, Governor Youngkin tried to sell Virginia a tax package that would have given big tax breaks to millionaires, raised taxes on families with low incomes, and cut critical public school funding. Just this past week, he doubled down on his tax package and made a case for cutting historic funding that each chamber proposed for our public schools. 

“Thankfully, under the leadership of Chair Lucas and Chair Torian, budget conferees soundly rejected the worst of the governor’s tax package and instead proposed big investments in public education, health care, and more. This proposed budget is a strong step in the right direction to invest in our communities and create opportunities for all families to thrive. 

“TCI is proud to have published timely and accurate analysis that outlined the harmful impacts of the governor’s misguided tax plans and how the overall proposal shortchanged our K-12 public education system. With this information, it was our duty to lead the effort to reject the governor’s tax breaks for the ultra-wealthy and to work in coalition with many organizations in fighting for historic investments in the conference budget. 

“The real winners of today’s budget compromise are families across the commonwealth who will benefit from better-paid teachers, more help for students who face the highest barriers to learning, improved access to health care services, access to paid family and medical leave, and so much more that is included in today’s conference report. 

“Soon, TCI will release our much-anticipated budget side-by-side that will compare the budgets proposed by the governor, each legislative chamber, and budget conferees so that everyone can see who and what is prioritized in the most important bill that the legislature will pass this year.”