Youngkin campaigns tax relief proposal with Democratic pushback

RICHMOND, Va. (WWBT) - While the General Assembly is underway, Gov. Glenn Youngkin spoke to a crowd in Richmond Monday night on his plans to cut taxes.

Inside the gymnasium of the Richmond Weinstein JCC, Youngkin explained how the Commonwealth has been losing thousands of people to neighboring states and how he wants to keep people in Virginia.

“We have ample resources in order to cut taxes and invest in our top priorities, and we need to get this done for Virginians,” Youngkin said.

Youngkin touted his plan to stop the trend by making Virginia a compete-to-win state which he said starts with cutting taxes.

“We’ve got to do things that keep Virginians here or incise people to move here as opposed to moving to other states,” Youngkin said.

Part of his plan is to lower the top income tax rate from 5.75% to 5.5% and raise the standard deduction to $9,000 for single filers and $18,000 for those married.

Youngkin said overall, his plan will provide an additional $1 billion in tax relief on top of work completed last year.

“For the typical Virginia family, collectively, it’ll mean almost $2,000 of savings,” Youngkin said. “That’s real money for hard-working families at a time when they need it.”

In the House of Delegates on Monday, Democrats said only a small number of people would actually see the top-end savings.

“Instead of getting $50 [or] maybe $75, you’re going to get no less than $550 that’s at the very beginning of the top ten percent,” Del. Vivian Watts of Fairfax said. “If you’re in the top 1 percent, you’re going to get $1,400 to $1,500.″

Other House Democrats also said the proposed $1 billion surplus should instead be invested elsewhere.

“There are over a million children in public schools,” Del. Jeff Bourne of Richmond said. “If we want to make the right investment and get the biggest bang for our buck, it’s not $50 or a couple of hundred dollars back in the parent’s pockets. It’s making sure our children have world-class education facilities.”

Youngkin said while there may be some pushback, he is confident both sides will be able to get this done.

“There’s plenty for a billion dollars worth of tax cuts and 2.6 billion dollars of priority investing. We can come together and do this,” Youngkin said. “It just takes time, that’s my experience, and so I am patient and happy to work with folks.”

House Bill 2319 passed along party lines on Monday but will likely face more pushback in the Senate.

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