Sine Die and Veto Recommendations
We have reached sine die of the 2024 General Assembly legislative session. During this session, over a thousand individual bills and a nearly 500-page biennial budget were sent to the Governor. All of this must be reviewed and acted upon by Governor Glenn Youngkin (R) before the April 17th reconvened session. There may be hundreds of bills on the Governor’s […]
The Jefferson Journal: Economic Recovery Made Harder
Now that the General Assembly’s “Cops and COVID” special session is all but finished, will it be easier or harder for the state’s struggling economy to recover in 2021? It will be harder, probably.
Jefferson Journal: Taxaginia Reappears as Special Session Looms
The General Assembly reconvenes on August 18 for a special summer session, and the left has already begun the call to raise taxes. But Steve Haner points out that raising taxes in a recession is one of the worst things the General Assembly can do.
The Road to Higher Taxes
The 2020 General Assembly, with its new progressive Democratic majority, passed nearly two dozen changes in Virginia tax laws that will begin to hit individuals and businesses on July 1. The Thomas Jefferson Institute has published a brochure outlining all 23 tax increases or new taxes. Permission is granted to reprint and distribute.
Jefferson Journal: The Revolution Has Been Postponed, Not Cancelled
Governor Ralph Northam has asked the General Assembly to put off until May 1, 2021 the implementation of several key pro-union changes in Virginia’s labor and employment laws, including a 31 percent increase in the minimum wage. But the revolution has merely been postponed, not cancelled.
The Jefferson Journal: Bring Tax Reform Debate Back for Round Two
Sometimes you have to start the victory lap, even if you only get halfway around the track. A year ago, the Thomas Jefferson Institute for Public Policy was beating the drum for a proposal to double the state’s standard deduction, the amount of family income exempt from income tax. It was part of a broader […]
New Poll: Virginia Voters Say ‘Give the Tax Money Back!’
As a result of recent federal tax changes, Virginia taxpayers will pay an additional $1.2 billion in state income taxes this year and next, rising to $4.5 billion in additional taxes by 2024. Now, a new poll conducted for the Thomas Jefferson Institute for Public Policy by Mason-Dixon Strategies shows overwhelming support for giving that […]
New Jefferson Commentaries Make Case for Tax Reform
In two new Thomas Jefferson Institute commentaries published on opposite sides of the state, Institute scholars make the case for tax reform in Virginia. In a commentary originally published in the Fredericksburg Free Lance-Star, Institute president Michael W. Thompson points out that the new “tax windfall” coming to Virginia as a result of federal tax […]
Tax Conformity Must Be Coupled With Tax Reform
Over the next two years, Virginia taxpayers will pay more than $1.2 billion in added state tax taxes … unless the General Assembly acts to reform our tax code when it conforms to federal changes. The Thomas Jefferson Institute solution is simple: Double the state standard deduction, helping nearly 2.8 million taxpayers; and reduce the […]
Fourth Annual Conference on Virginia’s Economic Future
Top Northern Virginia business, economic, and political leaders gathered at George Mason University on October 29, 2018 to hear economists, trade association leaders, and financial analysts discuss the national and state economies, the impact of the federal Tax Cut and Jobs Act, the need for state tax reform, and the effect all this has had […]