Gov. Glenn Youngkin (R-VA) compromised with Virginia budget negotiators on a two-year state spending plan that would include 3% raises for state employees and teachers while not raising taxes.
Virginia House Appropriations Chairman Luke Torian said Thursday the General Assembly’s budget leaders have reached a deal with Youngkin they hope lawmakers approve during a special session on Monday.
Youngkin “looks forward to finishing the work to deliver on our collective priorities for all Virginians next week,” according to his press secretary, Christian Martinez.
Details of the plan will not be released to the public or lawmakers until Saturday.
However, Torian told the Richmond Times-Dispatch the agreement includes additional state revenues to pay for Democratic spending priorities, including the raises for teachers and state employees, as well as money to restrain increases in tuition for state universities and colleges, help people with mental illness, and pay for increased costs to Virginia’s Medicaid program. The agreement does not include tax hikes to pay for the Democrats’ priorities, which Youngkin said he would’ve vetoed.
“All of our spending priorities are intact,” Torian said.
The agreement will expand Virginia’s sales tax to digital services and will not include a requirement by the Democratic-controlled Assembly that Virginia rejoin the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative, a multistate compact that seeks to reduce emissions of greenhouse gases that scientists say contribute to global warming and climate change, which Youngkin does not support.
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The agreement also doesn’t legalize electronic skill games as the VA Merchants and Amusement Coalition already said they will no longer sell state lottery tickets until there is “a path forward for skill games.”
The compromise will still have to be reviewed in both the Virginia House of Delegates and the Senate. Democrats hold the majority in both state chambers.
