House Republicans’ Budget Is A Bad Deal for Virginia
RICHMOND, VA – Today, House Republicans killed all eight budget amendments put forth by Virginia Democrats. The Republican House budget prioritizes big corporations over ensuring hardworking Virginians have the resources they need to get ahead. Under the Republican plan big corporations get over $350M in tax breaks, while the majority of Virginia households will get less than $50.
In response, Democrats filed the following eight amendments to fill in gaps in the Republican budget, and they were subsequently killed today by Republicans.
Fully Funding Our Schools > Tax Cuts For Corporations:
Democrats filed an amendment to eliminate the corporate tax cut, and filed an amendment to use that money to fully fund our schools.
- This comes at a time when our kids are catching up from Covid learning loss and our classrooms are understaffed.
A World Class Education > Tax Cuts For The Highest Tax Bracket
Democrats filed an amendment to eliminate the tax cut for the highest tax bracket, and filed an amendment to use that money to raise our teacher pay to the national average.
- Last year, a report showed that teacher pay in Virginia is further away from the national average than ever, which in no small part contributes to the teacher shortage throughout the state.
Protecting The Right To Choose
Democrats filed two amendments to protect a woman’s right to choose by prohibiting politicians from interfering in medical decisions about a pregnancy.
- Despite the fact that Virginians overwhelmingly support keeping abortion legal, House Republicans have continued to introduce legislation aimed at outlawing it.
Keeping Virginia Communities Safe
Democrats filed an amendment to address the rise in violent crime by investing in community-based violence intervention programs that are proven to work.
- In the past several years, Virginia has faced a steep rise in gun violence. Despite this, Republicans killed nearly every gun violence prevention and community intervention bill Democrats put forward.
Defending Our Democracy from MAGA Extremism
Democrats filed an amendment to ensure that MAGA extremists who attacked our country on January 6th are not indoctrinating our kids or undermining our security while in positions of trust.
- At a time when our country is seeing a rise in political violence, Democrats are putting forth solutions to protect our Commonwealth from threats to our democracy.