Will Continue to Urge Gov. and General Assembly to Avoid Budget Band-Aids & Instead Close Tax Loopholes for the Trillionaire Corporate Class
RICHMOND, Va. — The General Assembly voted, 23-16 in the Senate and 71-22 in the House, to approve a 2027-2028 biennial budget following the Friday release of a conference budget. The budget, which will now be considered by Governor Abigail Spanberger, contains the following provisions that will make life more affordable for regular people:
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Cutting taxes for regular people by increasing the standard deduction by nearly $500 per person to $9,200 for single filers and $18,400 for joint filers;
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Lowering the cost of health insurance by 70% for tens of thousands of hardworking Virginians;
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Establishing Virginia’s Paid Family and Medical Leave insurance program to expand access to paid leave for nearly 3.5 million Virginians;
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Boosting housing development through increased investments in the Virginia Housing Trust Fund;
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Expanding access to affordable childcare, including the creation of a new Employee Child Care Assistance Program to help working parents gain access to quality care.
Notably, the budget also did not contain a more than $220 million handout to Big Pharma, protecting access to healthcare for underserved Virginians, or any backdoor attempts to legalize predatory gaming.
Freedom Virginia Co-Executive Director Ryan O’Toole released the following statement:
“We’re pleased that the House and Senate found a compromise on the budget that takes a first step to make life more affordable for Virginians, but let us be clear, this budget is a temporary band-aid. This budget will not solve the affordability crisis until we finally take bolder steps in our tax code to close unfair and fiscally irresponsible loopholes for the ultra-rich and corporations. The budget takes important steps to lower taxes and the cost of core needs like healthcare, housing, and childcare. But let’s be honest, this budget could have done so much more to improve Virginians’ lives if policymakers had shown the courage to take on our unfair tax code that forces regular people to pay more of their income in taxes than the richest people and companies on the planet.
“In the 2027 session, we expect legislators and the governor to take stronger steps to reform our broken income tax brackets that let a multi-millionaire pay the same rate as a teacher; close the ‘Cayman Island loophole’ that lets corporations hide income earned in Virginia overseas; and hold Big Tech accountable for the financial, health, and environmental havoc they are wreaking on Virginia. The budget’s provisions on data centers recognize what more and more Americans see every day — data centers need to pay their fair share. But by preserving the retail sales and use tax exemption and capping their tax liability at a level so low it might as well be a rounding error to the planet’s wealthiest corporations, Big Tech is effectively allowed to continue doing whatever it wants to extract profit while Virginians suffer. It’s not lost on us that days after the governor urged Virginians to conserve water, this budget does not contain stricter affordability and environmental standards on the very problem that has caused a drought risk. We look forward to working with policymakers to pass policies in the upcoming session that put Virginians first, not corporate welfare.”
