Virginia lawmakers release proposed amendments to former Gov. Youngkin’s budget

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. (WVIR) - It’s budget season here in Virginia, and lawmakers in Richmond are working to decide where - and how much - money is spent across the state.

The Democrat-led House of Delegates and State Senate have released their versions of amendments to former Governor Glenn Youngkin’s budget, which he released at the end of his term.

The hundreds of pages of budget material in both chambers have a wide variety of priorities: filling federal funding gaps, increasing investment in education and affordable housing, eliminating the sales tax exemption for data centers, and raising salaries for state lawmakers.

At least in Central Virginia, the reactions to the proposed amendments are largely split down party lines. Democratic Delegate Katrina Callsen, who represents parts of Charlottesville and Albemarle County, tells 29News that the proposed amendments will help make life more affordable for Virginians.

“We’re trying to do all that we can to keep people financially solvent, keep things affordable, and let Virginia families flourish,” Callsen said. “I think it does a great job at filling a lot of the gaps that we’re expecting from what’s happening in Washington, while still investing in things that are key aspects of what we want to see happening.”

Callsen says they’re working to replace some of the federal funding the state is expected to lose at the hands of the Trump administration, including to programs like the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) and Medicaid. She also pointed to a focus on building up Virginia’s education system, including amendments providing for a 2% built-in raise for K-12 teachers and a $137 million addition to existing childcare subsidies.

“Which is going to help families make sure that they can afford putting their children in safe environments while they go to work,” Callsen said.

Callsen also celebrated more localized wins, including increasing funding to the Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA) program.

According to Senate President Louise Lucas, the amendments would also provide $100 in tax rebates to individual filers and $200 to joint filers.

“Some of the budget that was just proposed on the House side includes some relief for families that are losing federal tax credits,” Callsen added.

But some Republicans say the proposals move further away from affordability, pointing towards the elimination of some of Youngkin’s tax reduction efforts.

“We had opportunities to remove taxes on tips, taxes on overtime, taxes on groceries,” said Senator Luther Cifers, who represents Virginia’s 10th District, including parts of Louisa, Fluvanna, and Buckingham counties. “All this stuff’s been stripped out in favor of more revenue and more spending.”

Though Democrats have stated that Youngkin’s budget failed to cover what was needed to fill gaps in federal funding, Cifers argues the amendments go too far, criticizing provisions to repeal Virginia’s ban on collective bargaining for public sector employees and an amendment to raise the tuition cap for public universities.

“You can’t have it all,” Cifers said. “We have a tax and spend administration, we have a tax and spend legislature...and that is not all driven by the decisions made by the federal government.”

Another key proposal in the Senate proposed budget is eliminating the sales tax exemption for data centers by 2027, something proponents say will reallocate nearly $2 million and help force data centers to bear the brunt of their impact. Virginia is currently the data center capital of the world, with by far the largest concentration in Northern Virginia.

“When the data center tax exemption initially passed in 2008, it was estimated to have a negative fiscal impact on sales tax collections of about 1.5 million dollars,” said 11th District State Senator Creigh Deeds in a statement to 29News. “The actual impact now is close to $1.9 billion annually. We simply want the data centers to pay their fair share.”

State Senator Mark Obenshain, though, says the sales tax will thwart investment into more rural counties that have not yet enjoyed the tax revenue funneled into counties in the northern part of the state.

“I know there are a number of counties in Northern Virginia that have just about had enough with data centers, and that’s fine, but there are other counties in Virginia who have areas that are perfectly appropriate for a data center development,” Obenshain said.

Obenshain tells 29News he’s concerned about Democrats’ “retreat” from Youngkin’s aggressive approach to attracting businesses, adding that the elimination of the sales tax exemption will redirect investment into other states.

“States like Pennsylvania and Texas could not be more happy about the announcement in the Virginia Senate budget,” Obenshain said.

Virginia lawmakers have introduced several bills aimed at addressing and slowing data center growth, as the state faces big questions about how to meet rising energy demand and who will pay for the infrastructure to support it. 29News reached out to the Piedmont Environmental Council, which has been lobbying for more state oversight of data centers, for an interview, but the group declined. A recent poll from the Wason Center at Christopher Newport University indicated that the majority of Virginians support measures that would rein in data center growth in Virginia.

Another amendment would raise legislators’ salaries from their current standing at about $18,000 per year to $45,000 per year. Delegate Callsen says beefing up lawmakers’ annual income, something that hasn’t been done for decades, would help diversify the type of candidates that are able to run for office and allow them to dedicate more time to their legislative duties.

“If you want a good representative who’s really working, who’s doing constituent services, who’s doing town halls, who’s writing good legislation, who’s serving full time in Richmond– it’s hard to find qualified candidates who are willing and able to do that for $18,000," Callsen said.

Obenshain disagrees.

“I don’t believe that we want people coming to Richmond for the money,” Obenshain said. “I have not witnessed any shortage of candidates or any lack of competitiveness on the basis of salaries that are being paid.”

Senator Cifers says he can see both sides of the issue.

“I do think that our legislature was intended to be a citizen legislature,” Cifers said. “I don’t think that someone should have had to build and sold a business like I did...in order to participate. I don’t necessarily have a problem with it. I do think it can be a little tone deaf in these times, when families are struggling to put food on the table.”

The next step is for Democrats in the House and Senate to agree on a single budget amendment bill, as Republicans continue to call for a reduction in spending.

“We have a habit on focusing a lot on where we put money, but not focusing a lot on the results we’re getting,” Cifers said.

You can read the full House budget proposal here and the full Senate budget proposal here.

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