Virginia officials flush with policy choices on taxpayer relief after federal reforms.
richmond.com:
Gov. Ralph Northam sees a projected $594 million state windfall from federal tax reform as “a chance for us to level the playing field” for Virginians who make less than $50,000 and reap fewer benefits from the new law than their wealthier neighbors.
For General Assembly Republicans, that sounds like a back-door tax increase on Virginia taxpayers to benefit people who aren’t paying much income tax.
“We see it actually as a redistribution of income,” Senate Majority Leader Tommy Norment, R-James City, said after the governor’s speech on Friday to the assembly’s powerful money committees.
The stage is set for a barn burner session of the General Assembly to make far-reaching decisions on major tax policies in a 2019 election year for all 140 legislators that already appears to have begun.
Northam fired the first shot a week earlier with a proposal to give lower-income families the full value of the earned income tax credit. He made his first direct pitch to legislators on Friday to help Virginia households earning less than $50,000 a year, who represent more than half of state taxpayers. more here
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SNIP: The Richmond Times article shows the problem in detail:
Redistribution of income, isn’t that what socialist and communist countries do?
So ultimately, Virginia’s tax windfall will be largely pissed away on beer and cigarettes. This actually sounds more fiscally responsible than what most legislators come up with.
The jerk governor was on Richmond radio a few weeks back when he said he couldn’t foresee a need to raise taxes. He described himself as fiscally conservative.
Hopefully the legislature won’t cave like they recently did on Medicaid expansion aka Obamacare.
Eventually you run out of other people’s money.
Just axe anyone from Venezuela!