Youngkin proposes compromise path forward on state budget, calling for status quo on taxes

RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin and the Democratic lawmakers who control the Virginia General Assembly have spent months at odds over taxes.

The way to find compromise and get a new two-year budget done on time, Youngkin said Monday, is to set aside talk of cuts or increases for now and simply stick with the tax policy status quo.

In a speech in Richmond, the governor outlined a lengthy package of amendments to the budget the General Assembly sent him in March, including a proposal to eliminate a new lawmaker-backed sales tax on digital goods and services. He also laid out corresponding cuts to expenditures to account for the revenue lost from that change, though he said his proposal maintained the vast majority of lawmakers’ priorities, including 3% raises for public workers in each of the next two years.

“To be clear, we do not need new taxes. And again, for the sake of finding common ground, we won’t aim to reduce them this time,” said Youngkin, who had initially voiced support for the digital sales tax but paired it with a corresponding income tax cut for an overall reduction.

Youngkin cast his proposals as an olive branch, calling the latest iteration of the spending plan the “common ground budget.” His remarks marked a departure from the hyper-partisan rhetoric of the last few weeks when lawmakers and Youngkin were trading barbs over their budget differences and the failure of one of his top legislative priorities, a proposed pro-sports arena in northern Virginia.

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