2024-03-15 10:03:54
CHESTERFIELD COUNTY, Va. (WRIC) — For the first time since Virginia’s General Assembly adjourned, we are hearing from Governor Glenn Youngkin about the proposed budget.
In a speech in Chesterfield County Thursday, Youngkin slammed the budget passed out of both chambers in the Democratic-controlled General Assembly.
“This budget that has been presented to me takes Virginia backward,” Youngkin said. “Instead of including the tax relief and decreases and restructuring that I included, which was going to provide a billion dollars of tax relief for Virginians, they wiped all that out and put in $2.6 billion of tax increases.”
However, Democratic Delegate Mike Jones (Richmond), who voted for the budget, says Youngkin’s original budget would have cut taxes for the wealthy at the expense of everyday Virginians.
“We put together a very sound budget that has support on both sides of the aisle, that’s important. We have seen record investments in higher education, in K-12 education, and that’s what Virginians want,” Jones told 8News. “Not just democrats, this is what Virginians want.”
Another point of contention for Youngkin is that the budget doesn’t include language to greenlight a proposed arena for the Washington Wizards and Capitals in Alexandria, which Youngkin says would create 30,000 jobs and have an economic impact of $12 billion.
“This project generates so much cash flow for the Commonwealth of Virginia,” said Youngkin. “They didn’t even look at it in the Senate.”
Jones says his constituents have issues with the arena deal.
“They have a concern with the state funding an economic development deal for a billionaire,” said Jones. “That’s not me [saying that]that’s not Michael. That’s voters that live in this area.”
Youngkin has until April 8 to amend the budget for the General Assembly to consider. However, if lawmakers don’t agree to his changes, the governor could veto the budget altogether, potentially setting Virginia up for a shutdown.
8News asked Youngkin about that possibility.
“I hope we don’t get to that point,” he said.
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