Virginia lawmakers return to the Capitol today to vote on a state budget that includes billions in tax relief as well as more money for teachers and other public employees and record spending on education.
The budget deal, reached by House and Senate negotiators in the weeks since the General Assembly wrapped up its regular session March 15, also includes language setting out new penalties for possession of small amounts of marijuana.
Lawmakers did not agree to suspend the state’s gasoline tax, which Youngkin had proposed. But they went along with his proposal to reduce taxes on military pensions, which they would phase in over several years.The General Assembly’s proposed budget also achieves a longtime goal of Democrats: making 15 percent of the earned income tax credit refundable for low-income working families.
That allowed budget negotiators to pair tax cuts with big investments in a number of areas, including K-12 and higher education, the state retirement system, human services and water-quality programs.The budget compromise includes enough money for every K-12 campus to employ a school resource officer, said Sen. George L. Barker , who worked closely on negotiations.
House Appropriations Chairman Del. Barry D. Knight said he has encouraged Youngkin to accept the compromise bill with little or no tinkering, adding that he had promised his counterpart in the Senate — Sen. Janet D. Howell , who chairs the Finance Committee — to stand firmly by their deal. Under a legalization plan passed last year, adults may possess up to an ounce of recreational marijuana, though the state has not yet implemented a process for the legal sale of weed. Possessing an amount between an ounce and a pound currently is punishable with a civil fine, but having more than a pound is considered a felony.The proposed budget language would make it a misdemeanor to possess more than four ounces or up to a pound.
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