In a June 2 statement, Macaulay Porter, Spokeswoman for Governor Glenn Youngkin, released the following message.
[On June 1], the General Assembly passed the budget and we expect the budget to be formally presented to the Governor next week. At which time, the governor will have seven days to officially review, offer recommendations and line-item vetoes.
In the meantime, I wanted to highlight how this budget delivers on the Governor’s day one promises to provide tax relief for Virginians, passes the largest Virginia education budget ever, and invests more in law enforcement and behavioral health.
Here are some key highlights and the governor’s key priorities included in the budget:
Tax Relief
With billions upon billions in unanticipated tax revenue, it was clear that the Commonwealth has been overtaxing Virginians. Tax relief has been a top priority for the governor and is pleased that we delivered necessary tax relief for Virginians.
This budget provides almost $4 billion in tax relief to Virginians when they need it most.
It greatly increases the standard deduction from Virginia’s income taxes, with a sunset in 2026 — going from $4,500 to $8,000 for single filers and from $9,000 to $16,000 for joint filers, or roughly $450 for a family of four.
It repeals the state share of the grocery tax, lowering bills by 1.5 percent.
It provides a rebate for $250 per person, $500 per couple.
It exempts the first $40,000 of veteran retirement pay from tax, phased in over 4 years.
Public Safety/Violence Prevention
Public safety and violence prevention efforts is a top priority for the governor.
The conference report authorizes $19.1 million the first year and $27.9 million the second year in support of local police in the form of “599” funding.
Another $45 million is included for the School Resource Officer Incentive Grant Fund, which will help put more SROs in more schools.
The budget includes $13 million for violence prevention grants, including:
$4 million each year for the Firearm Violence Intervention and Prevention Grant Fund
$2.5 million each year for the Operation Ceasefire Grant Fund (A day one priority of the governor
$75.0 million in ARPA funds for one-time grants to local law enforcement agencies to support equipment purchases and training
K-12 Education
Restoring excellence in Education has been a cornerstone of the governor’s campaign a priority for his administration. Parents made it clear that they wanted a change, but that they also wanted us to ensure that their schools had the resources they needed to support their children.
This budget boosts education spending to record levels, an additional $3.2 billion in direct aid to education, finally exceeding the levels before the Great Recession.
Another $45 million is set aside to fund resource officers in our schools via a grant program.
Teachers and other school employees will see 5 percent salary increases both years, plus a $1k bonus.
Through a combination of grants and loans, this budget will fund more than $3 billion in school construction and renovation.
School divisions will receive $145 million over the biennium for at-risk students.
An additional $10 million will be allocated to ensure every elementary school has a full-time principal.
The budget also authorizes $100 million to launch lab school partnerships with HBCUs.
Higher Education
This budget makes major investments in affordability for students in our colleges and universities. General fund support for public colleges and universities will increase $253.5 million in FY 2023 and $360.8 million in FY 2024 over the 2022 base budget.
Funding to support affordability and access will increase by $158.9 million in FY 2023 and $160.5 million in FY 2024.
Allows institutions to limit tuition and fee increases to no more than 3 percent
Financial aid, primarily for undergraduate students, will increase by $29.2 million in FY 2023 and $141.2 million in FY 2024
Fiscal Responsibility
This budget is fiscally responsible. This budget spends recurring money on one-time expenses. It contains no tax increases, no fee increases. It creates no new general-fund supported debt.
This budget makes huge payments to the Virginia Retirement System – $750 million plus an additional $250 million if revenues continue to trend in the right direction.
It increases the rainy day fund deposit by $1.1 billion, bringing the reserve fund to $3.9 billion – a record level that protects our AAA bond rating.
Transportation
This budget will see the completion of the widening of Interstate 64 from Richmond to Hampton Roads, with a total of $470 million set aside from multiple sources.
It also includes $266 million for projects at the Port of Virginia that will help address supply chain issues by increasing capacity.
Health and Human Resources
The budget makes major investments in Health and Human Resources to improve Medicaid reimbursement rates and raise the standard of care for Virginia’s most vulnerable.
$377.0 million GF to increase Medicaid developmental disability waiver rates over the biennium
$38.1 million in ARPA funds in FY2023 and $43.5 million GF in FY2024 to continue the 12.5% temporary increase for a variety of home and community-based services
$37.5 million GF to support the value-based purchasing (VBP) program for nursing homes, an important step towards incentivizing higher staffing levels
$20.0 million GF to increase primary care rates to 80% of Medicare
$8.0 million GF to increase rates to reflect inflation for Psychiatric Residential Treatment Facilities
$8.1million GF increase Medicaid support of Children’s Hospital of the King’s Daughters and $7.3 million GF over the biennium to support the Virginia Home
Provides $13.0 million GF to fund 600 developmental disability waiver slots in FY 2024