Two Virginias’ governors address respective legislatures as legislative sessions begin

CHARLESTON, W.Va. (WVVA) - Lawmakers from across the Two Virginias converged on their state capitols Wednesday to begin their legislative sessions.

The meetings were capped off with speeches from both respective governors, making Wednesday a very busy day in state politics on both sides of the state line. In the Commonwealth, Gov. Glenn Youngkin painted a picture in broad strokes -- while in the Mountain State, Gov. Jim Justice shared more specifics.

“Instead of just sitting there staring at a pile of money, let’s put the money at work! Let’s make the money work for us,” said Justice.

Gov. Justice was very specific about spending the nearly two-billion dollar surplus on Wednesday, as he pushed for millions to help fund a wide range of programs, projects and other initiatives.

“We need a state-of-the-art ag-lab. And I am proposing we put fifty million dollars in a new state-of-the-art ag-lab and locate it at West Virginia State University,” said Justice. “150 million dollars is a gigantic investment to the school building authority.”

In the Governor’s ideal plan, families won’t be left behind either.

“I’m proposing a child and dependent care tax credit,” said Justice. “To where folks who are struggling with daycare can at least write them off your taxes against your revenue. We need this, and we need this very badly, and we need it right now.”

Meanwhile in the Commonwealth, Gov. Youngkin casted some broader strokes Wednesday, while also making sure to point out what he sees as a major issues facing his state.

“Virginia has a population migration problem. The data is irrefutable. Even though the rate has declined this past year, more people moved away rather than to Virginia from the other 49 states for ten years now,” said Youngkin. “Virginia must be a winner and it’s up to us to make sure that she is.”

As for solutions, Gov. Youngkin suggested economic incentives for people to stay in-state, and even move-in from elsewhere.

“We need to structurally reform our tax code. We can do this, by cutting taxes across the board 12 percent, and paying for almost 80 percent of this by modernizing our tax code, which includes closing the tech tax loophole, and increasing the sales and use tax by zero point nine percent,” said Youngkin.

WVVA will continue to dig deeper into Wednesday’s developments as we move forward with our coverage of this year’s legislative sessions.

Copyright 2024 WVVA. All rights reserved.