Issues - Budget and Taxes

Bob McDonnell’s Spending Priorities

Budgets are governing documents. They serve as a roadmap for our choices and priorities.

Governor McDonnell’s proposed budget targets Virginia families at the expense of protecting corporate tax breaks.

Governor McDonnell’s transportation plan pits Virginians’ top priorities against each other, permanently robbing Virginia’s schools and communities of funds in order to build roads. McDonnell is forcing a choice between schools and transportation rather than close corporate tax loopholes and ensure Virginia corporations pay their fair share.

Virginia’s families depend on their state government to provide good schools to educate a 21st century workforce, to maintain the social safety net for Virginians who have fallen out of the middle class and protect the quality of our water and natural resources. The Governor’s budget proposals and transportation plans rob our schools of funding, decimate the social safety net and diverts millions of dollars away from programs that protect the quality of our drinking water.

Governor McDonnell’s transportation plan permanently steals money from schools in order to pay private road contractors and developers millions of dollars, without ever finding a permanent and sustainable source of funding for Virginia’s transportation needs.

McDonnell’s transportation plan is a huge taxpayer giveaway to builders and developers at the expense of Virginia families.

Get the Facts:

• Over 60% of Virginia corporations pay no income tax in Virginia.
• According to JLARC, the coal industry receives over $30M a year in tax breaks that were designed to slow employment losses. Instead, the industry has laid of workers even more quickly than they did before the credits were enacted.
• According to The Commonwealth Institute, 59% of Governor McDonnell’s proposed budget cuts target Virginia’s most vulnerable low-income population.
• The major building proposal in the Governor’s transportation plan is building Rt. 460, which would pave over family farms and impose massive tolls on Virginia commuters.
• The Governor’s transportation plan would permanently reallocate any future surplus, diverting millions of dollars away from the Water Quality Improvement Fund.

From the Progressive Point:

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McDonnell proposing raiding K-12 education

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Cut what we don't need so we can protect the things we do

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Get your heads out of the sand and get to work

Put our families' priorities before partisan payoffs

McDonnell robbing our schools to pay for roads

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Balancing Virginia's Budget on our Backs: Part 3

Balancing Virginia's Budget on our Backs: Part 2

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McDonnell passes the buck on transportation

Stealing from schools is not a solution

Legislators pushing out-of-touch, extreme agendas

McDonnell's school budget sets Virginia's students up to fail

A Budget Built on the Backs of the Vulnerable

Pre-K cuts shortchange our future

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Virginia's Grinch Comes Early This Year: McDonnell Unveils 2-Year Budget Proposal Targeting Cuts Towards Programs Supporting Most Vulnerable Citizens

Get the Facts: What "Pass The Buck" Bob Isn't Telling You About His Budget Proposals

Pass the Buck Bob's budget

A balanced approach to the budget includes closing loopholes

Retirement games bad for Virginia

McDonnell's Transportation Funding Shell Game

Lowering Health Care Costs

Passing the buck on protecting citizens

Richmond can't gamble funds for Virginia's students and schools

Jobs vs. Tax Loopholes

McDonnell's budget priorities

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McDonnell is for Corporations, but Virginia is for Families

Video: "Pass the Buck" Bob McDonnell calls cutting "billions of dollars" from health care and education the "right track" for Virginia

Bob McDonnell Can't Have His Budget Cake and Eat It Too