Gov. Glenn Youngkin (R-VA) launched two new budget proposals to appease Virginians on top issues: immigration and taxation.
Youngkin is halfway through his term as governor in a state where he cannot serve consecutive terms. His barrage of new budget proposals comes in the weeks after Donald Trump won the election and exit polls proved that voters ranked the border and economy as top issues.
The first budget proposal came last week, under the name “No Sanctuary Cities,” as any city, law enforcement agency, or prison that does not comply with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement will have state funds withheld.
“We have seen too many instances when we have someone who has committed a crime, who’s in custody, and then they are released when there is a detainer in place to contravene the authority of ICE, and that person goes on and commits another crime,” Youngkin said Monday on Fox News’s America’s Newsroom. “This has to stop. And so if you don’t cooperate with ICE when there’s detainer in place, I’m going to go to work and take your funding away in the commonwealth of Virginia. We are not a sanctuary state. We will no longer allow this to happen, and we’re going to work together to make sure that we keep Virginians safe.”
In Virginia, there were two instances of criminals with ICE detainers being released into the public rather than turned over for deportation.
On Monday, Youngkin announced a second budget proposal to exempt service tips from taxation. According to the governor’s office, this would mean Virginians in the service industry could count on $70 million more annually.
“This is over 250,000 Virginians who work so hard,” Youngkin said. “This is a great way for them to keep more money in their pocket as opposed to giving it to a government. We’re already running surpluses, and so no taxes on tips is going to become the mantra in Virginia.”
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Virginians will be able to file a deduction on tips as long as they include them in their federal adjusted gross income.
At the moment, Democrats have majorities in both chambers of the Virginia legislature.