This is the first time I have submitted a comment. Virginians have many needs, and it costs money to address them. Federal cuts make it harder for Virginia to provide healthcare, address emergencies, protect our planet, educate our kids, and enable our residents to safely and (reasonably) quickly travel to work, family, and social activities I urge the Assembly to pass progressive and equitable tax reforms that close loopholes and ensure the wealthy pay their fair share of programs that benefit us all. Right now the top 1% pay the least in taxes as a percentage of their income. This is obviously unfair! I am not thrilled to pay taxes, but I am willing to help fund services for all and a bit more for the needy. I am not OK with providing more to the wealthiest. I urge the General Assembly to pass HB 243, HB 378, HB 978, and HB 979 as critical tax reforms that help ensure the wealthy pay their fair share and will fund vital government programs that support all Virginians.

I strongly support a more progressive and fair tax system. As the Federal government guts services, Virginia needs new sources of revenue if we want to maintain our school lunch programs, rural hospitals, green infrastructure investment, and effective emergency response programs. Currently our taxes cap out at $17,000, putting the burden on those who can least afford to pay. I urge you to invest in Virginia, and pass the Fair Share Tax reforms.

OPPOSED to these bills!!!

Federal cuts endanger Virginia emergency preparedness, green energy support, healthcare access, education, and transportation infrastructure. I urge the Assembly to pass progressive and equitable tax reforms that close loopholes and ensure the wealthy pay their fair share. Right now the top 1% pay the least in taxes as a percentage of their income. I urge the General Assembly to pass HB 243, HB 378, HB 978, and HB 979 as critical tax reforms that help ensure the wealthy pay their fair share and will fund vital government programs that support all Virginians.

Federal cuts endanger Virginia emergency preparedness, green energy support, healthcare access, education, and transportation infrastructure. I urge the Assembly to pass progressive and equitable tax reforms that close loopholes and ensure the wealthy pay their fair share. Right now the top 1% pay the least in taxes as a percentage of their income. I urge the General Assembly to pass HB 243, HB 378, HB 978, and HB 979 as critical tax reforms that help ensure the wealthy pay their fair share and will fund vital government programs that support all Virginians.

I oppose HB 979. Virginia taxes are already too high: Virginia has a 5.75% top income tax rate, compared to the 3.99% top income tax rate in North Carolina. Yet this bill would raise taxes even higher, giving Virginia 8% and 10% tax rates, much higher than most states in this country. 10% is much higher than the rates in most neighboring states, such as Kentucky (which has a top rate of 3.5%), Tennessee (which has no state income tax at all), and West Virginia (which has a top rate of 4.82%). Virginia is richer than those states and has a bigger tax base, so Virginia should be able to get by with lower tax rates than most of its neighbors, such as North Carolina. Yet under this bill, the top rate in Virginia would be more than twice as high as in most neighboring states. This bill also might cause Virginia's tax base to shrink, by driving wealthy and productive residents to other states where taxes are lower. I wish I could see the attachment to the earlier comments of the Tax Foundation, which apparently discuss the effects of this tax increase on Virginia's tax competitiveness versus other states. An earlier comment describes how a tax on millionaires led to an exodus of high-income people from another state, reducing that state's tax revenue, and leaving it worse off as a result of the tax increase. It would be a bad idea to raise tax rates if so many people or businesses leave the state that the state ends up with very little additional revenue, or even possibly less revenue as a result of the tax increase.

My name is Jessica Mott, of Arlington VA, representing the Virginia Grassroots Coalition. This statewide coalition is comprised of more than 55 grassroots groups and tens of thousands of voters. We ask you to please support a “fair share tax” by creating a new tax bracket for millionaires, through passage of HB979 (Watts), HB1074 (Hernandez), or HB188 (Convirs-Fowler), or a reconciled combination of these bills’ provisions. We share the concerns of many Virginia legislators about the significant cuts and expensive regulatory requirements at the federal level, and the need to ensure funds and access for all to health, food security, education, childcare, and other essential services in the upcoming state budget. We believe Virginia needs new sources of revenue for these increased budget requirements, prioritizing measures which make our tax system more progressive, i.e., imposing higher tax rates on individuals with high income and wealth, thus taking into account their ability to pay and maintaining the overall focus of the Governor on affordability. Increasing the income tax rate provides an effective and fair way to address this need. Currently, all income in excess of $17,000 is taxed by the state at the marginal rate of only 5.75 percent! Accordingly, we ask that you pass one of proposed fair share tax bills, or a reconciled combination of them. In view of our priority of promoting progressive tax measures, we support HB979 with its higher 10% rate for those with income above $1 million and the 8% bracket for those with income between $600,000 and $ 1 million. We also urge you to include HB979’s provision to exempt food and hygiene products from local sales taxes. We note that HB979 and HB188 specify an allocation for education, and in the case of HB188, also for childcare and housing. HB1074 supports a health insurance subsidy. We support these or alternatively, ensuring that the main budget directly accommodates these needs. Thank you for taking our views into consideration.

My attached written comments are meant to be neutral expert testimony on the economic competitiveness implications of HB 979.

Virginia desperately needs a more progressive and equitable tax code that ensures the wealthy pay the fair share. Currently, the top 1% pay the last of their earnings as a percentage of their income. As wealth disparity grows, and the Federal government withdraws support for critical services, the Commonwealth of Virginia should act immediately to ensure that our rural clinics, hospitals, schools, emergency response, and transportation infrastructure is fully funded. Our future depends on ensuring we invest in ourselves today.

I support HB979 for the millionaires' tax and elimination of grocery sales taxes. Fairfax County Public Schools is facing over a $100 million budget deficit for next year, and the proposed allocation reduces the strain on the General Fund without requiring a regressive sales tax. Currently, the tax would impact less than 0.5% of Virginians, and analysis on the similar HB188 for only the 10% bracket was expected to raise over $1 billion annually. A similar "Fair Share" amendment in Massachusetts from 2022 raised $5.7 billion, doubling forecasts and contributing 5% of the state budget. Furthermore, the number of millionaires in MA since then increased by 30%, dispelling concerns of a rich exodus. I believe this bill will significantly raise Virginians' quality of life and increase the affordability of the state.

As a Virginia resident and voter, I am writing to let you know that I strongly oppose HB243, HB 978, HB188, and HB 979. Virginians are already burdened with high taxes and high cost of living. These bills will only further punish those paying taxes in this state and will likely drive taxpayers, including those with very high incomes, to other states with lower tax burdens. Please reconsider. The prior administration left the state with a surplus. Increased taxes should not be needed to meet the needs of the state.

Virginia already has high taxes and higher cost of living and some people are already moving to West Virginia and states south of Virginia like North Carolina, Tennessee, and Florida because of it. If this bill passes that exodus could grow into a flood if taxes in Virginia go up to 8% or 10% from 5.75%, making it much more expensive to live in Virginia. If millionaires move out the burden of taxes fall on the rest of us that can't afford to move. Taxes should be fair and equal across the board the tax rate should be lowered for all of us,

This bill's 8% and 10% tax rates would result in Virginia having much higher tax rates than most neighboring states -- such as North Carolina (which has a 3.99% maximum tax rate), Kentucky (which has a 3.5% maximum tax rate) and West Virginia (which has a 4.82% maximum tax rate). If Virginia adopts this bill's radically higher tax rates, that would lead to significant numbers of high-income taxpayers leaving the state, and no longer paying taxes to Virginia. That could mean less money for Virginia. When Maryland raised taxes on millionaires in 2007, many moved out of state, resulting in Maryland raising less revenue as a result, according to the Tax Foundation: "The Comptroller of Maryland has reported that the number of 'millionaire' returns tumbled sharply between 2007 and 2008, a 30% drop in filers and 22% drop in declared income. Rather than income taxes from this group rising by $106 million, they fell by $257 million….One-in-eight millionaires who filed a Maryland tax return in 2007 filed no return in 2008….A Bank of America Merrill Lynch analysis of federal tax return data on people who migrated from one state to another found that Maryland lost $1 billion of its net tax base in 2008 by residents moving to other states." Some rich people can move across the border to neighboring states where there is no state income tax, like Tennessee, or where tax rates are lower, like North Carolina (3.99%), Kentucky (3.5%), and West Virginia (4.82%). If they are retirees, they can easily move to states where there is no state income tax, such as Florida.