The League of Women Voters - Virginia supports HB 1479 Employer-provided childcare tax credit. Currently, there is a dire need for more child care in Virginia, due in part to the effect of the pandemic on child care supply. Infant/toddler care is particularly expensive and scarce.  This bill would provide incentive through financial relief for small businesses who provide child care for their employees. It could also help small businesses compete with large corporations in providing this employee benefit.     Many parents who want and/or need to work have been unable to re-enter the workforce due to a lack of child care. This bill could help increase the child care supply and therefore the ability of parents to join the workforce. When parents join the workforce, it helps them and the economy as a whole.   The League of Women Voters of Virginia urges you to vote for HB1479.

As a library manager, I had a predominantly female staff, so I became very aware of the importance of child care to working women. I believe HB1497 will benefit working women and women who want to work but would pay most of their wages for child care. It will also enable small businesses to be more competitive in hiring. I am pleased to see that the tax credit has an end date. Then we can decide if it has been effective and if it is still needed.

Here to support HB1553

Support

Mr. Chairman and members of the committee, the Hampton Roads Chamber supports this bill with the exception of the changes in lines 101 to 104. We feel this specific language could have a negative impact on the business community. Other than this we support the addition of the word arena to this section of the code as it will enhance the regional economic development of the entertainment and sports industry in Hampton Roads and provide the same opportunity to other localities in Virginia.

The City of Portsmouth strongly supports this bill. Please pass this out of sub and full committee. Thank you

Comments Document

On behalf of the Virginia members and supporters of Americans United for Separation of Church and State, I urge you to oppose HB 1821, which would expand eligibility for the so-called “education improvement scholarship” voucher program that funds private school education. This bill should be rejected because it would send money to parents who can already afford to send their kids to private schools and does not address the systemic problems with vouchers.

Please do not support HB 1821; The state is already behind in its requirements to fully fund the SOQs for public education. Public monies should only be spent for public institutions like our public school systems. Some private schools discriminate against students they feel do not subscribe to their beliefs; there should be no discrimination against any student who has a desire to be educated. Public schools do not remove students because of their religious or no religious beliefs; public funds should support public schools only.

HB1423, HB1424, HB1514, HB1526, HB1554, HB1593*, HB1629, HB1700, HB1701, HB1713, HB1820, HB1821, HB1823, HB1824, and HB2124 because our students are having problems in public schools. More parents are removing their kids and sending them elsewhere. Previous attempts at helping only wasted tax dollars and we're not seeing anything but kids who don't know facts and can think critically. Time for a change. Lets move to report these bills and push our Virginia students to a better, more educated and equipped future! Please move to report these bills. Thank you.

Please oppose HB1821 that expands the Education Improvement Scholarship Tax Credits (EISTC). The Scholarship foundations, such as RenewaNation, that receive these tax credits can provide funds to students at schools that have policies that do not support a student's stated gender identity. They can refuse enrollment or expel a student who professes to be a homosexusal/bisexual/transgender person. Faith Christian Academy www.fcavirginia.com states that it reserves the right to expel a student who practices or condones gender identity different than birth sex chromosomal level or promotes such practices. Tax credits, that support scholarships that allow such discrimination, should not be allowed in Virginia. The tax credit program does decrease general funds that are needed for public schools where students with all beliefs are supported. Certainly the tax credits allowed should not be increased. Please oppose HB1821.

Please oppose HB1821 that expands the Education Improvement Scholarship Tax Credits (EISTC). The Scholarship foundations, such as RenewaNation, that receive these tax credits can provide funds to students at schools that have policies that do not support a student's stated gender identity. They can refuse enrollment or expel a student who professes to be a homosexusal/bisexual/transgender person. Faith Christian Academy www.fcavirginia.com states that it reserves the right to expel a student who practices or condones gender identity different than birth sex chromosomal level or promotes such practices. Tax credits, that support scholarships that allow such discrimination, should not be allowed in Virginia. The tax credit program does decrease general funds that are needed for public schools where students with all beliefs are supported. Certainly the tax credits allowed should not be increased. Please oppose HB1821.

"I support HB 1396 as introduced, and it deserves a vote." Thank you for your hard work and dedication to the School Choice fight! Quick Links: Join the Rapid Response Team of Virginia for Educational Freedom School Choice petition to legislators Donate to Virginia for Educational Freedom For Our Children, Natassia Grover Director Virginia for Educational Freedom PS- It is vital that you sign our Petition for School Choice today. The thing politicians fear most is large numbers of angry voters, and your signature on the petition will be added to the thousands that have already signed. This Petition will be delivered to the House Educational Committee, and they will be told they must support full and complete School Choice. So click here to sign! Copyright © 2023 Acton Advocacy Group, All rights reserved. Fighting to restore freedom in education in the Commonwealth Our mailing address is: Acton Advocacy Group 11895 Folly Lane Lovettsville, VA 20180 Add us to your address book

I am writing to support HB1821 because I believe in the power of school choice to better our communities and the entire Commonwealth. I believe that, since the pandemic, there is ample evidence to demonstrate that comprehensive education must include a variety of models rather than a single system. By expanding the tax credit program, families who believe that private education will best fit their child's needs will be able to achieve their hopes without burdensome costs. As a father of four school-aged kids, I am grateful that this program has made it possible for my children to receive an excellent education at St. Pius X Catholic School and Catholic High School. I know there are many other families that, for a variety of reasons, believe that private education is best for their child(ren), and I am hopeful that by expanding this program their dreams may be realized. Thank you for your work to pass this legislation.

I demanding that you protect our water stop the mountain valley pipeline from being drilled it will endanger people living there I am begging to protect our waters and lands as so important for endangered species and people. Concerned Citizen Ji Montgomery

It's our responsibility to protect the ones that have no voice

My sister and brother-in-law lost their first born in 2021 due to still birth. It was a very traumatic experience for everyone and altered everyone’s perception on the loss community. Having a tax credit would help any immediate family who has suffered the loss of a baby immensely. Please consider supporting the loss community. Thank you.

I lost my first daughter, Marian, at 40 weeks during labor to a compressed cord. She was still born via emergency caesarean. I received no support from the government, either VA or at the Federal level. I had to stop working for the same reasons as parents of living children, except mine had died. We'd paid for a full pregnancy's care, and had the house ready for a new baby. Yet I got no baby, instead we brought home tons of grief. You can't put a cost on a child's life or the suffering endured by families who lose wanted, anticipated children. But you can act and provide some legitimacy and help to those who have the great misfortune to go through this ordeal. This bill shows VA supports women, families, and children, and it is an easy thing to do to provide a measure of comfort. It says: we see you, we know your child mattered and was supposed to be here, and we can do this little thing to help you in this time of distress.

I support the following bills making it easier for taxpayers: HB1863, HB2193, 2268.

On behalf of the Consumer Healthcare Products Association (CHPA), the national trade association representing the leading manufacturers of over-the-counter (OTC) medicines, dietary supplements, and consumer medical devices, I’d like to express strong support for SB 2196. This legislation expands access to essential menstrual and incontinence products for Virginia residents by exempting these products from local sales tax or permitting a locality to do so. CHPA recognizes menstrual health and hygiene and urinary incontinence are pressing public health issues. The sales tax exemption proposed SB 2196 would be an important step to increasing access and affordability to critical menstrual and incontinence products for Virginia residents. We applaud Delegate Byron for filing this bill and we urge the committee to support it's passage. Please feel free to contact me directly with any questions on our position.

On behalf of the Consumer Healthcare Products Association (CHPA), the national trade association representing the leading manufacturers of over-the-counter (OTC) medicines, dietary supplements, and consumer medical devices, I’d like to express strong support for HB1484, HB1686, and HB 2196 . This legislation expands access to essential menstrual and incontinence products for Virginia residents by exempting these products from local sales tax or permitting a locality to do so. CHPA recognizes menstrual health and hygiene and urinary incontinence are pressing public health issues. The sales tax exemptions proposed in these bills would be an important step to increasing access and affordability to critical menstrual and incontinence products for Virginia residents. We applaud the sponsors for filing these bills and we urge House Finance Subcommittee #2 to support their passage. Please feel free to contact me directly with any questions on our position.

Please oppose HB 1645 which would reduce the penalty for failure to pay the litter tax from $100 to $10. • Virginia’s litter tax is, per capita, the lowest litter tax in the nation. • Businesses are only required to pay $20 or $30 per location depending on the type of business. If they pay their tax on time, they avoid a penalty. • Businesses are creating and selling products that will become litter. They should shoulder some of the cost of cleaning it up. • Virginia currently spends millions of dollars a year cleaning up litter pollution on the taxpayers dollar. Not to mention volunteers who donate their time and effort to clean it up. • The money generated from the Litter Control and Recycling Fund helps to clean up litter. I live on Thalia Creek in Virginia Beach and I enjoy kayaking. Every time I go out, I bring two large trash bags with me, and every time I fill them with litter I find in the creek. I collected over 100 pounds in 5 months. I stopped keeping track after that. In addition, I volunteer for waterway clean-up days with Lynnhaven River Now, and we have collected thousands of pounds of trash over the years. I am tired! Reducing the penalty for failing to pay the litter tax sends the message that Virginia doesn’t care about keeping the state clean. I don’t think that’s a message we want to send. Thank you.

Virginia Law currently allows localities to spend a portion of coal and gas severance tax proceeds to maintain and improve public roads. This bill does not seek to impose any new tax, nor does it call for any additional revenues. This bill simply would permit those same proceeds to also be used to construct flood mitigation features such as ditches, dry wells, berms and others to defend those same roads from flood waters. The objective is to permit the localities to use these same funds proactively to prevent flood damage to roads already improved and maintained with the same fund from previous years, rather than using the same fund to repetitively repair such roads after flooding events. This request is prompted by recent severe flooding in the Coalfields which damaged critical transportation infrastructure. Tazewell and Buchanan Counties have commissioned flood mitigation studies, which will make recommendations regarding flood mitigation measures. Those recommendations are expected to include installation of features to defend roadways. Anticipating the study's recommendations, Tazewell County asks that we broaden the uses of coal and gas severance road funds to help pay for those measures. The Code already requires all uses of these funds to be approved by a committee which includes representatives from VDoT and the coal or gas industries. Thank you for your consideration. Eric Young, Tazewell County Administrator.

As a current member of the Virginia Department of Veteran Services-Joint Leadership Council (VDVS-JLC). We represent the vast majority of Veterans Service Organizations across the Commonwealth and we support HB 2414.

My name is Eric Tan, and I am the owner of VA Wholesale mortgage, a veteran-owned business that has been recognized by the Secretary of Labor with the Platinum medallion award for hiring and retaining veterans and is part of the Virginia Values Veterans or V3 program. Our staff makes up 90% of Veterans and military spouses. Headquartered in Virginia Beach, VA, we are blessed to have the world's largest Naval base in our backyard and to be able to serve our active duty members and veterans with their VA loans. HB2414 is particularly important to me as it aims to assist our 100% disabled veterans in purchasing homes in our community. The current law, which includes property taxes in the underwriting process, limits Disabled Veterans borrowing power and makes it difficult for them to purchase a home, especially with the current home values and continued market appreciation. We are asking for the current law to be modified to be applied to the front-end process. We must pass this bill to support our veterans who have sacrificed so much to protect our freedom.

I am an occupational therapist that does car seat safety evaluations in a neonatal intensive care unit and well baby nursery. It is mandatory for families to provide a safe seat that meets current specifications by the AAP (American Academy of Pediatrics) in order for them to take their baby home from the hospital. If a seat is past 6 years old, it’s often hard to convince families to get a new seat because their old seat “looks” ok. But the old plastic won’t hold up and could crack into a dozen pieces in an impact. A tax exemptions on car seats could increase the use of safe seats!

Hello my name is Shaheen Khurana and I live in Oakton, VA. I am here as a working parent to strongly advocate for HB 2416 proposed by my Delegate Holly Seibold. We know that children seated in a booster seat in the back seat of the car are far less likely to be injured. They save lives so eliminating the taxes and making them more affordable and accessible is a big win for working families that are already struggling with high costs due to surging inflation. It is also common sense from a public safety perspective and will help lower barriers for parents and other caregivers to have these. In addition to saving parents money, the passage of this law can help increase awareness of the need to use car seats and upgrade them as a child grows. Passing laws is an important way to send public messages and to increase awareness. I urge you to vote yes on this bill. You will be saving us money and saving kids’ lives!

As a working parent, I want to strongly advocate for HB 2416 proposed by my Delegate Holly Seibold. Child restraint devices SAVE LIVES. Car crashes are the leading cause of death for children ages 1 to 13. The use of child restraints has been shown to reduce the risk for serious injury by 45% for children, and decrease the risk of death by 54%. Eliminating the taxes and making them more affordable and accessible is a big win for working middle class families that are already struggling with high costs due to surging inflation. It is also common sense from a public safety perspective. In addition to saving parents money, the passage of this law can help increase awareness of the need to use car seats and upgrade them as a child grows. I urge you to vote yes on this bill. You will be saving us money and saving kids’ lives! Thank you!!

Comments Document

The attached letters are from local and national farms, produce recovery organizations, and food waste/access organizations. We also collaborated with the Harvard Food Law and Policy Clinic, ReFED, and National Resource Defense Council to help craft and advise this bill. Please pass it to ensure we are supporting Virginia's local and small farmers as well as our 800,000 food insecure citizens. Thank you!