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MEDIA ADVISORY

Analysis of the elimination of our state income tax shows dramatic losses in jobs, personal income, and vital public services.

Glenn Youngkin’s proposed plan to eliminate Virginia’s personal income tax will spell disaster for Virginians, according to a new analysis done by the National Education Association, using data from the Bureau of Economic Analysis, Bureau of Labor Statistics, Census Bureau, and U.S. Department of Energy.

“Mr. Youngkin’s proposal to eliminate the personal income tax invites catastrophe to the Commonwealth,” said VEA President Dr. James J. Fedderman. “Two-and-a-half millions jobs lost! And the resulting cuts in funding would hurt first responders, students in our public schools—virtually all the valuable public services Virginians rely on. We cannot let Glenn Youngkin unleash his phony trickle-down math on our citizens.”

NEA’s study points to these results over the next decade if Youngkin’s tax plan were to be implemented:

• 2.5 million jobs lost
• $225 billion in lost personal income
• $54 billion in lost aid to public schools
• $218 billion in lost tax revenues

“How is any of this a good idea?” said Fedderman. “How does any of this benefit Virginians or our system of public education? The numbers just get worse in each year ahead.”

In just the first year of such a state income tax elimination, Virginia would lose nearly $13 billion in gross domestic product, $11 billion in personal income, more than 178,500 jobs, and more than 79,000 people from our population total, as well as $19.6 billion in tax revenue.

“As we continue to battle the COVID pandemic, we can’t afford proposals like Youngkin’s,” said Fedderman. “This is why the clear choice for our next governor is Terry McAuliffe, who knows how important it is to invest in our future and in our schools, not gut them.”

For a copy of the National Education Association analysis, contact VEA Communications.