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would be “the largest tax increase in the history of Virginia.”
Bolling continued, “It’s a tax increase of a billion dollars over the course of the next biennium. That’s not tax reform, it’s a tax increase under the guise of tax reform and I think most people will be very skeptical of that.”
The tax issue is certain to be the overriding one of the coming legislative session and will probably go through many phases over the 60 day legislative period.
It will be interesting to see how Warner addresses the issue in his State of the State message to a joint session of the Assembly. It is almost certain that a majority of the House members will not applaud any mention of what they regard as tax increases, and not tax reform.
It might be possible for Warner to persuade enough House members to increase the cigarette tax — or conceivably the gasoline tax, if used exclusively for transportation — but that getting any increase in the sales tax or income taxes through that chamber appears an unlikely prospect at the moment.
Sixty two of the 100 members of the House are Republicans, and there are two independents who nearly always vote with the GOP majority.
And while Chichester and Howell are old friends, the tax reform issue may pose a political divide between the two during the session.
“John and I may well be on opposite sides of the tax issue, but I have the highest regard for him,” said Howell. “It’s simply a difference in philosophy about what constitutes tax reform.”
John Goolrick, a former political reporter, is now an aide to 1st District Rep. Jo Ann Davis. Opinions expressed are his own.
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