Rob Bloxom legislative update from Richmod

100th District legislative update from Delegate Rob Bloxom.

We will send you the latest throughout the year to keep you in the know. Here is what Rob is working on for you this week:

We finished Week Four with the House and the Senate, each working on its own

legislation and budget. February 7th marks crossover when the amendments from each chamber are compared, and we will get a good view of each chamber’s priorities.

We, in the Virginia House of Delegates, included one billion dollars in tax relief, raising the standard deduction for Virginia taxpayers to keep more of their money. The House also had a small corporate tax rate deduction for keeping us competitive with our southern neighbors. However, The democratic-controlled Virginia Senate removed all of the Governor’s tax relief and spent it elsewhere. The staff is still analyzing the spending.

I asked the House of Delegates for funding for projects for our district, and Senator Lewis matched this on the Senate side. Our coordinated efforts have placed many vital projects in both amended packages. For example, the cost of competing for a teacher supplement for Accomack and Northampton County teachers was included in the House and Senate versions. Also included was money to finish the Melfa hangar at the airport, a new roof for the Area on Aging building, and fulfilling the state’s commitment to the Rocket Lab.

There are several projects in the House amendments that were not included in the

Senate’s and vice versa. The other projects I will continue to advocate for are obtaining funds to finish the Wachapreague sewer line and help with Chincoteague’s sewer needs. I mention these projects, not to say any of them will be in the final conference report, but they are all in play. Since some are in both chambers, that will help when we reconcile the two budgets together.

The other bills I am focused on are bills for economic development. The first one

adds the ability of a locality to use the Virginia Resource Authority (VRA) to use

it’s bonding ability to help create low and moderate-income housing to increase the inventory of housing units in Virginia. The second bill that falls into this category is my Windmill bill. It allows a company to fully utilize the federal tax credit to manufacture green energy components. This is trying to keep Virginia in the running to land a large manufacturer of windmill blades. It could bring 1,500 jobs and millions of dollars in investment to the Hampton Roads area.

With only two weeks left in this session, I will keep you updated as these bills move through the final legislative process. You may follow this process at http://lis.virginia.gov and during the live stream of committee and floor

sessions.

I appreciate the input I have received from your phone calls and emails. As always, please reach out to me with any questions or concerns.