CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA (CVILLE RIGHT NOW) – As the General Assembly gaveled in late, one of the legislature’s longest serving in Charlottesville Democrat Creigh Deeds tells Morning News what to do with a revenue surplus is a top priority this session. He says there are a lot of ideas what to do with the surplus, but what the legislature has to guard against is building whatever’s spent with this surplus not to continue obligations in future years. Deeds says the objective contemplating a $2.2-billion in surplus is good news, but it needs to be treated as a one-time thing. That’s the issue he sees in Governor Youngkin’s car tax state credit proposal. He notes a credit for lower-income Virginians who must pay the personal property tax is something he likes to hear. But Deeds wants details on how to sustain it because the Governor talks about paying for the credit with $1.1-billion in revenues over the next three years, but what about after that?

Deeds says they also have to think about how changes in Washington with the new Administration in the White House and new Congressional majority. He says whether its direct federal workforce or contractors, Virginia relies on more federal government expenditures than most states. He says things are going pretty good now, but they have to figure out “how to keep things moving along if there are significant changes in Washington”.