From the Terry McAuliffe for Governor campaign:
Terry McAuliffe: “The Numbers Tell the Story: Glenn’s Trumpian Economic Plan Would Decimate Funding for Education and Public Safety, and Flat Out be a Job Killer in the Commonwealth”
MCLEAN, VA – A new independent study released today found that Glenn Youngkin’s plan to eliminate Virginia’s personal income tax would cost 2.5 million jobs and $225.5 billion in personal income over the next decade, leaving Virginia’s economy weak and hurting the pocketbooks of hard-working Virginians. Jobs would be lost across the board, with 2 million jobs lost in state and local government, 200,000 lost in construction and 60,000 lost in food and beverage industries within 10 years. Over the next decade, Youngkin’s plan would also result in $54 billion in lost aid to public schools, which comes on the heels of another independent study demonstrating Youngkin’s plan would eliminate more than 43,000 teaching positions statewide in just two years.
The Washington Post has predicted that Glenn Youngkin’s economic plan would run Virginia’s thriving economy “into a ditch,” and this study shows that the plan would do exactly that. Instead of building on a strong economic recovery, which has left Virginia with the largest budget surplus in state history and earning the rank of top state in the country to do business, Glenn Youngkin wants to put on the breaks and put in place an extreme right-wing agenda that would cut GDP by billions of dollars a year – and nearly $200 billion over the next decade.
“I believe in Virginians, which is why I’ve built my campaign on investing in our best-in-the-nation workforce and giving every Virginia child a world-class education,” said Terry McAuliffe. “We can’t afford to let Glenn Youngkin put this disastrous plan into action. The numbers tell the story: Glenn’s Trumpian economic plan would decimate funding for education and public safety, and flat out be a job killer in the Commonwealth.”
The study also details the impact Glenn Youngkin’s plan would have on Virginia’s public services – which would be put at risk by the loss of $218 billion in tax revenue over the next 10 years. That revenue goes toward Virginia’s world-class schools and law enforcement, protecting Virginians and giving localities the critical funding they rely on to pay teachers, fund special education programs, and provide an education to Virginia students.
As Virginia’s next governor, Terry will ensure that Virginia protects public services and invests in its best-in-the-nation workforce, bringing new, good-paying jobs to Virginia instead of taking them away. Terry’s plan will continue Virginia’s momentum as the best state in the country for business and make sure that all Virginians have access to the in-demand credentials and training they need to step directly into quality jobs. He will also invest a record $2 billion annually in education, which will raise teacher pay above the national average for the first time in Virginia history, give every 3 and 4-year-old in need access to pre-k, and get every student online.
Terry has released 20 detailed plans to strengthen Virginia’s education system and dramatically increase teacher pay, help secure Virginia’s economic recovery from COVID-19, reform our criminal justice system, ensure Virginians have access to regular nutritious meals, address the broken, predatory system of prescription drug pricing, confront the gun violence epidemic, make Virginia the best state in the nation for Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics and Health Care (STEM-H) and computer science education, tackle the housing crisis in the Commonwealth and invest in Virginia’s workforce in the post-COVID economy, ensure Virginians have access to high-quality, affordable health care, tackle climate change and secure Virginia’s clean energy future by 2035, lift up Black Virginians as the Commonwealth rebuilds from the COVID-19 pandemic, further advance LGBTQ+ rights, create a flourishing rural economy, support entrepreneurial ecosystems and tackle rising costs and meet the health care needs, make higher education more affordable, boost Virginia’s agriculture and forestry industries, protect seniors from COVID-19 and ensure quality and affordability later in life, and tackle the COVID pandemic.