Here are the four most important wins NFIB/VA helped secure during this year’s legislative session:
Stopped More Than $770 Million in New Taxes
More than $770 million in tax increases were proposed this past legislative session. The proposals ranged from reinstating the “death tax;” taxing new streaming services, such as Netflix, Hulu, Pandora, and Spotify; and creating a new statewide 2 percent hotel tax. These proposals died.
Defeated Minimum Wage Increase
NFIB led the fight to defeat a minimum wage increase in Virginia. We stopped seven bills (an increase from last year), including one proposal to raise the minimum wage as high as $15 per hour.
Blocked Mandatory Paid Leave
NFIB continued to stop as many as four (an increase from last year) different proposals that would require employers to provide some type of paid time off for sick or maternity leave. One specific proposal would have created a new “paid leave insurance program” modeled on the unemployment insurance fund. Initial projections showed more than $600 million in employer and employee taxes being generated.
Passed Regulatory Reform
NFIB continued to work for meaningful regulatory reform. With bipartisan support, Gov. Northam signed legislation to establish a regulatory reform pilot program with the goal of reducing or streamlining regulatory requirements by 25 percent over the next three years. The program will focus on the Department of Professional and Occupational Regulation (DPOR) and the Department of Criminal Justice Services (DCJS).
