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Finance Subcommittee #1

Monday, February 2, 2026·1h 5m·▶ Watch / Listen

Finance Subcommittee #1 tabled eight tax credit and relief bills — including a passive investment income tax, a child tax credit, a property tax circuit breaker, and a health insurance premium stabilization program — while advancing a free tax filing program (HB 1180) and an AmeriCorps education award tax exemption (HB 1454), with most defeats driven by fiscal capacity concerns amid federal budget uncertainty.

Key Actions

·HB 1180 – Free State Income Tax Filing ProgramNo Vote

Controversies

Design of HB 405 health insurance premium stabilization: tax credit vs. monthly subsidy

Delegate Watts challenged Delegate Reed's decision to route more than $120 million through a tax credit rather than directly to insurance providers to lower monthly premiums 'like the federal program,' arguing that getting relief 'to the monthly is much more important to the program than a tax credit would be.' Reed conceded, stating that 'what we would really like to get at...is instead of doing this as a tax credit...what we'd like to see is something that would be able to help individuals on a monthly basis to defray their cost.'

+ 3 more controversies

Notable Quotes

“I have 781,000 Virginia children. My goodness. So this makes my heart hurt simply because of what we're facing now. You know, as far as what Virginia is facing now with the fallout at the federal government, I would like to see in the future something in this bill that shows a little bit more accountability, that it will help reduce child poverty, improve some family stability or return on investment. Therefore, Mr. Chair, I will gently lay 781,000 Virginia children on the table. I'm so sorry.”

Delegate Bonita Anthony — Delegate Anthony explained her reason for moving to table HB 1004, the one-time refundable child tax credit that its patron estimated would benefit 781,000 Virginia children.

+ 3 more quotes

Votes

Motion to table HB 378 (passive investment income tax)Failed
Motion to table HB 1422 (solar energy equipment tax credit)Failed
Motion to table HB 1004 (one-time refundable child tax credit)Failed
Motion to table HB 405 (health insurance premium stabilization)Failed
Motion to report HB 1180 as amended (free tax filing program)No Vote
Motion to report and refer HB 1454 to Appropriations (AmeriCorps award tax exemption)No Vote
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TranscriptPreview
Okay. Good afternoon, everyone. And welcome to the second edition today of subcommittee number one on Finance. We will go ahead and take attendance. So, clerk, please open the roll. Okay. Members, please cast your vote. And we have a quorum. Okay, so just first, a housekeeping matter. At our earlier meeting today. We move to this meeting, HB 697 from Delegate Kent, but we're going to go ahead and pass that by for the day. So. Moved second. Been moved in second. We'll take that. Bye for the day. All in support will say Aye. Any opposed? Okay, that will go to our next meeting. Thank you all very much. So now we will just jump into our docket. I see a number of patrons here. And why don't we start with Elizabeth Bennett Parker. Delegate Bennett Parker, you've got HB 378. Goal amendment. Thank you, Mr. Chair. Virginia families deserve a fairer tax system that lowers the cost of living and lessens the burden on working families. This bill asks very wealthy people with passive income from rather than from work to pay their fair share of taxes. The bill creates a state version of the federal passive…
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