Virginia posts $3.2 billion cash surplus, Youngkin wants more tax cuts

Pictured: Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin, center, is introduced before his speech at a joint meeting of the House Appropriations, House Finance and Senate Finance & Appropriations Committees at Pocahontas Building in Richmond, Va., on Friday, Aug. 19, 2022. (Daniel Sangjib Min/Richmond Times-Dispatch via AP)

RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — Virginia ended the 2022 fiscal year with a $3.2 billion cash surplus, a sign of both a healthy economy and overtaxation, GOP Gov. Glenn Youngkin said Friday as he presented lawmakers with a review of the state’s finances.

In an interview and in remarks to the General Assembly’s money committees, the governor celebrated the state’s financial position and reiterated calls for additional tax cuts beyond the approximately $4 billion he signed into law earlier this year. Youngkin announced he planned to propose setting nearly $400 million of the surplus aside as a starting point for tax relief in the next budget cycle.

“Our balance sheet is in a strong position, and our substantial reserve funds have grown sharply from their pre-pandemic levels. Together we are lowering tax burdens and making the critical investments needed to strengthen Virginia,” he said in his speech.

The fiscal-year-end surplus was the result of $2 billion in unplanned revenues and about $1.2 billion in unspent appropriations, Youngkin said. The compromise budget lawmakers passed in June anticipated some of that surplus, so some will be reallocated and some directed to a constitutionally mandated reserve deposit, Youngkin said. That will put the state on track to having nearly $4.3 billion in total reserves by fiscal year 2024.

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