These Virginia Democrats want to make the wealthy pay their fair share

One proposal would establish a millionaire’s tax and another would impose a corporate welfare tax on large employers with workers who depend on social services.

As inequality rises and everyone but the highest earners struggles, two members of the Virginia House of Delegates have bills aimed at leveling the playing field. 

State Del. Kelly Convirs-Fowler (D-Virginia Beach) has a bill that would establish a new tax bracket for millionaires. Currently, anyone making more than $17,000 a year is taxed at the same rate of 5.75%. 

Speaking with Dogwood on Wednesday, Convirs-Fowler said she is still getting input on the bill to see what various stakeholders have to say about it, and it’s possible her bill could get combined with similar legislation. 

But she thinks there is momentum behind the idea as Democrats look to fill in state budget shortfalls made by the Trump administration’s cuts to the social safety net. 

Tens of thousands of Virginians are expected to drop off their Affordable Care Act plans because Republicans in Congress let their premiums spike. If passed, her bill alone would bring in $1.7 billion to the state, Convirs-Fowler said.

“By having the millionaires pay their fair share of taxes, it will actually help Virginians be able to come out of this affordability crisis and kind of buffer us a little bit from what’s going on at the federal level,” Convirs-Fowler said.

Corporate welfare tax

As Convirs-Fowler looks to make wealthy individuals pay their fair share, one of her colleagues in the House is focusing on making corporations do the same. 

Virginia Del. Joshua Cole (D-Fredericksburg) is carrying a bill to impose a corporate welfare tax on large employers whose workers get federal benefits like food stamps. 

The tax would be imposed on companies with more than 500 employees and would equate to the benefits being received by employees at these companies. 

Workers across the economy rely on federal social services, which critics say help their employers keep wages low. A study in 2020 found that major corporations like Walmart and McDonalds had many workers who rely on government social services. 

 ”We want to make sure that they’re paying them a fair wage and we want to make sure that these people are able to produce well, do what they’re doing, and live well,” Cole said in an interview in Richmond on Wednesday.