Snowflakes to tax breaks: Your one-stop-shop for Virginia updates

Hey, y’all. It’s Amie.

When’s the last time you made do with what you had? For us, it was Monday. Kody and I were already off work for Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, and the prospect of snowfall had us and Colton giddy.

We had our hot cocoa ready to go-go, sweet cookies prepared to consume, a remote control truck all charged up, and most of our snow day apparel located. We couldn’t find C’s gloves, but, meh, his Paw Patrol fuzzy socks worked just as well in a pinch. We waited. And waited. And waited. There were a few flurries, but nothing remotely like the coverage we’d hoped for. In my expert meteorological opinion, we totaled out at 0.0001 inches of accumulation. 

The lack of flakes didn’t stop us. We made a 1-inch snowman. We threw teeny tiny snowballs. We pulled out our sled, much to the amusement of our neighbors. We didn’t have much snow, but we had just as much fun as we would’ve with several inches on the ground. Sometimes, it’s more about the mindset. 

Whatever you’re going through today, I hope you’re able to find the light soon. I hope there are happy moments in this very hour that bring a smile to your face and a laugh to your lungs. Wherever you are and whatever you’re doing, thanks for taking the time to relax in this corner of the world for a few minutes. I’m so glad you’re here. 

Navigating the new FAFSA

Here’s what you need to know: Right now, kids and parents across the US are sitting down with calculators, hoping they’ll be able to afford college this fall. And most of them will turn to the FAFSA for help. If you’re one of them, you might have heard there’s a new Free Application for Federal Student Aid form. We’re here to tell you how it works, what’s changed, and what the new timeline is. 

Off the top:

• There are fewer questions, in part thanks to some information being taken directly from the filer’s tax return.

• Male students no longer have to register for selective service to be eligible for financial aid.

• Cutoff dates for FAFSA submissions vary by state and school. We found some admission applications that close as early as Feb. 1, so be sure to file as early as you can!

The new FAFSA form is available here. For more information on what’s changed, click the link below.

Gov. Glenn Youngkin recently delivered the annual State of the Commonwealth address to the General Assembly, and he mostly used the opportunity to promote a regressive tax proposal that would reform the state’s tax structure to benefit the rich.

In the budget he submitted in late December, Youngkin called for increasing the state’s sales tax while cutting income taxes, a move that will disproportionately benefit the wealthy and burden lower-income Virginians.

According to an analysis by the Commonwealth Institute and the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, the sales tax hike would hurt low-income people more than the income tax cuts would help them, in part because these Virginians spend far more of their resources on necessities.

Current law states that growth in the value of assets–such as stocks, bonds, and real estate and business investments–isn’t taxable until they are “realized,” or sold. Therefore, centimillionaires (people “worth” $100+ million) and billionaires are able to live off these “unrealized” gains by taking out low-interest loans against their wealth. 

Ultimately, these fortunes turn into inheritances, and that money never gets taxed—unless Congress closes that loophole. 

Democratic lawmakers have sought to remedy the problem, introducing a “Billionaires Income Tax” in both the House, and the Senate. The tax would apply to those unrealized capital gains, and according to data, could generate an estimated $500 billion in new revenue in the United States over the next 10 years.

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