Richmond Times-Dispatch<\/a> featured both of these amendments in their coverage of our ongoing budget negotiations. Let\u2019s get this done!<\/p>\n\n\n\nTEACHER PAY RAISES: My amendment will fund the state\u2019s share of 10% teacher pay raises throughout the Commonwealth! Virginia\u2019s public school teachers are among the most underpaid in the nation, and this funding will make it possible to attract and retain more world-class teachers for our kids. When running for the Senate, I made a commitment to fight for teacher pay raises, investing in school infrastructure, and improving access to job training and workforce development opportunities. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Senator Rouse pictured with VEA President Dr. James Fedderman and VEA members during the campaign. <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\nREFUNDABLE INCOME TAX CREDIT: My amendment will make the income tax credit fully refundable. This will ensure that working families receive the full $300 income tax credit that they deserve, even if their income is below the current threshold to qualify.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
SENATE DEMOCRATS BUDGET PROPOSAL<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nThe budget proposed by Senate Democrats invests $1 billion more in local public school divisions compared to the current budget signed in June 2022. The Senate\u2019s proposals include $270 million to eliminate the cap on state funding for support staff in schools, $38.6 million to fund temporary assistants in troubled schools, and $50 million for safety and security grants.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Instead of making these investments in education, House Republicans fell in line with Gov. Youngkin\u2019s proposed $1 billion in tax cuts in their amended budget, including cutting the corporate tax rate from 6% to 5%.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Senate budget also proposes an additional $50 million in mental health investments, compared to only $37 million in the House budget \u2014 a $13 million difference.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I\u2019m fighting hard everyday to deliver for the citizens of Virginia Beach! <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\nSenator Aaron R. Rouse<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n <\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"I promised to go to work for you in Richmond to put forward common sense, bipartisan solutions to the challenges we face, and that is exactly what I’ve done. I am proud that all of my bills this session passed the Senate and advanced to the House of Delegates, the only Senator with a 100% […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":957,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/rouseforsenate.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/955"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/rouseforsenate.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/rouseforsenate.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rouseforsenate.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rouseforsenate.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=955"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/rouseforsenate.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/955\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":956,"href":"https:\/\/rouseforsenate.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/955\/revisions\/956"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rouseforsenate.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/957"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/rouseforsenate.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=955"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}