Affordability or Tax Hikes? Spanberger Agenda Caught in Political Crossfire

Gov. Abigail Spanberger made affordability the centerpiece of her 2026 agenda, promising relief for Virginians strained by high housing costs, rising energy bills, and everyday expenses. But less than a month into the General Assembly session, several dozen tax-increase bills filed by Democratic lawmakers have given Republicans a ready-made political weapon — and an opening to portray the new governor as doing the opposite of what she promised.

Gov.-elect Abigail Spanberger speaks at a news conference at the state Capitol in Richmond In December, where she unveiled her “Affordable Virginia Agenda,” a package of legislative proposals focused on lowering health care, energy and housing costs. (Photo by Markus Schmidt/Virginia Mercury)

Republicans have seized on the proposals to mount an aggressive social media campaign casting Spanberger and legislative Democrats as eager to raise taxes and make life more expensive, despite the fact that the governor has neither endorsed the measures nor pledged to sign them, and most have yet to be taken up by committees.

Earlier this week, Del. Joe McNamara, R-Roanoke County, a longtime ally of former Gov. Glenn Youngkin and a leading GOP voice on tax cuts, accused Democrats of breaking their affordability promises and embracing proposals he said would raise costs.

“There were some really good bills — Democratic bills, Republican bills — that really made Virginia more affordable,” McNamara said. “We are living under the guise that Virginia is in these desperate financial straits. Virginia is not in desperate financial straits.”

McNamara pointed to what he said were nearly $9 billion in budget surpluses over the past four years, alongside a similar amount in tax cuts, and said Youngkin left $2.7 billion for Virginians when he left office, which allowed for more tax cuts.

He argued Democrats are moving in the other direction, pointing to bills that would create new income tax brackets.

“If we look at where we are from the Democratic philosophies and bills that are coming forward, there are new tax brackets,” McNamara said. “There are 6%, or 8%, 10% tax brackets, and investment income tax brackets on the top.”

He warned higher top rates could push wealthy residents out of Virginia and raise the state’s marginal tax burden. “This is kind of what the Democrat version of affordability is,” McNamara said. “The Republican version of affordability is very, very different.”

McNamara also underscored GOP proposals to phase out the car tax, protect the standard deduction and eliminate the remaining 1% grocery tax — efforts he said Democrats routinely block.

Republicans have amplified those arguments online.

On Tuesday, the official Virginia GOP account on X, formerly Twitter, posted: “Waiting for any Democrat to explain how forcing moms and dads to pay 10% more to take their kids to Kings Dominion helps with affordability.”

Democrats say tax criticism ignores legislative reality

Democratic lawmakers say the criticism ignores both how the legislative process works and what has actually advanced so far this session.

At a joint news conference hosted by the nonprofit Freedom Virginia at the state Capitol on Tuesday, lawmakers promoting their affordability agenda found themselves repeatedly fielding questions about tax proposals that have not moved.

“There’s a lot of noise out there about tax policy right now,” said Sen. Schuyler VanValkenburg, D-Henrico, attributing the campaign to “disingenuous political actors.”

Del. Dan Helmer, D-Fairfax, echoed that point, saying Republicans are cherry-picking bills that have not passed — or even been voted on.

“There’s a selective narrative going on right now that’s not focused on the actual bills that are passing the legislature, which are focused extremely on affordability,” Helmer said. “The reality is, at the end of this session, what we can promise every single Virginian is that the promises we made are promises we’re going to deliver.”

Helmer tied affordability pressures to broader economic forces, including federal policy, saying Virginians are struggling with housing, energy and grocery costs.

“Here in Virginia,” he said, “they’re going to have people that understand that the middle class, and every hardworking Virginian, is struggling to make ends meet right now.”

Virginia Del. Dan Helmert, D-Fairfax (left), and Sen. Schuyler VanValkenburg, D-Henrico, field questions about tax proposals filed by Democrats at a news conference at the state Capitol in Richmond, Tuesday. (Photo by Markus Schmidt/Virginia Mercury)Democrats also argue the GOP narrative ignores a basic fact: the vast majority of tax-increase bills have not passed.

Del. Jessica Anderson, a Democratic freshman lawmaker from Williamsburg, addressed the issue directly in a Facebook video last weekend.

“There has been a lot of conversation happening on the mainstream media from my delegate colleagues on the other side of the aisle,” Anderson said.

“And they’re really hyping up the bills that have been introduced by various delegates in the Democratic Party, and making this very wild assumption that the governor endorses every piece of policy that has been introduced, which is actually incorrect.”

Anderson noted she did not vet her own legislation with Spanberger before filing it, adding, “Technically, she wasn’t even the governor when I introduced them.”

She emphasized that individual lawmakers file bills based on district priorities, not party mandates.

“That does not mean that every bill that gets introduced, because it’s introduced by a Democrat, is going to get across the finish line,” Anderson said. “This assumption is so wild.”

Anderson’s video also played a clip of President Donald Trump, who last week accused Spanberger of raising taxes after taking office — a claim that is untrue because the legislature sets tax rates, not the governor.

“Glenn was a friend of ours, and worked so hard on cutting taxes,” Trump said in the clip, referring to Youngkin. “This woman came in, and in one swoop, she raised everything up higher than it ever was.”

Spanberger has not publicly responded to those remarks, and a spokesman for the governor declined to comment Wednesday.

Political scientist Stephen Farnsworth of the University of Mary Washington said that silence carries risks.

“One of the things that we’ve learned in the world of social media is that the truth is a rare and not very highly valued commodity,” Farnsworth said. “You don’t need evidence to make a claim online, and increasingly, people don’t even care.”

But Farnsworth said allowing the narrative to linger could backfire.

“This story of Spanberger as a tax queen has been part of the conversation in Virginia for a week now, and silence is not in the governor’s interest,” he said. “Failing to respond to disinformation only increases the likelihood that there will be more and greater disinformation going forward.”

At the same time, Farnsworth noted that the scope of many tax proposals also matters in how voters perceive them.

“A lot of the Democratic tax initiatives are very much aimed toward very specific slices of the electorate, and even if they pass, most voters may never feel them,” he said.

While Spanberger has avoided weighing in on individual tax bills, her administration on Wednesday highlighted progress on the agenda she rolled out in December with Democratic leaders. Eight bills tied to the governor’s “Affordable Virginia Agenda” have already passed at least one chamber.

Those measures include legislation aimed at reducing heating and energy costs for low-income Virginians, establishing a statewide weatherization task force to improve home energy efficiency, empowering local governments to preserve affordable housing, strengthening tenant protections and eliminating additional fees on health insurance premiums.

Lawmakers have also advanced a proposal to better utilize the existing electric grid to lower costs for ratepayers.

“My administration is focused on working with our partners in the General Assembly to lower healthcare, housing and energy costs for Virginians in every community across our commonwealth,” Spanberger said in a statement, adding that she looked forward to signing these bills, “and every piece of legislation in our agenda, into law to bring down costs for Virginians.”

Many tax proposals remain pending

By contrast, the tax-increase proposals Republicans cite remain stalled.

Among them is House Bill 900, sponsored by Del. Rip Sullivan, D-Fairfax, which would lower the statewide sales tax rate from 4.3% to 4% while expanding the tax base to include certain services and digital goods starting in 2027. The bill also proposes regional transportation taxes and a 20-cent retail delivery fee in parts of Northern Virginia.

A similar proposal, HB 978 by Del. Vivian Watts, D-Fairfax, would tax a wide range of services — from fitness facilities to pet care — while exempting groceries and hygiene products from local sales taxes and directing new revenue toward schools and transportation.

Unlike Sullivan’s bill, Watts’ proposal does not lower the base sales tax rate, meaning some consumers could see higher taxes depending on what they purchase.

Other bills include HB 188 by Del. Kelly Convirs-Fowler, D-Virginia Beach, which would create a new 10% income tax bracket on earnings over $1 million, and HB 979 by Watts, which pairs higher income tax brackets for high earners with a larger standard deduction and grocery tax exemptions.

Democrats have also introduced taxes on firearms, ammunition, and fantasy sports operators, as well as a proposal to fund paid family and medical leave through employer and employee premiums beginning in 2028.

All have been assigned to committees, but remain pending.

The car tax has long been one of the most politically potent issues in Virginia, with Republicans repeatedly promising its repeal during campaign season but falling short of eliminating it once in power.

While GOP lawmakers have filed bills over the years aimed at scrapping the tax, former Gov. Glenn Youngkin did not include a car tax repeal in the final budget proposal his administration rolled out in December.

McNamara, the Republican delegate from Roanoke County, argued the pattern has persisted regardless of who holds the governor’s mansion.

“Year after year, election time comes around, we talk about eliminating the car tax,” he said. “Year after year, after the election’s done, all the Republicans put forward bills to try to eliminate the dreaded car tax, and the Democrats kill those bills.”

Helmer disputed Republican claims that Democrats oppose eliminating the tax outright.

“The stunning thing is actually we passed the beginning of the end to the car tax in Virginia,” he said, referring to a resolution introduced by Del. Lily Franklin, D-Montgomery, which directs the Department of Taxation to study options for abolishing the tax and identify alternative revenue sources for local governments.

“Democrats did that, and almost every single Republican … voted no. Without an alternative,” Helmer said.

Franklin had campaigned for several years on repealing the car tax before defeating Republican Del. Chris Obenshain last fall. Once elected, however, she stopped short of calling for immediate elimination — a move Republicans have argued does not go far enough.

So far, only a handful of tax-related bills sponsored by Democrats have advanced.

The House last week passed legislation redistributing plastic bag tax revenue to towns and authorized local referendums for school construction sales taxes. At the same time, Democrats unanimously killed a proposed net investment income tax in a subcommittee.

As the session continues, VanValkenburg said the final product — not social media posts or bill introductions — should define the debate over affordability versus tax hikes.

“When the session is over and the governor signs a budget,” he said, “I think you’re going to see a set of attached policies and a budget that reflects our values of helping the working and middle class Virginians and making life more affordable for them.”

by Markus Schmidt, Virginia Mercury

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