At the same time, House Republicans pushed legislation that would make major policy changes, most of them arising from temporary provisions of the federal tax law for individual taxpayers that will expire after 2025. On another party-line vote, the House advanced House Bill 2529 to action on passage next week.

“It is returning money back to the people who pay the taxes,” said Del. Tim Hugo, R-Fairfax, the bill’s sponsor and chairman of the House Republican Caucus.

But Del. Vivian Watts, D-Fairfax, relied on a state consultant’s report about the likely effects of federal tax reform in Virginia to challenge the assertion by Hugo and other Republicans that the bill would return the money to people whose state taxes will increase.

More than 80 percent of proposed tax relief would go to higher-income taxpayers who would pay about 60 percent of the higher state taxes, she said, while Virginians earning under $50,000 a year would pay 40 percent of the higher taxes and receive just 18 percent of the benefits under Hugo’s bill.

“It is giving money to people who are not paying higher Virginia taxes,” Watts argued.