Reacting to a WVTF report this morning that Virginia’s salary growth is “lagging” behind the national average, 2017 Republican gubernatorial nominee Ed Gillespie issued the below statement:
“We’re at a critical juncture, and we need to get our economy moving again. We must spark the natural, organic economic growth our Commonwealth needs. In March, I released a plan to cut the individual income tax rate for the first time since rates were established in 1972. An independent econometric analysis of this plan concluded that it would result in the creation of more than 53,000 good-paying, full-time, private-sector jobs all across Virginia; that’s a twenty-five percent increase over current projections and will also raise wages. This, combined with other fundamental changes to our education and workforce systems and a new approach to economic development and regulatory reform, is how we can best work to grow and diversify our economy to benefit all Virginians in the years ahead.”
WVTF’s Michael Pope reports:
“Virginia may have emerged from the recession, but that doesn’t mean it’s out of the woods yet. New numbers from the federal government show paychecks are still lagging behind.
Hourly wage growth in Virginia is so sluggish that the Commonwealth ranked near the bottom of states, according to new numbers from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. From July 2016 to July 2017, the average hourly earnings in Virginia rose only 1. 7 percent.” (WVTF, 9/4/17)
Nearly six months ago, Gillespie released his plan to cut Virginia’s income tax rates for the first time in state history. He also put forward the “Removing Barriers to Job Creation for ALL Virginians” Plan to remove barriers to job creation and make it easier for businesses to grow and thrive in the Commonwealth. He recently announced his plans to expand access to broadband, which is critical to economic development, and grow Virginia’s outdoor economy.
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