At Danville forum, Gillespie says tax cuts will lead to job growth
Trevor Metcalfe
Danville Register & Bee
September 26, 2017
Republican gubernatorial candidate Ed Gillespie said his plans for overhauling the Virginia income tax code and cutting tax rates would lead to small business and job growth in the Dan River Region.
“We’ll make it easier, not only for those hard-working Virginians who haven’t seen their wages increase and have had stagnant wages for too long now, but we’ll also unleash more spending in our economy,” Gillespie said.
Gillespie touted his plans for Virginia’s economy and his positions on education, immigration and Confederate monuments during a question and answer forum Monday at the Institute for Advanced Learning and Research.
The candidate began the event by talking about his other plans for economic growth in the region, including pushing to expand rural broadband access and taking focus away from attracting huge business to the state and investing in strategies to promote small businesses.
…
Gillespie then took questions. When asked about how Virginia could depend less on the U.S. government for economic revenue, Gillespie said he would boost the private sector while also protecting federal dollars.
“I will be able to work with President [Donald] Trump and Vice President [Mike] Pence,” Gillespie said. He added he believed opponent Ralph Northam wouldn’t be able to do so, because he kept attacking Trump on the campaign trail.
Gillespie also said he hoped the U.S. Congress could find a solution to allow so-called “Dreamers” — the children of undocumented immigrants — to stay in the country. However, Gillespie also voiced his opposition to both sanctuary cities and the removal of Confederate monuments.
Gillespie took a question from Pittsylvania County Board of Supervisors Chair Bob Warren, who asked if the tax cuts would have any effect on state revenues for local budgets.
“Our budgets are so tight now,” Warren said.
Gillespie said his tax plan was based on a phase-in period of a few years, and if revenue projects were lower, the implementation would be delayed so localities, schools and law enforcement would remain funded.
“That’s protected, and very thoughtfully done,” he said.
…
Read the entire article HERE.
###