General Assembly Passes Englin Bill To Strengthen Budget Transparency

(Wednesday) March 10, 2010

Law is first step in multi-year effort to bring scrutiny and accountability to tax expenditures

The General Assembly passed legislation Monday sponsored by Delegate David Englin (D-45) to strengthen transparency and accountability in the budget process by improving the annual corporate income tax relief report produced by the Department of Taxation. Englin is working closely with the Commonwealth Institute for Fiscal Analysis, whose recent comprehensive report on tax expenditures suggests that Virginia forgoes $2.5 billion in revenue each year through tax expenditures that are not properly scrutinized by the General Assembly.

“The new annual report created by the final bill will be more useful and transparent than existing reports, moving the ball forward on budget transparency and scrutiny,” said Englin. “However, this is just the beginning of what I expect will be a multi-year effort to ensure these expensive tax benefits receive as much scrutiny as the appropriations in the budget so we can make informed value judgements about taxpayer resources.”

The final version of the bill combines the existing corporate income tax relief report with the major business facilities tax credit report and includes additional information in the report about the size and distribution of certain tax benefits. It also requires that the report be made available to the public online and be provided to all legislators, not just those serving on the Appropriations and Finance committees.

“Our goal going in was a comprehensive annual report on all tax benefits of any kind, so legislators have the information necessary to make balanced and informed budget decisions during these difficult times,” said Englin. “Unfortunately, staff resources at the Department of Taxation are very limited, so we amended the legislation to take a first step toward more transparency.”

The bill passed the House of Delegates unanimously on Feb. 16, and the Senate amended it and passed it unanimously Thursday. The House voted unanimously Monday to accept the Senate amendments, which was the final passage of the bill.

Delegate David Englin is Vice Chairman of the House Democratic Caucus and is serving his third term in the Virginia House of Delegates, where he represents the 45th District, which includes parts of the City of Alexandria, Fairfax County, and Arlington County. He serves on the Finance Committee, the Health, Welfare, and Institutions Committee, and the Agriculture, Chesapeake, and Natural Resources Committee.