by Emily Brewer

Week 4
It’s hard to believe, but we are already into February! We are just over a week away from Crossover, which is the time when all the bills passed by the House head to the Senate and all of the Senate bills come to the House for consideration. The House has already passed several major pieces of legislation and we look forward to that work continuing.

Worth Mentioning:
House Republicans kill proposed tax hike
Republicans in the House once again stood up for Virginia taxpayers on Monday, killing a bill that would raise taxes on hardworking Virginians. House Bill 1051 was introduced by Del. Vivian Watts and would have instituted a tax on streaming video services such as Netflix, Hulu and Pandora. I serve on the Finance Committee where I was able to stand up for taxpayers and vote against the tax increase. This bill would have disproportionately affected millennials who enjoy these streaming services, as well as every family who enjoys a movie night together at home. It is estimated that 68 percent of Americans use streaming services every day either at work, in the classroom, and at home.

Reforming State Board of Elections to guarantee non-partisan administration of elections
On Thursday, we passed legislation reforming the State Board of Elections to guarantee the nonpartisan administration of elections in the Commonwealth. The bill, which passed with unanimous Republican support, increases from three to six the number of members on the Board, requiring three to be from the political party that won the most recent gubernatorial election and three from the political party receiving the next highest number of votes.

In closing:
I have enjoyed seeing many of you visit me at my Capitol Office and I hope more will continue to stop by over the course of the 2018 General Assembly Session. As always, I value the feedback you provide on a continual basis as it helps me do a better job of representing you. You can email me at DelEBrewer@House.Virginia.Gov or call me at 804-698-1064.
You can also join the conversation on our social media pages, Facebook.com/BrewerForVA or Twitter.com/BrewerForVA.
I will continue providing you updates during the 2018 General Assembly Session, and will be meeting with constituent groups after Session to report on the Session and take questions.