Edmee CR Hasler
Contributing writer
The General Assembly started on Wednesday. In an interview with The Times-Register last week, Del. Joe McNamara said he’s ready with a couple of pieces of legislation that might be of interest to Salem residents.
“I’m going to be carrying a piece of legislation that will make the increased standard deductions permanent in Virginia,” said McNamara.
“Currently it’s set to expire at the end of 2025. We don’t want to inadvertently give a tax increase to our citizens,” McNamara said. He and others have been working for the last four-five years to raise the standard deduction.
“I am going to take legislative action to avoid a $630 increase,” he said.
Another piece of legislation McNamara will be working on is to put Virginia on the list of states that are petitioning the federal government to remain on daylight savings time.
“What does it mean? In a nutshell. Do you want your extra light at the end of the day or the beginning of the day?” McNamara asked.
The legislation is going to look different now that the Republicans are in the minority all around. McNamara said there will be new faces, so there will be a learning curve.
“We’ll probably be operating a little slower than we might normally. When the session ends, we would have gotten our work done, I feel confident of that, and try to improve the lives of Virginians in the process,” McNamara said. “We will be in the minority. You are not going to see radical left or radical right types of bills being passed. I think we are going to look into the areas where we have common interests. I don’t think you’re going to see a lot of legislation far from the center.”
