Last Friday, I had the pleasure of participating in the Montgomery County Chamber of Commerce’s Annual Legislative Breakfast. I always enjoy these opportunities to not only mix and mingle with our region’s business leaders, but to also hear their concerns about the issues that affect their businesses’ ability to thrive and contribute to our regional economy. As part of the program, legislators representing the New River Valley got to answer questions from Chamber members and hear directly about the topics most important to our business community.
One issue I heard about from Chamber members was the high cost of doing business and the recent trend of price increases across almost all goods and services. While some of the causations of high costs, to include inflation and policies set at the federal level of government are not within the General Assembly’s power to address, there are things we can do – or not do – to make things easier on businesses and their customers. And to be honest, there were very few actions passed by the Democrat-led General Assembly this year that directly lowered the cost of doing business. In fact, many employers will be facing new and increasing costs due to policies passed and signed into law by Governor Abigail Spanberger. This includes a new payroll tax to fund a brand-new paid family medical leave program through SB 2. Under this program, both the employer and employee must pay into a fund that will allow employees to take 12-weeks off per year of paid family medical leave. Payment into this fund is mandatory and will result in lower pay for employees and less profit for businesses – unless of course they raise their prices to offset this new tax.
One of the biggest ways the General Assembly reduced the cost of doing business in the 2026 legislative session was by preemptively stopping proposals that would have created dozens of new taxes, to include those under HB 978. As mentioned in past articles, this bill would have expanded the sales tax to pretty much every service that Virginians enjoy, to include gym memberships, online subscriptions, delivery services, pet grooming, and dozens more. Passage of this bill would have had a negative effect on businesses and their customers nearly across the board, and it was only defeated after vocal Republican opposition.
Another major topic of discussion was childcare, and specifically, the hardships caused by a lack of affordable childcare options for our workforce. This is a big issue not only in our region, but statewide and nationwide as well. More families than ever – either in two-parent households or single-parent households – rely upon childcare so that they can work and provide for their families. This is an area of bipartisan concern, and while Democrats and Republicans may differ at times in how to solve it, the General Assembly has taken steps to increase access. One of the ways to do this is to make it more affordable for employees to access it and for employers to provide it as an employment benefit. For example, HB 18 sets up an employer-based childcare assistance pilot program to encourage cost-sharing between businesses, families, and the state. This program is starting off in a voluntary and limited fashion, and it relies on employer and employee contributions to unlock a state match. I think that this is a good way for the state to incentivize childcare as an employment benefit, which is why I supported the bill.
I appreciated the conversations I had with our region’s business leaders, and I am thankful for all that they do to enhance our economy!
As the Delegate representing the 42nd House District in the Virginia General Assembly, your concerns are my greatest priority. If ever I may be of assistance to you and your family, please do not hesitate to reach out to me at DelJBallard@House.Virginia.Gov. You can also follow me on Twitter @JasonBallardVA or like my Facebook page, Jason Ballard for Delegate, to keep up to date with what I am doing in Richmond and in our community on your behalf.
