Senator Saslaw has earned a reputation for fiscal discipline through his leadership on the Senate Finance Committee. Since 2008, he has served as a key budget negotiator, and has worked across party lines to pass balanced budgets. With a “pay as you go” philosophy, Dick has led the way to keep future generations from carrying a burden of debt. On June 7, 2018, Governor Northam signed the biennial budget that included Medicaid expansion. This culminated more than five years of leaving behind billions of federal dollars that will now be available for providing hope and access to health care for nearly 400,000 Virginians.
Due to the fiscal prudence of Dick Saslaw and a bipartisan coalition in the state Senate, Virginia has maintained its stellar AAA bond rating – even as we recovered from the Great Recession. During this same period, we have built reserves in the Rainy Day Fund as well as developed and funded the Revenue Cash Reserve to meet the bond houses threshold for retaining the AAA bond rating.
Saslaw has prevented raids on the General Fund (the sole source of funding for public education, public safety, and health and human services). In addition, he has always been a fiscal watchdog and uses his leadership role to protect Virginia taxpayers. Actions by the federal government under the pseudonym of “tax reform” delivered a windfall to the top earners in America. Middle-class and working families in lower income brackets did not realize the same relief. Saslaw supports and will work for refunds on the earned income tax credit which will be the next fight in the legislature.