On Friday, October 4th, a meeting of the Simulated Virginia House of Delegates was held to debate and pass a set list of bills. Among this list was Senate Bill 110: Food Tax. The delegates from Bridgewater College in Bridgewater, Virginia, came excited and prepared to support this proposed piece of legislation. When asked about his participation in this government simulation,
Democratic Delegate Tyler Crew simply stated, “I’m here for SB-110.”

This was a Republican-proposed bill calling for the exemption from local sales and use tax on food purchased for human consumption and essential personal hygiene products. This bill would lower the cost of food and basic necessities, making it more available to low-income households. According to the 2024 United Way report on A.L.I.C.E. (Asset Limited, Income Constrained, Employed) households in Virginia, 1.3 Million (40%) are below the threshold. This means households that are above the poverty line, but are still unable to afford basic necessities and have to make tremendous sacrifices in their day-to-day expenses to make ends meet. Senate Bill 110 calls attention to this growing issue with a proposed combatant.

When this bill was announced, Delegate Collin Nicholson from the Bridgewater delegation stood and began to speak for it. He was quickly interrupted by Minority Party Leader Jackson Mallory from Virginia Commonwealth University, who reminded the delegates that Senate Bill 110 was a Republican-proposed bill, thus, it must be introduced by a Republican. Republican Delegate Kymiah Wingate from VCU finished introducing the bill. Bridgewater delegate’s enthusiasm for the bill showed in Nicholson and Crew’s anticipation during the introduction. They had clearly been waiting all morning for this.

While this is a Republican-proposed bill, the Democratic delegates from Bridgewater College came to this meeting of the House of Delegates with this bill and an amendment in mind. Delegate Crew stated, “It is of the utmost importance that we pass this amendment, to help the citizens of our commonwealth, those same citizens who elected us to serve on behalf of them, I urge you to serve them today.” At the first Democratic caucus meeting, Delegate Nicholson proposed this bill as one of the subjects for the day’s House meeting. When members reminded him that this was a Republican-proposed bill, Nicholson just smiled and said, “It’s important.”

As soon as the floor was opened for debate, Delegate Nicholson shot to his feet to propose their amendment. The delegate requested the addition of a sin tax, an excise tax on potentially harmful products, to make up for the lost revenue from the tax cut. The original bill already stated that the Virginia government would compensate local governments for the loss of income,
this amendment simply specified how. After facing minor opposition to the sin tax, Minority Party Leader Mallory spoke up with bipartisan support for this amendment and called for a vote. The amendment passed almost unanimously with only one nay in the House.

Democratic Delegate Connor Mull from Radford then proposed a second amendment adding contraceptive products to the hygiene product specification on the list of reduced tax items. After short discussion about the specifications of contraceptives and other STD prevention products, the amendment passed unanimously.

When asked about the success of the bill that day, Delegate Nicholson stated, “The success of SB-110 passing is a profound and significant achievement in protecting the wallets and homes of Virginians.” Majority Leader Jory Cordoza is from the Bridgewater delegation himself and stated, “I’m very proud of the success of Senate Bill 110 on food tax, especially considering a lot of it came from the Bridgewater delegation... they worked very hard on it, I’ve seen it first hand. So, I literally could not be prouder.”

This legislation will help minimize the strain on A.L.I.C.E. households in Virginia while also providing extra dissuasion from the purchase of societally harmful products. Democratic Delegate Ethan Thee from Bridgewater College stated, “SB-110 is a bill that really fights for middle-class families... and makes their lives easier and that’s what we are all here to do so I’m
glad it was passed.” The Democratic Party of the House of Delegates might not have achieved all of the wins they had hoped for, however, the Bridgewater delegation was nothing but smiles when the final gavel landed.