UPDATE, 4:45 p.m. Virginia tax chief Janie Bowen has died.
The state’s tax department announced Tuesday that Bowen, 56, died in the morning, though the agency did not give a cause of death.
“Janie was a true public servant,” Gov. Bob McDonnell said. “She began her career at the Department of Taxation in 1978, responding to calls and correspondence. Twenty-eight years later, Governor Tim Kaine appointed Janie as Virginia’s Tax Commissioner.
“Janie loved what she did, she loved public service and she loved Virginia,”
McDonnell said.
Virginia Tax Commissioner Janie Bowen has been elected board of trustees president for the Federation of Tax Administrators, a national organization that monitors the effect of federal legislation on state taxes.
The group works with the 50 states on training and research, and tracks the many ways federal lawmaking affects state tax revenues.
Bowen served as the organization’s vice president the past two years, and was voted into the top spot during the group’s annual convention.
