Moving Toward Adjournment: Much Still To Be Done

February 15, 2019 by David Toscano

We continue to do our legislative work in Richmond, even with all the headlines about the Governor, Lieutenant Governor, and Attorney General. Thanks to all who have expressed their views to me about what should happen. The House Democratic Caucus issued statements on these matters, which I support. You can see the statement released February 7th here and another statement regarding the Lieutenant Governor released on February 9th here.

BUDGETS

Late last week, the House and Senate both approved budgets. Since there are differences between the two, they will need to be reconciled; several members of each body are appointed to the conference committee to resolve differences between the measures. Neither the House or Senate budget are as generous in funding education as was the Governor’s proposal, though both include the Governor’s proposal for a 5 percent raise for teachers. The Commonwealth is still struggling to bring inflation-adjusted school spending back to the levels that existed prior to the 2007-08 recession. The Senate budget provides $40 million to local school divisions, but the local divisions must also dedicate local money to make the teacher raises occur. The House budget is more generous than the Senate in funding more school counselors, a key recommendation of the House Select Committee on School Safety on which I sat. The House budget cuts $35.6 million from the Governor’s plan to provide additional money to school divisions with higher at-risk populations. [Read more…]

Two Weeks To Go, Important Work To Do

February 11, 2019 by David Toscano

Deal Emerging on Budget and Taxes?

Amidst all that is happening in Richmond, the legislature continues its work, most recently on the budget. You can see my opening remarks on the budget proposed by the House Appropriations committee here. In my view, although the proposed budget was a good effort, it missed historic opportunities to invest substantially in what Virginians desire and need, from K-12 education to environmental initiatives to affordable housing. I voted against this budget because I believe we can do better.

Instead of recognizing and addressing the regressive burden last year’s federal tax changes placed on our lowest income earners, our Republican colleagues doubled down on the Trump tax scheme, and left working Virginia families at the lowest end of the wage scale to pay the most (proportionally) in state taxes. House Republicans rejected a series of amendments to restore many of the progressive initiatives the Governor had proposed, as well as a Democratic initiative to provide an immediate tax refund to working families. The budget also cut efforts to dedicate funds for coastal resiliency as we fight the effects of global climate change; you can see the debate on this here. [Read more…]

Doing the People’s Business During a Challenging Time

February 5, 2019 by David Toscano

We are now in the busiest week of the legislative year. On Sunday, the House and Senate budgets were unveiled. Today, February 5, is “crossover,” the day on which all bills must be passed in one legislative body to cross over to the other side of the Capitol for consideration. We debate the budget this Thursday. All of this work is, of course, going forward in the shadow of the turmoil surrounding the Governor. I posted my thoughts (you can read it here) about this still-unfolding situation as of Saturday morning on social media, and will probably have more to say later. For now, however, we legislators are focused on doing the job our constituents elected us to do.

STATUS OF MY BILLS

Eight of my bills have passed the House and will now be considered by the Senate. Four initiatives address rising health insurance premiums and health care costs, and are directly related to the spike in insurance premiums that occurred in Charlottesville in late 2017 during the ACA Marketplace open season to purchase 2018 health care insurance. [Read more…]

Toscano Calls on Northam to Resign

February 2, 2019 by David Toscano

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE (9:55 am, February 2, 2019)

The yearbook photograph of Governor Ralph Northam that went viral yesterday is outrageously offensive and deeply troubling. Excuses that this might simply have been a youthful indiscretion or happened in an era when race relations in the South were different fail to recognize that this was apparently published in 1984, not 1954, and that the Governor was in his mid-twenties and in medical school at the time.

In an era of instantaneous news and reaction, it usually makes sense to carefully consider the best course of action, and to gather facts and perspectives to ensure that haste does not overtake good judgment. Like my fellow Democrats in the General Assembly, I knew we needed to make space for the Virginia Legislative Black Caucus to meet with the Governor and determine their course of action. It is now clear that while the Governor has done many good things in his career, and has been fighting for those most in need throughout his public life, he has lost the moral high ground at the core of his leadership. It makes it almost impossible for him to govern. I say this with the heaviest of hearts, but his ability to make further progress on his promises to Virginians has been so severely compromised that the best course for the Commonwealth is for him to resign.

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You Win Some and Lose Some: But You Never Stop Trying

January 25, 2019 by David Toscano

When I first arrived in the House of Delegates in 2006, a friend of mine counseled me not to get too personally attached to any proposed legislation. “Bills are like goldfish,” he said. “You love and care for them when they are alive, but when they die, you go out and get another fish.”

There is some common sense in this attitude, especially when you can bring bills back in the next session to try again, but I have to admit it’s a severe disappointment when very important efforts are defeated, especially when they could make a big difference. In the last week, I have watched this happen to measures like the ERA ratification resolution, which was defeated in the House Privileges & Elections Committee after a herculean lobbying effort. It is not totally dead, and we are working on another strategy to push for a vote on the House floor, but we have some major hurdles to overcome.

There are a few of my bills which have not yet been placed on a subcommittee agenda (as of Friday afternoon, at least), including HB 2377 to grant localities the authority to decide what to do with Confederate statues in public spaces and HB 1959 to allow any voter to vote absentee without having to provide a reason or fit into a special category. For these, the fight to win them is still ahead, and I appreciate all the work being done to help that happen. [Read more…]

BUDGETS

Deal Emerging on Budget and Taxes?

STATUS OF MY BILLS

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