Reconvene Session Passes Transportation Plan, More Restrictions on Abortion

April 9, 2013 by David Toscano

The “Veto” Session commenced at noon on Wednesday, April 3, 2013, and finished at 1:00 a.m. the next morning. It is hard to believe that we could take so long, but most of our time was focused on electing new judges around the Commonwealth in a Special Session.

The Governor made numerous recommendations for changes in bills that had been previously passed by the General Assembly. The most notable of these involved modifications in the transportation bill, which had been passed by a bipartisan coalition in the House and Senate. The Governor’s changes reduced the size of the plan somewhat and included a small reduction in the “hybrid tax”; the $100.00 fee was reduced to $67.00. The fiscal impact of that action was not large, but was viewed as a symbolic change designed to mollify some of the critics of the original bill. Most of the major increases in revenue remained, including the provision to create a dedicated source of revenue for passenger rail. I was happy to advocate and vote for this bill as the most significant advancement in the transportation funding that has been made in several decades (my speech on the original measure is available here). The measure raises about $1 billion extra per year and includes greater sums for transit, road maintenance, and passenger rail. Finally, the Governor made some changes designed to address concerns about the constitutionality of certain measures in the bill that provide some additional revenue for Northern Virginia and Hampton Roads. Democrats again provided the margin of victory for final passage, as numerous “no tax pledge” Republicans deserted the Governor by failing to support the measure.

The Governor made some changes in budget language that may assist those of us who seek to expand Medicaid in the Commonwealth. My position continues to be that Medicaid expansion is good because it will create 30,000 new jobs in Virginia, insure approximately 300,000 Virginians who do not have coverage at present, allow the return of billions of dollars in Virginia tax monies that would otherwise go to states throughout the country that have embraced Medicaid expansion, and will be 100 percent funded by the federal government for the first several years of the expansion. It will reduce pressure on our emergency rooms, which have become the “health insurer of last resort” for many of the poorest in our region. Using emergency rooms for primary care is very inefficient and raises costs to taxpayers (the state reimburses hospitals for emergency room bills that are not covered by insurance and that individuals are unable to pay) and to those of us who have private insurance coverage.

A day in Richmond at the General Assembly would not be complete without a debate on social issues. This time it was the Governor who was pushing the social agenda, as he inserted language into a bill that would prohibit private health insurance companies from offering health care coverage for abortion as part of private insurance that would be purchased by individuals within the new health care marketplace. A majority in the House and Senate embraced the Governor’s language, despite the arguments of many Democrats (myself included) and some Republicans that this was an unnecessary and unreasonable intrusion into the marketplace, where private buyers and sellers negotiate the terms of the coverage that companies provide. Our further concern is that it could drive certain citizens away from the health exchange, with the result that either they do not get any coverage at all, or because the insurance pool would become smaller, the cost of insurance would rise for other people who seek it. This is not good social policy in a Commonwealth seeking to lower the cost of insurance for everyone and looking to the marketplace for solutions.

Finally, the 16th Judicial Circuit, which serves this area, got two new judges late in the evening. The first is Dale Durrer, who resides in Culpeper and will serve on the General District Court, replacing the Honorable Roger Morton, who recently retired. The second is Claude Worrell, II, an Assistant Commonwealth’s Attorney in the City of Charlottesville, who will take the seat previously occupied by the Honorable Dwight Johnson, who retired in January. I expect that these gentlemen will make fine judges, and am very pleased that we were able to retain these judgeships for our community.

With the completion of the Session, my attention returns to constituent service, my law practice, and the fall elections. It is a pleasure and honor to represent you in the Virginia House of Delegates. As always, please feel free to contact me to share your thoughts and comments on matters before the Commonwealth.

Sincerely,

David

Session Ends with a Bang

February 26, 2013 by David Toscano

The 2013 session of the Virginia General Assembly adjourned on Saturday, February 23rd at 5:21 p.m., with the passage of what is arguably the most significant legislation with which I have been involved since I took my seat in 2006.

This session will be remembered primarily for two issues – transportation and Medicaid.

Transportation

When this session began on January 9, 2013, few would have predicted that we would ultimately pass the most significant transportation plan since 1986. This was not easy, and it almost unraveled at the last minute due to the intervention of our Attorney General, who had opposed any increases in transportation revenues, even the inadequate proposal that the Governor made in January. The Governor’s initial proposal failed to raise sufficient revenue for transportation, was built on an assumption that we would receive money due to federal action that no one was sure would occur (enactment of the Marketplace Equity Act, a.k.a. “internet sales tax”), and took the wrong approach on policy grounds by eliminating the gasoline tax while raising the sales tax. I originally opposed this proposal, and voted against it when it was first considered on the House floor.

But then things changed dramatically.

Frequent direct contact with the Governor’s office and the willingness of the Democratic Caucus to stick together on what was needed for this package were instrumental in modifying the plan as it continued through the legislative process. What ultimately emerged was a transportation plan which, while not perfect, included significant new revenues, approximating $1.4 billion extra per year for transportation construction, maintenance, transit, and rail. I have described this package in greater detail in a letter that I have sent to those who have contacted me on this matter. As a result of these significant and sustainable increases in revenue, I supported this bill. You can view the clip of my speech on the House Floor supporting the bill on YouTube.

One of the most heartening elements of this session was the degree to which the House Democratic Caucus was able to make the difference in passing the transportation plan. Without House Democrats, this plan would not have passed — there were simply not sufficient Republican legislators who were willing to support it. This is one of the untold stories of the 2013 session and one that should not go unnoticed for the future. While our numbers in the House are not as large as we would like, we clearly made the difference in a plan that is the most significant passed in the last twenty-five years.

Medicaid Expansion

On the Medicaid front, many of us argued that Medicaid expansion makes good economic sense for the Commonwealth while allowing more than 250,000 Virginians to get access to health insurance. Many hospitals and medical professionals in the Commonwealth argued for expansion because it would create 30,000 jobs, bring approximately $9.9 billion to the Commonwealth, and would provide a vehicle to discourage individuals without insurance from using the emergency rooms of our hospitals to meet their primary care needs – a costly way of providing care and one that ultimately raises costs for every Virginian who buys private insurance or is insured through their job. You can view my speech here.

The Governor and conservative members of the General Assembly, primarily in the House, vehemently opposed Medicaid expansion, feeling that it would place greater costs on the Commonwealth and would provide legitimacy to “Obamacare.” This is their sentiment despite assurances that 100 percent of the cost would be paid by the federal government for the first 3 years, and then 90 percent in future years. At present, the federal government pays 50 percent of Medicaid expenses.

Many of us further argued that failure to expand Medicaid would mean that Virginia tax dollars would be used to help fund Medicaid expansion in states who had decided to do so. Nationally, many states with Republican governors and statehouses, including Arizona, Ohio, and most recently, Florida, have decided that Medicaid expansion makes good economic and human sense and, therefore, have embraced expansion. Governor McDonnell, however, has consistently said no. What emerged in the final days of the General Assembly session was reform language that was placed in the budget to create a commission to determine whether and when reforms had been enacted sufficient to justify expansion in Virginia. It is not the approach that I would have taken, but it represented the best that we could do to move expansion forward.

At the last minute, however, Attorney General Cuccinelli issued an opinion that he believes such an approach is unconstitutional. This opinion had the effect of almost derailing passage of both the budget and the transportation plan. Cooler heads prevailed, and the Medicaid expansion language was accepted by the House and the Senate, enabling both the budget and the transportation plan to pass.

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The significance of transportation and Medicaid overwhelmed other measures that were considered during this session. It was disheartening to watch as important bills were not passed, notably measures to restore voting rights to non-violent felons, eliminate workplace discrimination based on sexual orientation, and make our streets and roads safer for pedestrians and bicyclists. Future updates will detail these and other pieces of legislation, including changes in energy policy, some educational reforms, pay raises for teachers and faculty, prohibitions against texting while driving, and a new program to allow vital records to be issued by DMV.

I look forward to being back in Charlottesville with family and friends, and resuming my law practice. As House Democratic Leader, I will be traveling the state this year in an effort to increase the number of delegates who share our values in the General Assembly.

It is a pleasure and honor to represent you in the Virginia House of Delegates. As always, please feel free to contact me to share your thoughts and comments on matters before the Commonwealth.

Sincerely,

David

Thoughts on the Transportation Bill

February 25, 2013 by David Toscano

I received many letters and emails regarding the transportation bill passed by the Virginia General Assembly on February 23, 2013. After considerable thought, and consultation with the Governor’s office and my colleagues in the House and Senate, I decided to support this bill, because it represents a significant step forward in our efforts to address transportation funding challenges in the Commonwealth.

Unlike the Governor’s proposal, the bill retains gasoline taxes as the basis for funding transportation, though not to the extent that I desired. It is not a perfect bill, but is substantially better than what the Governor proposed in January of this year. It accomplishes many important things, not the least of which is the raising of approximately $1.4 billion per year in new money for construction, maintenance, transit, and rail. For the first time in Virginia history, we will have a dedicated source of revenue for intercity passenger rail, something many of my constituents believe is very important, in light of the efforts we have made to support the Lynchburg-Charlottesville-Washington train. This dedicated source of revenue will ensure that the Northeast Corridor train, so important to Charlottesville travelers, will continue to operate for many years to come. But beyond that, it opens up the possibility of rail service to Roanoke, and enhanced train service in the Norfolk to Richmond and I-95 corridors.

The bill also provides substantial new monies for transit operations, which are key to assisting people in getting to work and providing critical support to urban areas in the Commonwealth.

The bill provides significant dollars to the Northern Virginia and Hampton Roads areas of the state, by allowing them to raise additional revenues for transportation that they can use in these regions. It enhances economic activity, most notably by creating, for every $1 billion of construction spending, approximately 35,000 jobs.

While I do not believe the bill is ideal, it represents a solid step forward and one we would have thought impossible a month ago. We will have the opportunity to modify the bill in the years ahead, and one change I hope to be able to make is to eliminate the tax on hybrids and to restore some of the emphasis on gasoline tax that has been lost in the bill.

In the bill’s final version, the 17.5¢ per gallon gasoline tax was eliminated, and instead a new tax at the wholesale level was substituted. There is some belief that this may lead to a minor reduction in gasoline prices at the pump, but that remains to be seen, and we will only know after the bill takes effect on July 1, 2013.

Despite my opposition, the bill also transfers some monies from the General Fund that we typically use for education, health and public safety, but in lesser amounts than what the Governor proposed. This is an area that we need to revisit in the coming years, because we need to increase our funding for education and we need sufficient funds to do so.

If you are interested, the text and video of my speech given during the debate on the transportation bill can be found on my here.

I appreciate your input on this critical issue, and look forward to any further questions you may have on the initiative.

Toscano speech on Transportation Bill

February 22, 2013 by David Toscano

Ladies and gentleman of the House,

This is perhaps the most important vote that I have cast in my eight years here in this chamber.

Many of our constituents are very cynical about politics these days. You hear them all the time. Some of them simply call your office and ask that something be done and they just honestly disagree with your perspective on issues. Others, however, are so wedded to some abstract notion of political purity that unless you do it their way, they don’t want you to do it at all. If you do not conform to their vision, they will toss you out in a New York minute. This kind of attitude breeds gridlock and inaction, and helps explain many of the reasons why we cannot seem to find a way to get anything done in Washington D.C. Our democracy cannot operate that way. Our founding fathers created checks and balances and revered the notion of arguing on principle, and then compromising to get things done. Like the gentleman from Fairfax, I am here to get things done. That is why I choose to support this bill.

Early in the session, a number of us articulated six principles that we thought should underpin a sound transportation plan. Indulge me a minute to discuss how this plan stacks up against those six principles.

We argued that the plan should raise in excess of 1 billion dollars per year, something which our business communities have said we need to keep the Commonwealth competitive. The plan before us, when the statewide component is coupled with the regional plans, raises between 1.4 and 1.5 billion dollars per year.

We took the position that any transportation funding should not be based on phantom money that may or may not derive from actions taken in congress. We were concerned about the provisions in the Governor’s bill which relied on the passage of the Marketplace Equity Act to fund almost a third of his package. We felt that we could end up passing a bill which appears to raise more money than it actually would. That is why the Marketplace Equity Act trigger that is found in the conference report is so appealing to many of us on this side of the aisle. With the triggers, we provide options for what happens if the act is never passed. Moreover, some small changes in how the sales tax will be calculated ensures that some monies from the Marketplace Equity Act will go for education, another attraction for us in this package.

We initially took the position that there should be no diversion of monies to transportation that would otherwise go for education, health, and public safety. This diversion of the General Fund is the most troubling part of this bill, and has given many of us pause about supporting it. Nonetheless, the diversion is actually far less than what the governor originally proposed and is ameliorated somewhat by designations of monies coming from the Marketplace Equity Act for educational spending.

We took the position that a plan should not just simply fund maintenance, but also construction, rail, and transit. This bill provides substantial maintenance money not just for Northern Virginia and Hampton Roads, but throughout the Commonwealth. Closing the maintenance shortfall allows construction dollars to flow through the funding formula that benefits all of the Commonwealth, not just the urban crescent, and will provide secondary road funds to localities, many of which have not received them for years. Beyond that, this bill establishes a dedicated revenue source for inter-city passenger rail, something that should be extremely attractive to those of our members who live in the Norfolk, Richmond, and Roanoke areas. For years, we have sought a dedicated source for inter-city passenger rail and it is here in this bill. Urban areas should also like this bill because of the increased funding for transit. And the construction dollars will create substantial numbers of jobs. For every 1 billion dollars of investment in the construction industry, 35,000 jobs are created.

We wanted the transportation funds to flow immediately into our communities rather than having to wait five years for them to arrive. That has been addressed in this bill. There is an immediate transfer of monies for transportation and a growing source of revenue over the next five years.

Finally, we sought flexibility for regions of the Commonwealth who wanted to raise their own money and keep it for the funding of critical projects in their areas. These are the Northern Virginia and Hampton Roads packages that many of us have been discussing for weeks. These packages are extremely important not just for the regions but for the Commonwealth as a whole. Several minutes ago, the gentleman from Fairfax stated, in referring to his support for the regional packages, “let me solve my problem.” I maintain that the regional packages do not simply help him solve his problem, but helps all of us solve the Commonwealth’s problem. The economic vitality of Northern Virginia and Hampton Roads is critically important to the economic success of the state. About 34 cents of every dollar raised in sales tax in the Commonwealth comes from Northern Virginia. Those monies flow into Richmond and are distributed throughout the state, including school divisions in poorer parts of the Commonwealth. The ports of Hampton Roads are increasingly significant generators of economic activity. If you cannot get your goods to and from the port, you will lose out substantially in your ability to complete economically, both nationally and internationally. As Northern Virginia and Hampton Roads increase their economic activity, the benefits will flow throughout the Commonwealth. But we need these investments to make that happen.

There are things that we do not like in this bill. I do not like some of the funding sources and have never supported reducing the gas tax. But remember what was in the Governor’s bill. In that bill, the gas tax was eliminated and a massive sales tax was substituted in its place. This would have hurt the poorest of our citizens, many of whom don’t even drive automobiles. The gas tax has been partially restored in this bill and the sales tax reduced substantially. In addition, I did not like the tax on hybrid vehicles. I do not believe that we should be penalizing those who purchase vehicles in order to save fuel and reduce emissions. That does not raise a substantial amount of money and I hope it will be removed either by the Governor or in the next session. And, of course, we opposed the General Fund diversion.

Does this bill solve every problem that we have in transportation? No. Does it provide the solution for the next generation? No. But it is a step forward, and it is likely to be the last chance we have for the foreseeable future. It is the best shot we have in the near term. And it is a shot that our constituents want us to take.

Ladies and Gentleman,

There are many fingerprints on this bill. From the conferees, to the gentlewoman from Fairfax, to the various people who worked on the Northern Virginia and Hampton Roads packages, their impacts have all been felt.

This is no longer the Governor’s bill. With all due respect Mr. Speaker, this is no longer the Speaker’s bill. With this vote, it is now our bill. And it rises and falls based on what we do today. It rises and falls with us. Here. Today. Now. I urge my colleagues to pass the bill.”

Crossover and the Fate of Transportation

February 6, 2013 by David Toscano

Yesterday was crossover, the day upon which bills introduced in one chamber of the General Assembly have to be approved and sent to the other, or they are defeated for the year. Our sessions are long and the debates intense, and many of these bills are controversial. Much of recent debate has focused on the Governor’s proposed transportation bill. This plan, which I believe does not provide enough money to solve our problems, would eliminate the gas tax and move funding of transportation to a slightly increased sales tax. The measure passed by a small margin in the House but was sent back to committee in the Senate, leaving its fate in doubt. In the aftermath of the Senate’s decision, the only way for a transportation plan to emerge will be through extensive negotiations among leadership in the House, Senate and the Governor’s office. I voted against the Governor’s transportation bill in the House, but I still have some hope that a robust plan can emerge that can address the needs we have for construction, maintenance, rail and transit. One of the reasons I opposed the Governor’s plan was that it diverted money that typically would be used to pay for education and public safety into the transportation fund. At a time where we are spending less per student now than we were in 2008, we cannot afford to reduce money for education.

Toscano press conference with House Democratic Caucus — House Democratic Caucus press conference on transportation

At the end of a nearly 12-hour, marathon session this week, House Republicans pushed through a series of resolutions designed to appeal to the most conservative elements of their base. HJ654 places the House on record as opposing Agenda 21, a so-called “radical plan” adopted by the United Nations that purportedly threatens “infringement on the American way of life…” HJ653 asserts states rights under the 10th Amendment of the US Constitution, in the light of perceived “continuing assault.” Another measure, HJ590, authorizes an $18,000 study to see whether Virginia should establish an alternative currency. Finally, HB2340 seeks to prevent the federal government from enforcing gun control laws in Virginia. At this time of year, we always see these resolutions, which have little to do with policy and everything to do with politics.

Of the 12 bills I have proposed this session, six have been passed by the House and are now before the Senate, including bills that will help people with their child support responsibilities, clarify the effective date of elective school board salary changes, allow residential care facilities to admit their former employees, and permit builders on new residential lots in Charlottesville to pay into a sidewalk fund as an alternative to paying to build an unwanted sidewalk in front of their home.

One disappointment was the failure of my proposed “Virginia Vulnerable Adults Protection Act” which was tabled last week. There is much support for the concept embodied in the bill, which was designed to provide another vehicle to return assets to elderly citizens who are financially exploited. I intend to revise the bill for next year.

As you may have read, the Uranium Mining issue is dead for this year, as no bills passed either the House or the Senate. It is difficult to predict whether a new measure will emerge next year.

Finally, today the Speaker of the House ruled that the Senate amendments to HB259 – which would have unconstitutionally redrawn Senate district lines to dramatically favor Republicans (see my statement on this issue) were not germane to the original legislation, thus killing this Republican grab for power in the Senate.

The session concludes on February 23, and there are important issues still before us, such as Medicaid expansion, workplace discrimination and transportation. Stay tuned.

It is a pleasure and honor to represent you in the Virginia House of Delegates. As always, please feel free to contact me to share your thoughts and comments on legislation that will be before us so I may better serve you in Richmond.

Sincerely,

David

Transportation

Medicaid Expansion

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