General Assembly Updates 2012

Supreme Court decision on healthcare means new challenges for Virginia
August 6, 2012

While most Americans concerned about healthcare have been focused on the Supreme Court and the U.S. Congress, there are critical decisions that need to be made by Virginia in the aftermath of the Supreme Court’s decision to uphold the federal law. First, Virginia needs to decide whether we wish to create a marketplace for choice and competition in the healthcare plan arena. The federal law uses the term “health care exchange”, but a better phrase is the “Virginia Health Care Marketplace”. Second, we need to decide whether to extend coverage to more Virginians under the Medicaid program, primarily using federal dollars to do so. While these decisions are not easy, we should focus on them now, and not wait, as Governor McDonnell wants to do.

State insurance exchanges originated as a Republican idea to offer a menu of private insurance plans from which small businesses and individuals could choose. Under this approach, Virginians would be able to choose a plan of private insurance that is right for them. The exchanges would be designed to facilitate competition among private insurers and allow Virginians to compare the prices and products offered by those insurance companies.

Under the federal law, the exchanges can either be established by each individual state, or they can be imposed by the federal government. As of June 5, 2012, ten states and the District of Columbia had enacted legislation to establish state-based health insurance exchanges. Our Governor has dragged his feet, perhaps fearing that accepting any federal dollars to do health care reform will make him appear weak in the eyes of conservatives. But his failure to act leaves Virginians with fewer choices and creates the possibility that whatever exchange eventually develops will be controlled by Washington rather than Richmond. If you like competition and choice, you should advocate for the Virginia Healthcare Marketplace, and encourage the Governor to call a special session so that the marketplace can be established and controlled by Virginians.

The second issue facing the Commonwealth is whether we wish to extend Medicaid to almost 250,000 low and moderate income persons that do not presently qualify. While Medicaid is a healthcare program operated by the state, one-half of its funding comes as reimbursement from the federal government. Under the new federal law, for the first 3 years, the federal government will reimburse the state 100% of the cost of the proposed Medicaid expansion; after that, the percentage will gradually decline so that 10 years from now only 90% of the cost will be reimbursed. The 57th District includes 80,778 residents, 13% of which already receive Medicaid benefits. Of those beneficiaries, 58% are children, 4% are pregnant mothers, and 21% are elderly, blind, or disabled. States have the option of expanding their Medicaid program to all individuals with incomes up to 133% of the federal poverty level (present poverty threshold for a family of four is $23,050). According to the Kaiser Family Foundation, choosing this option will allow 245,840 uninsured Virginians to receive Medicaid coverage. This will help low income Virginians and likely reduce costs for large hospitals like U.Va., which presently “write off” many costs for indigent care. Those “write offs” show up as extra costs, either to the state, which provides hospitals with some reimbursement for indigent care, or in increasing premiums for those who already have health insurance.

It is projected that Virginia Medicaid spending would increase 1.8% from 2014 to 2019 if we extend coverage to more Virginians. The Governor’s Virginia Health Reform Initiative Advisory Council estimated that uncompensated costs for the uninsured presently amounts to $1.65 billion per year; the council found that the Medicaid expansion could reduce these costs by about half. Of the 50 states, Virginia’s Medicaid program ranks 48th in the country in per capita benefits, primarily because the eligibility thresholds exclude most working-age adults from coverage. Beyond that, our Medicaid reimbursement rates for hospitals and doctors are among the worst in the country and are seemingly cut every year. While it is true that Medicaid expenditures consume an increasing percentage of the state budget, and certain reforms are necessary to get some of the costs under control, the issue of whether to take federal monies to assist thousands of Virginians with healthcare costs is a debate that we need to be having – and having now.

As always, it is an honor to represent you in the General Assembly. I encourage you to let me know your thoughts and concerns about how we are doing as a Commonwealth.

Sincerely,

David

Conservatives bend to the will of special interest group; Governor loses on amendments with bipartisan majorities
May 21, 2012

The conservative right-wing attack-machine has been in full mode in the General Assembly session since January. Most of their efforts had been focused on attacking women’s reproductive rights and expanding the ability of citizens to carry guns into more public places, from public parking lots to airports. But the low-point came on May 15, 2012 at 1:00 a.m., when the Republicans denied the appointment of a highly qualified prosecutor to the General District Court judgeship for the City of Richmond. Tracy Thorne-Begland, a Navy veteran and hard-nosed prosecutor in the Richmond Commonwealth’s Attorney office, was denied appointment simply because he was gay, and was willing to say so.

The Thorne-Begland application has an interesting history. He was thoroughly vetted and approved through a rigorous process by the House Courts of Justice Committee, including its Judicial Subcommittee, which is controlled by conservative Republicans. He was certified by both of those committees to be a judge and was listed among the nominees that were submitted to the full House of Delegates. At the eleventh hour, however, the Virginia Family Foundation, a group with substantial influence in the General Assembly and which pursues a vigorous anti-gay and anti-women’s rights agenda, issued a statement calling on delegates to deny the appointment. Most Republican delegates fell in line and decided to deny the appointment. To their credit, however, several Republican attorneys who sit on the House Courts of Justice Committee and had previously voted for Thorne-Begland, stood on principle to support the application. But most others simply reversed their original approval, falling prey to the pressure of the conservative interest group. Others left their seat rather than have a vote recorded, and still others abstained. Even Gov. McDonnell was unwilling to clearly support Thorne-Begland’s appointment. This was simply one of the more disappointing votes that I have seen in my seven years in the House of Delegates.

Earlier in the day, we also considered an unprecedented number of Governor’s recommendations to change the budget, many of which were rejected by lopsided bipartisan majorities. The Governor appears to have been spending too much time running for Vice President and not enough time working with legislators of both parties to develop coalitions to pass his agenda. Many of the recommendations that he made were either sloppily drafted or made no financial sense, and these were summarily rejected by both parties. Among those rejected were the Governor’s proposals that would have made it more difficult for state employees, including university faculty and staff, to receive bonuses in the event that the state generated a surplus in the next year. This will help many in our area receive some additional compensation to make up for years of lack of raises.

I was pleased to support a successful effort that will increase funding for a life science initiative that will help the University of Virginia and our region continue efforts to become a biotechnology hub in the Commonwealth. You can see some of my comments on that item below.

I will continue to press for greater investments in our research institutions and the commercialization of ideas that create good jobs for our local economy.

As always, it is an honor to represent you in the General Assembly. I encourage you to let me know your thoughts and concerns about how we are doing as a Commonwealth. Sincerely, David

Special Session on Budget ended with $85 billion two year spending plan, but no plan for transportation
April 23, 2012

After a series of last-minute machinations, the General Assembly approved a two-year budget on April 18, 2012. The $85 billion, two-year budget took an additional 39 days to approve and ended speculation about a possible state government shutdown.

Most observers, myself included, never believed that we would come close to a shutdown and viewed this as a specter raised largely by Republicans to avoid discussing the real issues in the budget: education, adequate funding for the social safety net, and transportation.

When Governor McDonnell’s budget was initially proposed in December, it shortchanged K-12 education, the social safety net, and transportation. Albemarle and Charlottesville City schools would have faced serious shortfalls in their funding, and those most vulnerable would have been affected by draconian cuts in the McDonnell budget. The Governor’s only plan for transportation was to take monies from public education, mental health and public safety. This was unacceptable. Largely because of Democratic efforts, the initial House budget passed in March was far superior to the one proposed by McDonnell. Nonetheless, it was still inadequate and was, therefore, rejected by the Senate. You can view my comments on the initial House budget during floor debate here.

After a series of negotiations, monies diverted from education, mental health, and public safety to fund transportation were restored to the budget. Additional monies were also found for what is called “cost-to-compete” in Northern Virginia localities, which would allow them to recruit and retain teachers and other critical public employees.

Senate Democrats continued to exert pressure for transportation funding for projects in Hampton Roads and Northern Virginia. The Governor agreed to provide an additional $100 million to delay tolls on various tunnel and bridge projects for two years. The Governor, however, was not willing to advance additional monies for the Dulles rail project, where tolls are even higher. This prompted Democrats in the Senate to initially reject the new budget. The votes were tied until Senator Chuck Colgan, a Democrat from Prince William County, decided to vote with the Republicans in order to obtain a budget.

You can view my comments on the budget conference report proposal here.

During the debate in the Senate, the Route 29 bypass was mentioned several times, though there was no serious effort to move money from that project to the Dulles rail project. I had initially proposed taking some money from a project in Suffolk to fund Dulles rail, but the Route 29 bypass was never discussed in any of the House debates.

Democratic advocacy in the House made the final budget much better than the one proposed in January. We were able to secure substantially more money for K-12 education, a fact that will greatly help schools in Charlottesville and Albemarle. We secured an additional $45 million to provide the service and care to those who are unable to care for themselves through no fault of their own.

Democrats also succeeded in creating an Advanced Manufacturing Fund so that more jobs, especially in economically disadvantaged regions of the state, could be created. Funding for the Commonwealth Research and Commercialization Fund was restored. We successfully argued for the capitalization of Virginia Housing Trust Fund, and to close the so-called “Amazon Tax Loophole” (see my statement on the Amazon issue here).

The Governor still has an opportunity to modify the budget, which we will consider again in early May. With the exception of that meeting, our legislative sessions are now completed for the year. I will now be devoting my time to constituent service for this district, and will continue my role as House Democratic Leader.

Your support has been important to me throughout this year where the demands of my time have been even greater in this new leadership role. I am honored to represent you and appreciate your input and support.

Sincerely,

David

Regular Session Adjourned but Special Session on Budget convened
March 12, 2012

The General Assembly adjourned at 9:28 p.m. on Saturday, March 10, 2012 without a budget. We simply ran out of time. We immediately convened a Special Session to address the budget, which will hopefully occur within the next month. This is the fourth time since 2001 when the General Assembly has not been able to reach agreement on a budget before the session ended. In my first session (2006), we went 100 days into overtime before we passed a budget.

Fortunately, both sides appear close enough that a budget can emerge soon. If you recall from my previous posts, Governor McDonnell’s budget made cuts in the social safety net and shortchanged education. While we were able to argue successfully to restore some of the cuts and to enhance funding for education, the House budget was still inadequate and therefore I could not support it.

Senate Democrats have also argued for additional monies for the social safety net and education. Virginia per pupil spending has been declining in recent years and now is on par with 2007 levels. Teacher salaries have also not kept pace with the national average. In addition, our system of higher education, while likely to receive an increase in this year’s budget, has been neglected for the last decade. Many observers believe that we face substantial budgetary challenges in the coming years and may not be able to maintain our priorities without an influx of revenue.

As the clock wound down for end of session, we considered two initiatives that the Governor had been promoting. The first was his transportation bill, which would have diverted money away from schools to transportation. The Governor’s proposal was soundly rejected, and the resulting bill had little left in it. Transportation funding will remain a challenge for us to address. The second was a major overhaul of VRS, which was presented to us at the last minute. House Democrats objected to voting on a bill so quickly and without the benefit of public input, but the measure was passed nonetheless. I will have a future post on this, and will continue to advocate for positive changes in the bill to protect employees between now and the veto session in April.

In the end, this session is likely to be remembered for the socially divisive bills forced through by conservative Republicans. These bills deflected our attention from critical issues like adequately funding our public schools, creating jobs, and solving our transportation challenges. While the Governor is already claiming several “successes”, they pale by comparison to the challenges that we continue to face in the Commonwealth.

Sincerely,

David

 

The need for a better budget
March 7, 2012

Much of the focus this General Assembly session has been on the socially divisive legislation that has been pushed by conservatives in the House of Delegates. However, the most important piece of legislation that we consider each biennium is the budget. Since Governor McDonnell introduced his flawed budget proposal in December, which would have short changed our educational system substantially while shredding the social safety net, many of us in the House have been advocating for a reallocation of priorities and spending that will enhance education, encourage job creation and protect those most vulnerable.

In the House, Democrats have been more successful than we initially thought, but the budget that emerged was still deficient in many respects. When the House budget went to the Senate, Senate Democrats rejected it and indicated that it required substantial reform before it could be passed. In an attempt to increase pressure on the Senate Democrats, the House Republicans forced through another budget last week that was almost exactly the same form as the one passed previously. I took the floor to analogize the process to the movie starring Bill Murray titled “Ground Hog Day.” In the movie, Murray portrays a weatherman who goes to bed each night only to awake the next morning as if it was the previous day. He goes through the same experiences day after day. Eventually, he learns that he must change his behavior in order to escape from reliving the same day. Last week was an experience in “Ground Hog Day” in the House of Delegates. We received the same budget, had the same debate, and had the same result as we did one week earlier. As I inquired of my colleagues on the other side of the aisle, why would the Senate approve the same budget that they had simply rejected last week? I suspect we will see the same outcome from the Senate and be no closer to having a budget than we were a week ago.

In other news, we won a great victory for tax fairness and for main street retailers with the passage of SB597, a measure designed to have Amazon collect and remit sales taxes from internet purchases in Virginia. You may recall my statements on this issue after the Governor announced a deal with Amazon last fall. The bill has now passed and was sent to the Governor. This will level the playing field for local retailers and provide some additional revenue to help fund schools, public safety, and human services.

I have also been pushing a bill that will allow us to evaluate tax preferences, many of which go to the largest corporations in Virginia, and which transfer billions of dollars that might otherwise be used to fund education and other core services through a process that is often not evaluated. This is not to say that some tax credits are not beneficial to the economy or assist in support of useful social policy. The Earned Income Tax Credit, for example, helps low and moderate income persons by allowing taxpayers to recover monies that they have already paid in taxes. The Land Preservation Tax Credit preserves thousands of acres of land in Virginia for future generations. Nonetheless, all tax credits should be subject to periodic evaluation to see whether they work for their intended purpose. As you are aware, I have been critical of the  coal tax credit and believe that a full discussion of the value of that credit is justified.

My bill to assist Habitat for Humanity in negotiating of a land swap with the Department of Conservation and Recreation (DCR) for land in the Biscuit Run Park has passed the Senate and hopefully will be signed by the Governor. HB1113 will permit Habitat to begin negotiations on a land exchange that will help the county and the region develop more recreation facilities south of the city and assist Habitat in the redevelopment of the Southwood Trailer Park.

We are scheduled to adjourn on March 10, 2012, but the budget negotiations could go on for awhile, so I will keep you informed of further developments.

Sincerely,

David

P.S. For those interested in my statement on the arrests of protesters on Capitol grounds, you can view the clip here.