David’s appeared on “Inside Scoop” to talk about Virginia politics and the 2013 General Assembly session. Complete video is available on YouTube.
A Bright Future for Virginia
Toscano’s HB1686 (2011) Clears Path for SCC’s Approval of Pilot Solar Energy Generation Project
Charlottesville, VA
Responding to a 2011 Bill introduced by Delegate David Toscano, the State Corporation Commission on Wednesday approved Dominion Virginia Power’s request to initiate pilot solar-energy generation projects in the Commonwealth of Virginia. Dominion proposes to construct up to 30 MW of solar distributed generation facilities, using approximately 30 – 50 installations that would be owned by Dominion but be placed on leased commercial, industrial and community locations, such as rooftops.
Cale Jaffe, an attorney with the Southern Environmental Law Center, said that without the efforts of Delegate Toscano this project would not have been possible. “This is an essential first step towards the beginning of a solar energy boom in Virginia, and his bill was a key to the SCC approval”.
HB 1686, passed in the 2011 session, directed the SCC to consider for approval utility petitions for distributed solar energy generation facilities. Delegate Toscano, the patron of HB 1686 and the Democratic Leader in the Virginia House of Delegates, expressed pleasure at the SCC action.
“This effort shows that great things can be accomplished when environmental groups and utilities work together; this project could lead to a dramatic expansion of solar-energy generation in Virginia”
According to Dominion Virginia Power, the demonstration project should provide enough electricity to power about 6000 homes during peak daylight hours, and is estimated to add less than 20 cents to a typical residential electric bill. The initial phase of the project is expected by the end of 2013.
Thoughts on the 2012 Election
November 6, 2012 showed again that the United States is truly an exceptional nation. Every four years, we participate in a process to select our President and determine the direction of the country. Although our elections are not perfect, and while many have recently sought to limit the franchise and make voting more difficult, we still find a way to engage millions of people in a democratic process designed to determine which ideas win out. At the end of the process, thoughtful leaders always make some effort to pull the country together and make a peaceful transition to the next four years of leadership. Mitt Romney’s comments on the morning of November 7, 2012 show again how our system works best. Gracious in defeat, he embraced the best tradition of this country in congratulating the President and wishing him well.
Beyond the renewal of our democratic system, what can we learn from this election? I offer the following winners and losers:
Virginia won
In addition to the importance of Tim Kaine’s victory and President Obama’s win, the election again shows that the demographics of the Commonwealth are changing rapidly, with the result that Virginia is now a reliably purple state and likely to continue to be a swing state in the presidential elections for years to come. While we decry all of the TV ads, our importance as a state means more exposure for us and much more emphasis on our politics and our leaders. And much more influence in the federal arena.
Diversity won
The key to the Obama victory was mobilizing a very diverse political coalition. African-Americans, a group which cast over 90 percent of its vote for the President, were key – but so too were Latinos, who increased their vote 10 percent nationally, and increased their support for the President from 67 percent to 71 percent of their votes cast. In Virginia, Asian-Americans cast 64 percent of their vote for the President.
Women won
Obama’s performance with women increased from 2008, largely because of policies embraced by the Republicans and insensitive statements from their candidates. There is little doubt that Tim Kaine benefited from the ultrasound legislation and social overreach of the Republicans in the Virginia General Assembly. And we all know what happened to the Republican candidates, Akin in Missouri and Mourdock in Indiana, both of whom angered their electorates with their outrageous comments about rape and lost as a result.
Science won
Data-driven politics is stronger than ever. Many of the most conservative Republicans tried to deny the science of polling just like they have denied the science of climate change. This election proved them wrong on the polls; not only were they not skewed to favor Democrats, but many were remarkably predictive of the final results. New York Times poll analyst Nate Silver, who felt the ire of conservative Republicans, was so good that he predicted the presidential winner in all 50 states. Science won big on November 6, 2012.
Secret Super PAC money lost
Virginians are more sophisticated in rejecting the misleading and negative ads fueled by out-of-state secret super PAC money. The Kaine race saw more of this money spent to tear down our former Governor, and saw it earlier than ever before. But Karl Rove and the Koch brothers failed, and we now have two Democratic Senators in Virginia.
With the election over, I turn my attention to the legislative session beginning in January. I am now assembling my legislative package, which will likely include another effort to enact nonpartisan redistricting, a bill to reduce financial exploitation of the elderly, and measures to improve governance at the University of Virginia. As always, I appreciate your input and need your help; it is an honor to represent you in the Virginia General Assembly.
Please feel free to contact me at 434-220-1660 or by email at david@davidtoscano.com.
Congratulations to Barack Obama and Tim Kaine
Tuesday was big. President Obama captured Virginia again, on his way to reelection, and Tim Kaine won the battle of former Governors to become our junior Senator. Our country and the Commonwealth face big challenges – continuing the economic recovery, supporting our schools, ensuring a safety net and dealing with climate change, as examples – for which we need the vision and abilities of these two men.
Electing President Obama and Senator Kaine, especially with the millions spent in Virginia by Karl Rove’s American Crossroads and other Super PACs on harsh, misleading attack ads, took a lot of work. I have never seen so many citizens of the Commonwealth putting so much of their time into an election – a reflection of the abilities of our candidates and the stark choice that confronted voters. Thank all of you who worked so hard this fall.
Unfortunately we were not able to elect Brigadier General John Douglass to represent us in Congress. He ran a vigorous, issue-oriented campaign, but was unable to overcome the demographics of a district stretching from Danville to Warrenton, gerrymandered to protect the Republican incumbent. But General Douglass did a great job and laid the groundwork for future Democratic success in the 5th district, and we all owe him a debt of gratitude. Thank you, John.
Virginia is on its way to becoming a reliably Blue state (to see election results for your precinct visit the Virginia Board of Elections website). The work we did this year will pay off in 2013: we will reclaim the Governor’s mansion and begin to take back the House of Delegates.
Healthcare Choices Now Facing Virginia
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
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