It’s been a busy first full week in Richmond. Things are moving quickly and many issues have been considered.
Repealing the Affordable Care Act without Replacement will Hurt Virginians
On Monday I challenged all 100 colleagues in the House to sign a letter to be sent to our Congressional delegation asking that the Affordable Care Act not be repealed without a replacement. Republicans in Congress are poised to make a move that could take health care away from 20 million U.S. citizens and 400,000 Virginians and create an enormous problem for our budget. All Democrats serving in the House of Delegates co-signed my letter. As of Friday, none of my Republican colleagues had agreed to sign the letter. Please watch my speech and share it.
Joint Resolution Presented to Robert Vaughan
More than forty supporters of the Virginia Foundation for the Humanities (VFH) came to the General Assembly Thursday to hear us recognize Robert Vaughan, founding President of the Foundation, for his forty-three years of service. You can read the Joint Resolution here.
Update on my Bills
HB 1666 Speed monitoring systems
My bill to authorize a locality to establish a speed enforcement program utilizing an automated speed monitoring system, from recorded images of vehicles traveling at least 10 miles per over the speed limit, was defeated by a subcommittee of the House Militia, Police and Public Safety Committee on Thursday. The bill, which was supported by the City of Charlottesville and local residents, would have permitted monitoring only in residential districts, school crossing zones, and highway work zones. It was defeated because of privacy concerns related to the technology.
HB 1800 Electric utility regulation; third party power purchase agreements
I continue to push for renewable energy options. This bill will allow individual retail customers of electric energy to own or contract with others to own or operate a renewable electrical generating facility utilizing a third-party power purchase agreement, provided certain requirements are met. There are likely to be a number of bills to expand solar energy this year and I will be supporting all of them.
HB 2217 Address confidentiality program; victims of sexual violence and human trafficking
This bill was brought to me by the Attorney General; it allows victims of sexual violence and human trafficking to participate in the Address Confidentiality Program. Current law permits victims of domestic violence and stalking to apply to this program, but there are other victims of violence who would benefit and gain more protection by keeping their addresses private.
You can follow these and all other bills being considered by the 2017 General Assembly on the Legislative Information System (LIS) website. Please contact me at deldtoscano@house.virginia.gov if you wish to comment on my legislation or any other legislation before us this Session. My office number in Richmond during Session is (804) 698-1057.
