• Constituent Toolbox
    • Voter Information
    • General Assembly Resources
    • Legislation
    • State Agency Directory
    • Local Services
  • Press Releases
  • Contact

David Toscano

Virginia House of Delegates 57th District

  • Home
  • About David
  • General Assembly Updates
    • 2019 General Assembly Session
    • 2018 General Assembly Session
    • 2017 General Assembly Session
    • 2016 General Assembly Session
    • 2015 General Assembly Session
    • 2014 General Assembly Session
    • 2013 General Assembly Session
    • 2012 General Assembly Session
    • 2011 General Assembly Session
  • Sticking Together

Senate Goes To Richmond, But No Budget Vote

May 23, 2018 David Toscano

I was planning to be driving to Richmond this morning for the next House floor session to pass a two-year budget for the Commonwealth of Virginia.  Instead, I am writing about what didn’t happen yesterday in the Senate. For at least another week, Virginia will remain without a budget.

This impasse reminds me of my first session in 2006 when Republicans in the House and Senate deadlocked on a budget until June 28, the very last minute before the end of the fiscal year. That year, the prospects of a government shutdown were real; now, we have a different dynamic. The 2019-2020 budget legislation has been bottled up by the Senate’s Republican leadership, which is preventing it from getting to the Senate floor.

Here are critical things that you need to know:

  • The House of Delegates passed our original proposed budget back in late February.  It included robust investments in K-12 education, teacher and state employee raises, increased money for mental health, and Medicaid Expansion to assist between 300,000 – 400,000 Virginians obtain access to health insurance.  Under this bipartisan budget (supported by 49 Democrats and 19 Republicans), Virginia would gain access to approximately $400 million in federal monies to fund Medicaid expansion and provide the services which our citizens desire and deserve.
  • The Senate and House were deadlocked at the end of the General Assembly Session because the Senate budget was not as robust as the House budget, primarily because Senate leadership objected to Medicaid expansion.
  • The House returned in April when Governor Northam called us into special session, and, on April 17, passed another robust budget that went to the Senate for action.
  • Since that time, Senate Republican leaders, especially those who sit on the Senate Finance Committee, have prevented a budget from getting to the Senate floor.
  • Two Republican Senators, Emmett Hanger of Augusta and Frank Wagner of Virginia Beach, have stated their desire to pass a budget with Medicaid Expansion, but their efforts have been rebuffed by Senate leadership.
  • Senator Hanger recently proposed a series of amendments to the House budget that actually improve it. These include: larger pay increases for public employees, including a 3 percent raise for teachers, depending on next year’s revenues; more money in the Rainy-Day Reserve Fund, thereby enhancing our Triple-A Bond Rating; increased spending for community mental health services; increased lottery revenues going directly to school divisions; more monies for the Virginia Preschool Initiative; and increased funding for economic development and job creation initiatives.
  • The House budget, with the amendments proposed by Senator Hanger, is perhaps the best budget that I have seen in my time at the General Assembly.  If the budget comes to the House with these good amendments, I will enthusiastically support it.
  • The only reason that the Senate’s Republican leadership is rejecting the budget and its amendments is because they do not support the expansion of Medicaid.
  • Under expansion, the federal government picks up more than 90 cents of every dollar that is spent on the expansion population and replaces money for indigent care and mental health care services that Virginia has been supporting with state funds. This gives us much greater flexibility in how we use state dollars to assist our citizens.

It is tremendously disappointing that Senate Republican leaders continue to prevent passage of a budget that our localities need to plan for their next fiscal year, especially when it provides additional funding for education, mental health, and to insure so many of our friends and neighbors.  At this point, the Senate is scheduled to meet next Tuesday and Wednesday, after which the House will hopefully be called back into session next week to vote on a budget. If the Senate Finance Committee does not send a budget to the Senate floor, there are various procedural maneuvers that can be taken to force a budget onto the Senate floor for consideration. House Democrats are looking forward to the end of a five-year struggle to enact Medicaid expansion, and to bringing our federal tax dollars back to Virginia to help those in need and to help us fund other budgetary priorities.

Share

General Assembly 2018 K-12 Education funding, Medicaid expansion, Mental Health Policy, State Employee Compensation, Virginia budget

Constituent Survey 2018

Take the Survey - Delegate David Toscano's constituent survey
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • YouTube
  • Email list

Search

Press Releases

Toscano Calls on Northam to Resign

February 2, 2019

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.

# # #

Share

Healthcare Insurance 2018

Contact Info for Sen. Warner, Sen. Kaine, Rep. Garrett, & Optima Health

December 7, 2017 By David Toscano

As you know, the only ACA-compliant health care insurance policies available in the Charlottesville/Albemarle area for 2018 are offered by Optima Health. Optima has personal plan advisors, who can be reached by calling 1-866-659-0892. Though Optima cannot guarantee a particular outcome, they will do all they can to assist constituents. According to Optima’s experience, roughly 70% of the people who use the ACA Marketplace are eligible for some form of subsidy, and the advisors can help callers check to be sure whether or not they qualify. [Read More…]

Share

General Assembly Updates 2011-18

  • General Assembly 2018
  • General Assembly 2017
  • General Assembly 2016
  • General Assembly 2015
  • General Assembly 2014
  • General Assembly 2013
  • General Assembly 2012
  • General Assembly 2011

Topics

2016 presidential election 2017 Virginia election ABC law enforcement procedures Adoption Affordable Care Act - Virginia Anti-Discrimination Charlottesville and Albemarle County Charlottesville sidewalk funding program Climate Change Coal Tax Credits Death Penalty DNA Database Expansion Domestic Violence Educational reform Equal Rights Amendment Ethics reform Financial exploitation of elderly Foster Care Gun Safety Immigration Job Creation Judicial Appointments K-12 Education funding Legislative Redistricting Medicaid expansion Mental Health Policy Pre-K Education Funding Religious Freedom Renewable Energy Reproductive Choice Right to Work Same-Sex Marriage Senator Creigh Deeds Sexual Assault Policy Special Session Standards of Learning State Employee Compensation University of Virginia Virginia budget Virginia General Assembly Process Virginia Health Insurance Marketplace Virginia Higher Education Funding Virginia Retirement System funding Virginia transportation Voting Access

Search

District Office

211 E. High Street
Charlottesville, VA 22902
Phone: 434-220-1660
Fax: 434-220-1677
david@davidtoscano.com

Richmond Office

Pocahontas Bldg
900 E. Main Street
Richmond, VA 23219
Room E210
Phone: 804-698-1057
Fax: 804-786-6310
DelDToscano@house.virginia.gov

Not paid for at taxpayer expense
Authorized by David Toscano
© Copyright 2005-17 · DavidToscano.com · All Rights Reserved ·