Toscano to Tour UVa Rooftop Solar Panel Installations

June 4, 2017 by Jane Dittmar

Virginia House of Delegates Democratic Leader’s Legislation Led to UVa Installations

David J. Toscano (D-57), Democratic Leader of the Virginia House of Delegates, today confirmed that he will tour UVa’s Solar Panel installations, the latest of which was celebrated at an event at UVa during a series of Earth Week observations in April.

Toscano has championed solar energy legislation in the Virginia General Assembly every year since his election in 2005.

“UVa and other higher education institutions are helping move us to a future based on renewable energy,” said Toscano. “The Commonwealth can and will be more actively involved in confronting the challenges of climate change and UVa will be essential to this effort.”

A bill sponsored by Toscano that passed the General Assembly in 2011 led to the initial solar panel installations at UVa’s Ruffner Hall and above the University Bookstore. HB 1686 offered special tariffs to facilitate customer-owned distributed solar generation. UVa used this legislation to further invest in solar panels to produce renewable energy.

Members of the press are invited to join the tour by meeting on June 6th at Clemons Library at 4PM. Parking instructions can be obtained by calling Jane Dittmar @ 434.220.1660.

Now Available from the University of Virginia Press

In a timely book, David Toscano has focused us on the path forward in this divided, polarized country—the states, where within a federal framework the laboratories of democracy can experiment with ideas and solutions. He shows us how the states can tackle a wide range of problems with perhaps more success than one-size-fits-all proposals from Washington, D.C.

– Larry Sabato, Director of the Center for Politics, University of Virginia

Toscano Statement on House and Senate Republicans’ Votes to Adjourn the Special Session

July 9, 2019

Toscano Statement on House and Senate Republicans’ Votes to Adjourn the Special Session on Gun Violence Prevention until November 18

RICHMOND –Following this afternoon’s surprise party-line votes which adjourned the Virginia General Assembly’s special session until November 18, 2019, Delegate David J. Toscano (D-57th District) released the following statement:

“House and Senate Republicans today showed Virginia that the only vote they are willing to take regarding gun violence protection is a vote to delay, delay, delay. In the face of clear support for action now, captured by multiple polls and embodied by the energetic activists who rallied at the Capitol today, they abdicated their responsibility to serve their constituents and the Commonwealth of Virginia in an appallingly cynical political move to push any votes off until after the November general election.

“I am disappointed but not surprised. Time and time again, whether it is about passing universal background checks for all gun purchases, or enacting measures that would permit a judge, after a hearing, to remove a gun from a person in a mental health crisis to prevent injury to self or others, the Republican leadership continues to stonewall and not even debate, much less pass, reasonable measures designed to reduce gun violence in the Commonwealth.”

Delegate Toscano is available today to the media for further comment.

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