Toscano Issues Statement on ACA Repeal

May 4, 2017 by Jane Dittmar

Virginia House of Delegates Democratic Leader Reacts to ACA Repeal

CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA (May 4, 2017 4:45 PM) – David J. Toscano (D-57), Democratic Leader of the Virginia House of Delegates, today issued the following statement:

In 2009, then-ranking U.S. House Budget Committee Republican Congressman Paul Ryan, in speaking against passage of the Affordable Care Act, stated, ‘I don’t think we should pass bills that we haven’t read and we don’t know what they cost.’ Today, Republicans in the House of Representatives, led by Speaker Paul Ryan, did just that. They passed their latest Obamacare repeal, which many have not read and have no idea of its impact, thereby bringing them one step closer to stripping up to 24 million Americans of insurance coverage.

This bill threatens Americans with pre-existing conditions, will eliminate millions from Medicaid, will boost costs for the poorest Americans and for our hospitals, and will dramatically increase pressures on Virginia’s budget.

My Republican colleagues in the House of Delegates have consistently argued for repeal; they will now need to explain to their constituents why they stood silent in the face of a measure that will hurt so many and cost so much.”

-David J. Toscano is the Democratic Leader in the Virginia House of Delegates

Order now from Hamilton Books.
Also available in paperback and ebook at: Amazon and Barnes and Noble and local independents such as New Dominion Bookstore.

Order now from 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.

# # #