Anti-Discrimination

Crossover has Passed: the Budget Awaits

February 19, 2016 by David Toscano

With crossover behind us, the next major event will be the release of the House and Senate budgets on Sunday, with the debate to occur next Thursday. In the last several days, the House considered two controversial measures: the so-called Government Nondiscrimination Act and a bill to extend the coal tax credit for another four years.

WHEN NONDISCRIMINATION BECOMES DISCRIMINATION

Under the misnamed Government Nondiscrimination Act, the Commonwealth of Virginia would be prohibited from taking any action against any person who discriminates against another person so long as the discriminator believes that the other person is gay, transgendered, or has engaged in sex outside of marriage. Although it was presented as a cure for recent celebrated news stories, such as the two Oregon bakery owners who declined to bake a wedding cake for a gay couple, the bill is far reaching and probably unconstitutional. It nonetheless passed the House 56-41. Interestingly, a number of younger Republicans crossed the aisle to vote with every Democrat against the bill. We are seeing a generational shift in the House of Delegates, and the younger Republican members are showing more tolerance on social issues than their elders. Nonetheless, the fact that this bill passed by such a large majority, should give us all pause. It now heads to the Senate, where it faces an unpredictable future. The Governor will likely veto the bill, and given the strong “no” vote by the House, that veto would likely be sustained.

The Coal Tax Credit has been on the books since 1988, and it has cost Virginia taxpayers more than $630 million. The monies go primarily to coal mine operators and electricity generators. Since the credits were enacted, coal production has dropped precipitously and industry employment has gone from 11,000 workers to about 2,800 today. A JLARC report published five years ago indicated that the coal tax credit had outlived its initial purpose, which was to provide jobs and maintain coal production. Since then, the market has changed dramatically, and natural gas has largely replaced coal as an energy source. Some coal is still exported overseas, but prices for other fossil fuels have dropped so low that it is hard for coal, especially Virginia coal, to compete. Those of us who argued against extending the Coal Tax Credit suggested that it is inefficient to use taxpayer monies to prop up an industry that is in steep decline. When there are critical needs for public safety, education and job creation in Virginia, millions of dollars that we send to a few large companies could be better spent elsewhere. Southwest Virginia is in serious economic decline, but it would be better off if we invest monies in the region to grow educational credentials and support new businesses. The extension of the credit was passed on a 75 to 23 vote; I voted no. The Governor may veto the bill; if that happens, there will be another vote as to whether to sustain his veto.

UPDATE ON BILLS

Among the bills that failed in the first half of the session were:

An effort to end the requirement that a woman undergo a fetal ultrasound before an abortion. You may remember the controversy when that law was enacted several years ago. We tried to repeal it, which the Republicans blocked.
A measure that would prohibit abortions after twenty weeks went to Committee, but was removed from consideration for this year by Republicans who were concerned about the optics of passing such a bill.
All efforts to redesign the redistricting process.
Efforts to increase the minimum wage to the Federally-mandated level of $7.25 per hour.
My effort to prohibit discrimination in public employment on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity.
An effort to require public school restrooms and locker rooms to be restricted to males or females on the basis of their anatomical features at birth.
A bill to allow those over the age of 65 to vote absentee or early.
An effort to reduce the required gross receipts ratio for mixed-beverage restaurant licensees, calculated from the sale of food and non-alcoholic beverages consumed on premises, from 45 percent to 25 percent of total receipts.
Creation of a Casino Gambling Commission.

Items that passed the House included

The requirement that the Department of Environmental Quality seek approval from the General Assembly before creating our state’s Clean Power Plan. This will likely be vetoed by the Governor.
The gun compromise trio of bills that give greater protection to victims of domestic violence, provide for voluntary background checks at gun shows, and remove the reciprocity prohibitions that would prevent Virginians from carrying concealed across state lines.
My resolution on religious freedom and tolerance.
A repeal of the Certificate of Public Need (COPN) regulations. This bill will likely be changed substantially as it goes through the Senate.
An expansion of the definition of stalking to include circumstances after a victim notifies the stalker that the victim does not want to be contacted or followed.
My bill that will allow localities to fine motorists who have passed a stopped school bus by sending them a summons in the mail.
A bill to prohibit the tolling of highways, bridges or tunnels without approval of the General Assembly with certain exceptions in Northern Virginia and Hampton Roads.

Please remember that for all of the above passed bills, it is necessary for it to clear the other house and be signed by the Governor before they become law.

THE BUDGET AWAITS

On Sunday, both chambers will release their respective budgets and I will write to let you know what is in them.

Guns, Redistricting, Tolls and Right to Work

February 5, 2016 by David Toscano

We are now three weeks into session and “cross-over,” the term used to describe the date by which all bills must be passed by the originating chamber so they then can “cross-over” to the other chamber for consideration, is approaching. The hours are long and many of the debates are heated because we have to meet deadlines for bills to proceed. The highlights of this week include:

Gun Safety Compromise

The gun safety legislation compromise continues to be debated. Much of the criticism has come from gun safety groups who believe the Governor didn’t get enough in exchange for modifying the Attorney General’s stance on concealed weapons reciprocity agreements. Under the proposed compromise, our reciprocity agreements would remain in effect, thereby undoing Attorney General Herring’s recent position. For advocates of gun rights, a deal on reciprocity was very important, as many people who have a concealed weapons permit issued in Virginia want to retain the ability to carry concealed in adjacent states. Reversing the Attorney General’s position, then, was their number one legislative goal.

In exchange, gun safety advocates received two improvements in the law. First, a person subject to a protective order issued by a judge will no longer be able to possess, own, or transport a firearm in the Commonwealth; they will have to surrender those weapons immediately upon issuance of the order, and will face serious consequences for any failure to do so. Second, we will now have “voluntary” background checks available for private sellers at gun shows; they can ask the State Police to conduct a background check of anyone who seeks to purchase a firearm. Proponents of the measure believe that this will establish a “best practices” standard for background checks and potentially could be used to impose liability on a seller who does not adequately check the background of a person who then commits a serious crime and inflicts serious injuries on a citizen. Bills enacting the deal have not yet been completed, but will likely be considered next week. I appreciate the comments on this that I have received to date.

Redistricting Reform Blocked

House Republicans have again killed all redistricting reform. There were at least five different redistricting bills that would have improved our process, which is overly political and simply protects incumbents, but they were all killed with little debate in subcommittee. I will continue to advocate for redistricting reform because I believe it is critical for the long-term viability of our democracy.

“Right to Work” Statute

Both bodies have now passed a measure that will put the so called “right-to-work” statute on the fall ballot for possible inclusion in the Virginia Constitution. You can see the debate on this issue on YouTube. Those of us who voted against this argued that the “right-to-work” statute has been in Virginia law since 1947 and has never been seriously questioned. Since there is no pressing need, there is no reason to amend Virginia’s Constitution. Voters, of course, will have the final say on this issue in November, and I hope that citizens will vote against the constitutional amendment.

Transportation Funding

A wide variety of bills relating to how and when the Commonwealth can place tolls on certain roads was considered and passed by the Transportation Committee in the House. In our area, we do not usually think about this issue, but it has tremendous statewide implications. As many know, I-66 in Northern Virginia is among the most congested highways in the country, and its capacity could be dramatically improved with additional lanes. At present, the Commonwealth does not have sufficient monies to build these additional lanes, with the result that private capital would need to be used to build new lanes, and tolls would need to be imposed to recover the cost. If tolling was prohibited, the possibility existed that road and transit money that would otherwise flow to areas like Charlottesville and Albemarle could be diverted to Northern Virginia to pay for those transportation improvements. That would be a tragedy for our area and is one reason why I voted for the tolling bills. Under the bills, there could be no tolls imposed in places in and around Charlottesville without General Assembly approval.

My Bills

My bill to prohibit discrimination against persons because of sexual orientation and gender identity (HB913) was tabled in a House subcommittee, as well as my bill to prohibit legislators from raising campaign money during special sessions of the General Assembly (HB914). My bill to permit the Jefferson Area Board for Aging (JABA) access to Neighborhood Assistance Tax Credits (HB742) has now passed the House and is moving to the Senate. I have several bills on education that are before committee early next week as well as my “vehicle-to-grid” bill (HB1137), a measure that would allow owners of electric vehicles to sell the energy stored in their batteries back to the grid when their vehicles are not operating.

For those of you interested in seeing recent floor speeches, you can view them all on my David Toscano YouTube channel. There are floor speeches on education, Virginia’s economy, and the successes of the Obama administration.

If you want to find out some more about our session, I recently taped a broadcast that will be presented on our local access cable later this month, or you can watch it on my YouTube channel here.

2016 Legislative Agenda

January 21, 2016 by David Toscano

Bills offered by Delegate Toscano

Most of the Virginia General Assembly bills have now been filed and they include eleven of my own. I have a great package this year and they include the following:

HB899, which will allow persons over the age of 65 to vote absentee without having to provide any excuse whatsoever. This will allow greater ease of voting for senior citizens and hopefully will increase voter participation.
HB935, a bill to extend foster care services to youngsters who would otherwise “age-out” at age 18. There are many youngsters who would benefit by remaining in the foster care system for a few more years after they reach the age of 18. This bill would allow them access to a wider variety of services designed to better prepare them for adult life. Virginia has one of the highest percentages of children who age-out of foster care; many of those do not yet have the skills necessary to negotiate adult life. This bill will allow those services to be extended up to the age of 21.
HB913, which will prohibit discrimination, employment and housing on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity.
HB 915, a measure that will allow localities like Charlottesville and Albemarle which have video-monitoring systems on school buses that record violations of unlawful passing of a bus to execute a summons for a violation by mailing the summons to the vehicle owner who committed the offense. There are an increasing number of drivers who are illegally passing stopped school buses, and this will provide an additional tool to penalize those who violate the law and deter people who might otherwise consider it.
HB933 and HB936, two measures that will assist public school divisions. HB933 will keep school divisions from being penalized for taking youngsters who have been placed in their custody from out of their jurisdiction and who drop out soon after entering the division. In some instances, a student will be placed in the custody of the local Department of Social Services and come into a school division from another jurisdiction. They will then drop out almost immediately and the student is then counted against the drop-out rate for that division. This is unfair because the division has not had sufficient time and opportunity to work with the student and retain them in school.HB936 will provide flexibility for school divisions which have to address students with limited English proficiency, primarily among immigrants. The students may be perfectly competent, but because of language difficulties they fail math or English SOLs. This bill will give greater flexibility in how these youngsters are assessed.
HB914 is a measure that will prohibit political fundraising by legislators during legislative special sessions. At present, we are prevented from raising money while we are in regular session. The rationale behind that is that we are dealing with bills that affect the economic condition of groups and individuals who provide us political contributions, and acceptance of contributions one day and voting the next on a law that benefits the contributor is not proper. We do not have such a prohibition, however, during special sessions when a number of significant pieces of legislation are considered. For example, we had a long special session several years ago about transportation funding and yet we were allowed to take political campaign contributions from the very groups that would be benefiting by decisions we were making. My bill would stop this.
HB941 is a bill that would extend the scope of clean energy programs by including certain residential properties that cannot avail themselves of voluntary special lien assessment provisions that encourage the installation of rooftop solar collectors.
HR75 is a resolution that commends the Virginia Statute on Religious Freedom and condemns the statements of prominent politicians who argue that Muslims should be prohibited from entering the United States because of their religion.

You can follow these and all other bills offered before the 2016 General Assembly by visiting lis.virginia.gov. 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.