DNA Database Expansion

Crossover and Budget

February 10, 2017 by David Toscano

We’ve hit the mid-point of session, marked by what we call “crossover,” the day that all bills from one body cross over to the other in order to be considered. Many of the most heavily-contested bills arrive on this day, leading to long hours and fierce debates.

My primary focus continues to be passing legislation to help build the New Virginia Economy. That means pushing bills that spur job creation and that provide Virginians a much-needed raise. It also means supporting investments in education at all levels. We have made progress in some areas, but not in others. [Read more…]

Trump’s Impact

February 2, 2017 by David Toscano

Trump’s Actions Affect Virginia

The new President’s chaotic first ten days in office are being felt in Virginia. First, the proposed repeal of the Affordable Care Act without a replacement would mean 400,000 Virginians would lose their insurance, and Virginia could lose 50,000 jobs. Second, the president’s announced hiring freeze will have one of its greatest impacts on Virginia, as our state has a high level of federal employment. These are bad enough, but what has set off the largest firestorm is his Executive Order last weekend, which effectively creates a Muslim ban on travel from seven majority-Muslim countries. [Read more…]

Adjournment — in a Blaze of Ethics Glory

March 4, 2015 by David Toscano

The Virginia General Assembly adjourned on Friday, February 27, 2015, at approximately 9:00 p.m. In most sessions, the last minute negotiations surround the budget. This year, it involved ethics reform. As you may have noticed from numerous news reports, Senate Republicans threatened to block any ethics bill from being passed. At the last moment, however, they relented, and we were able to pass modest ethics reform that improves the law somewhat on what had previously been in place. While this law goes farther than previous efforts, it does not tackle the critical issues related to campaign finance reform, including the role of major contributions in election campaigns. That being said, the bill lowers from $250 to $100 the value of gifts, meals, and travel that an elected official can receive from a lobbyist or a person seeking a contract with the state. It also includes any dependents living in the official’s home, such as a spouse, child, or other relative. The bill clearly could have gone farther; the Ethics Advisory Council does not have much enforcement power and there are certain exemptions to the gift ban for legislators’ travel to “widely attended” events such as conferences. I voted for the bill because it is better than our laws were two years ago, but I believe there is still much to be done.

The last days of the session saw a number of measures passed that I had proposed and strongly supported. Included in these were the expansion of the DNA database, a campus sexual assault reporting bill that protects survivors while providing increased encouragement to them to report perpetrators of these crimes, and a bill that requires notations be placed on college transcripts when students are discharged for violations of the codes of conduct. These measures were proposed as a result of The Rolling Stone article on UVa and the Hannah Graham case, and I believe that they will bring a higher level of protection for our citizens while encouraging more reporting of sexual assault on campuses.

During the final days, we also passed:

A bill to increase safety of daycare facilities (HB1570). Homes serving five or more children will require licensing. There will be national fingerprint background checks for employees, and a requirement that unlicensed providers tell parents in writing that they are not licensed or regulated by the state. This will undoubtedly increase safety in our daycare facilities.
A bill that will further professionalize the Virginia ABC operation (HB1776). ABC will now be an authority that is run more like a business and less responsive to political appointees.
A bill that extends health insurance coverage for autism treatment to about 5,000 more children (HB1940).

This session brought changes to extend mental health benefits to about 22,000 low-income Virginians, increased funding for free clinics, legislation to de-criminalize the use of oils derived from marijuana to treat severe epilepsy, and the defeat of a measure that would have shrouded Virginia’s lethal injection process in secrecy by preventing public disclosure of the drugs used in execution.

Little progress was made on common sense gun legislation; the House rejected my bill that would have allowed private gun sellers to voluntarily ask state police to conduct a background check of anyone who sought to buy firearms from them at a gun show (HB2370). Universal background checks and the return of one-gun-per-month were also defeated. At least we were able to defeat a bill that had been offered by some Republicans to put guns in schools and airports.

2015 House of Delegates Democratic Caucus — 2015 Virginia House of Delegates House Democratic Caucus – Back Row (left to right): Vivian Watts, Mark Sickles, Mark Keam, Daun Hester, Lionell Spruill, Luke Torian, Kaye Kory, Scott Surovell; Middle Row: Monty Mason, David Bulova, Eileen Filler-Corn, Alfonso Lopez, Joe Preston, Patrick Hope, Joseph Lindsey, Ken Plum, Rip Sullivan, Matthew James, Marcus Simon; Sam Rasoul, Mike Futrell; Front Row: Jeion Ward, Delores McQuinn, Betsy Carr, Roz Tyler, Jennifer McClellan, Toscano, Mamye Bacote, Kathleen Murphy, Charniele Herring, Johnny Joannou, Rob Krupicka.

We passed a bill that will allow home-schooled children to participate in public school athletics, and a bill that will allow Uber and other transportation ride-sharing services to operate in Virginia. We passed bills that will establish two new veteran care centers in the Commonwealth and to allow veterans to receive certain academic credits at community colleges for training and educational programs they completed during their military service.

For those interested in music, we passed legislation that would designate not one, but two state songs. “Our Great Virginia” will be considered the traditional state song and “Sweet Virginia Breeze” will be considered the popular state song.

The big disappointment continues to be our failure to pass Medicaid expansion.

The Governor has until March 30 to sign, veto or send amendments to legislation, including the budget. We return to Richmond for the one-day Reconvene Session on Wednesday, April 15, 2015, to address his vetoes and amendments.

Several of my floor speeches from this year’s Session can be viewed here via YouTube:

I have now returned to my law practice, but remain willing to assist you with any issue involving the Commonwealth. Please feel free to call my office at (434) 220-1660, or email me at david@davidtoscano.com with questions or concerns. It is a pleasure serving you in the General Assembly.

Sincerely,

David Toscano

Campus Sexual Assault Bills Clear General Assembly

February 27, 2015 by David Toscano

[su_row class=””][su_column size=”1/2″]FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Carmen M. Bingham
carmen@davidtoscano.com
Feb. 27, 2015[/su_column][su_column size=”1/2″]Delegate David J. Toscano
914 Capitol Street
Room 614
Richmond, VA 23218
Phone: 804.698.1057[/su_column][/su_row]

Delegate David Toscano (D-Charlottesville) announced today that bills designed to encourage greater reporting of sexual assault cleared the General Assembly late Friday, and are now on their way to Governor McAuliffe for his signature. Toscano had offered a reporting measure that was incorporated into HB1930. The legislation was designed after careful consideration with law enforcement officials, university staff, student advocacy groups, and sexual assault survivors, and encourages reporting by creating enhanced collaboration between Virginia’s colleges and universities and law enforcement.

“The passage of this legislation was among my top priorities for the 2015 legislative session,” said Toscano. “This measure, along with two other bills that expand Virginia’s DNA database and require notation on a student’s transcript, arose after tragic events in my district and the nationwide call to take a second look at how sexual assault cases are handled on college campuses. It requires all universities to engage with sexual assault agencies, that certain information be disseminated to all victims, and that reporting to law enforcement will be required if there is a danger to community safety.”

The DNA database bill was passed on February 26th, and expands Virginia’s DNA database to include specific misdemeanor crimes that are common predicators for serious felonies. Virginia already obtains DNA samples from individuals with felony convictions, so this bill only expands upon existing practice.

The transcript notation bill is designed to ensure campus sexual predators cannot easily move from one institution of higher education to another without the new college or university being advised of the student’s misconduct at a previous institution. This legislation specifically addresses the actions of Jesse Matthew, the individual charged in the death and disappearance of Hannah Graham, who had not revealed his history of sexual misconduct when he transferred between two Virginia universities.

Governor McAuliffe has until March 30th to take action on all three of these measures, and it is anticipated he will sign them into law.

General Assembly Update (Feb. 20, 2015)

February 20, 2015 by David Toscano

The 2015 General Assembly session is scheduled to adjourn on February 28, 2015. The revised budget is just about done and will likely include some raises for teachers and state employees. It is also likely to include some additional monies for higher education. These are important advances, though I would like to see additional funding for education.

The budget does not go far enough in a number of other ways, and still does not provide for the expansion of Medicaid, which could bring back hundreds of millions of our taxpayer dollars to help Virginians secure health insurance, create jobs, and strengthen our hospital systems.

A number of the major initiatives that I have worked on look likely to pass in some form. The bill to expand the DNA database, which was proposed in response to the Hannah Graham murder, has now passed the Senate in a form slightly modified from the one that was passed by the House. This means that there will be a conference committee composed of Senate and House members to reconcile the two bills for final passage. The same is true with the campus sexual assault reporting bill. I hope to be involved in the final discussions on these bills and expect them to be passed and signed by the Governor.

In the energy arena, one of the major debates focused on the bill proposed by Dominion Virginia Power to freeze electric utility rates for the next five years. This is drawing considerable controversy in the press, and much of the focus has been on the initial form of the bill, which was extremely detrimental to consumers and those of us who support greater investment in renewable energy. The bill that passed, however, is substantially different than the one that was proposed. In fact, the amended bill was not opposed by the Sierra Club, nor the League of Conservation Voters. It includes a requirement that Dominion undertake a weatherization program for low-income persons, and unprecedented initiatives to expand solar and other renewables. The bill provides some comfort to consumers as it will freeze the “base rates” of the utility for the next five years. Your utility bill may or may not change, however, as your bill also reflects the cost of fuel. If natural gas continues to decline, that decrease in price will be passed on to the consumer in the form of lower bills. If there is a spike in natural gas or other fuel sources, your bill will likely rise. But the base rate, which is determined by the cost of other operations of the utility, such as maintaining its infrastructure and repairs and replacements generated by weather events and natural disasters, will be borne solely by the utility. In the event that Dominion “over earns” after the five year period, they will have to provide a credit to consumers, or an actual reduction in base rates.

My efforts to reform the coal tax credits have not yet succeeded. Republicans in the House and Senate have not yet been convinced of the economic arguments opposing the massive taxpayer subsidies provided to the coal and utility companies. This has amounted to approximately $600 million over the last twenty years for an industry that has lost three quarters of its workforce during this period and is now mining substantially less coal. Unfortunately, some people are so “locked in” to the so called “war on coal” argument, and are willing to allow their constituents to further subsidize an industry that is failing. The better approach is to take the money and invest it in emerging industries in southwest Virginia that will create better jobs in the long run. We will continue to fight for reform.

Several of my other bills will soon pass both bodies and go to the Governor. Included in these is my bill to give property owners more flexibility in how they deal with the city’s zoning ordinance for sidewalk construction (HB 2051), a bill to eliminate paperwork for small businesses as they file their personal property tax documents with their localities (HB 2098), and a bill requiring universities to provide more information about their sponsored research programs and the degree to which these initiatives are creating more commercial activity in the Commonwealth (HB 1959).

And, for your viewing pleasure, you may be interested in a floor speech I gave this week on “millennials” and how Democrats are responding to their concerns in Richmond. You can see it here.

I am looking forward to returning to Charlottesville to spend more time with my family, resume my law practice, and serve my constituents from my local office. It is a pleasure serving you in Richmond.