Immigration – Page 3

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…]

Democrats Sustain the Governor’s Vetoes

April 22, 2016 by David Toscano

General Assembly Retains Focus on Building New Virginia Economy

In Governor McAuliffe’s State of the Commonwealth address in January, 2016, he made clear his priorities for the upcoming General Assembly session. He argued that our focus should be on building a new Virginia economy that is diversified and robust, and investing in education at all levels to encourage creativity and innovation. He also stated that if Republicans in the House or Senate sent him legislation that was socially divisive or that threatened workers’ rights, women’s ability to control their reproductive health choices, discriminatory measures, or bills that transfer public investments from public schools to private entities, he would veto the bills.

The Governor kept his promises. He proposed a budget that included major new investments in ports, airports, and economic incentives. He proposed almost a billion dollars in additional funding for K-12 education, and substantial new investments in higher education. He supported the initiative of private business leaders called “Go Virginia.” During the General Assembly session, both the House and the Senate adopted most of the Governor’s proposals, and even increased funding for others. That was a wonderful example of finding common ground for the benefit of the Commonwealth.

Along the way, however, Republicans passed, as they have done in recent years, a series of measures that would undermine the rights of Virginia citizens. In response, Gov. McAuliffe vetoed 32 pieces of legislation coming out of this session.

During our Reconvene session of Wednesday, April 20, 2016, Democrats sustained every one of the Governor’s vetoes. Among the vetoes that were sustained (this means that the bills will not become law), are measures that would:

Defund Planned Parenthood.
Undermine efforts of the Commonwealth to produce a clean power plan.
Extend inefficient and costly tax credits to coal producers.
Deny localities the ability to contract with private companies to pay a living wage.
Allow discrimination under the guise of religious freedom.
Reverse the Governor’s executive orders to keep guns out of state administrative buildings.
Remove the discretion of sheriffs and local law enforcement in handling immigration detention requests from the federal government.
Place additional barriers on citizen’s ability to register and vote.
Limit the ability of localities to determine the status of monuments in their cities and counties.

In addition, we passed a number of the proposals made by the Governor to change legislation and include new items in the budget. These included new additional monies for bioscience support and initiatives in cybersecurity.

Our efforts to enact a Solar Tax Credit targeted to investment in Southwest Virginia failed in a party line vote, as did the proposal to build a smaller and less punitive juvenile detention center.

Finally, the Governor’s proposal to make it easier to get drugs for lethal injection was passed by the General Assembly. This proposal arose in response to a bill that would make the electric chair the default execution method in Virginia in the event that the lethal injection drugs were not available. The Governor’s proposal proved very controversial because it would keep secret the identities of companies manufacturing the lethal cocktail as well as the components of the mixture. Civil libertarians argued against the measure and this was one area where I departed from the Governor by voting against it. In my career, I have voted against any measure that would expand the death penalty or make it easier to administer. While lethal injection is perceived as less cruel than the electric chair, it is nonetheless replete with all kinds of problems, and there have been many botched attempts using these drugs for execution. Accepting the Governor’s recommendation means that the death penalty will continue to be carried out in Virginia.

Town Hall Meetings

In the next month, I will be convening several town hall meetings to discuss the General Assembly session. I am also available to speak to groups about what we did and did not do in the 2016 session. We will provide more information about times and locations.

The Francis Effect: Policy, Progress, and the Prospects for Common Ground

October 7, 2015 by David Toscano

While it may be too early to determine whether the Pope’s recent visit will have a lasting effect on how we conduct our civil lives, our politics, or even how we think about ourselves as a nation, he has certainly gotten our attention. During his visit, every news outlet was focused, not only on his every word, but on the symbolic elements or where he went or who he met. From the White House to his powerful prison visit, Americans were transfixed by his presence and his words of peace and reconciliation. Some have argued that the Pope even influenced John Boehner’s resignation as Speaker. I personally think this had more to do, as Republican Representative Peter King says, with the “crazies” taking over the GOP and a solid conservative like Boehner just seeking a way out.

But ideas still matter, and the Pope’s statements will be used to support a wide variety of policy initiatives at both the state and federal levels. When the Pope said that “we were all, at one time or another, foreigners,” and we should look at immigrants as people rather than as statistics, he is not-so-subtly suggesting that our policy in this area is flawed and requires a much more compassionate approach. His thinking in this area is very different from those who are in the ascendency in the Republican presidential sweepstakes, as well as those who control legislative bodies throughout this country, and is more consistent with the view that while unlimited and uncontrolled immigration cannot be countenanced, there should be a path to citizenship for people who come here in search of a better life and in a desire to be assimilated into this country.

At the state level, the Pope’s pronouncements will undoubtedly be used as a further justification for Medicaid expansion. While we Democratic advocates of expansion have tried to convince our Republican colleagues of expansion’s economic benefits (30,000 new jobs, returning our tax monies from Washington, D.C. to Virginia, shoring up the economic viability of our hospitals, helping balance our strained state budget), at its heart, this debate has always been fundamentally about serving those in need by providing some form of medical insurance to 400,000 Virginians who do not presently have it. Republicans have consistently taken the position that expansion would create enormous fiscal challenges for our budget, even though the federal government would initially pay for 100 percent of its cost. Early in the debate in the General Assembly 2014 session, Republicans suggested that they would have a plan of their own. We waited and waited, believing that any proposal to insure those 400,000 could be a winner, but the plan never came. Since that time, we Virginians have sent almost $2.8 billion of taxpayer monies to D.C., we have less money in our state budget as a result, and we have lost an opportunity, at least for the moment, to insure more Virginians. Perhaps the Pontiff’s words will make a difference; time will tell.

As expected, Pope Francis took direct aim at the conservative elements of our nation in his discussion on climate change. There is a certain irony in watching the leader of a church who formerly viewed science skeptically embracing the scientific consensus that disruptions in our climate are being caused largely by human activity, and that different policies are necessary to combat it. Many of us hope that the Pope’s view on this issue will be a “game changer,” but this is not likely to occur until we change the Congress and many of the legislators in state houses across the country, whose antipathy to anything supported by President Obama is without bounds.

While the policy prescriptions embedded in the Pontiff’s pronouncements are, on balance, much more favorable to the Progressive view than to the Conservative, this Pope is concerned about more than just public policy; he is also challenging us to embrace a more civil political process by which we engage each other in attempting to create a climate of hope, opportunity, and justice.

Pope Francis exudes humility and civility, two characteristics not always found in our political sphere. His prescription that “a family is like a factory of hope” and that difficulties can be overcome by discussion and compromise, suggests that, while we should not abandon strongly-held views, we should seek understanding and common ground that improves the public good. He is neither politician, nor prophet; he is a pastor, and his words and deeds during his visit have challenged us to discover better ways to develop policies in the service of others.

As always, it is a pleasure to serve the 57th District in Virginia’s House of Delegates. Please do not hesitate to contact me with any questions or comments on matters before the Commonwealth.

Sincerely,

David Toscano

Education Funding, Climate Change, & Survey Results

February 25, 2011 by David Toscano

General Assembly Update (2/25/11)

With the General Assembly session scheduled to end on Saturday, February 26, we are awaiting a final compromise budget agreed upon by the House and Senate conferees. I remain concerned about education funding for Albemarle and Charlottesville and continue to advocate for additional monies for our schools.

Climate Change

This week we debated a resolution to Congress about climate change and clean air. The majority party in the House proposed a resolution (HR 72) asking Congress to prohibit the Environmental Protection Agency from taking any further action on climate change. The resolution would have prevented the enforcement of many reasonable regulations under the Clean Air Act (CAA), in addition to climate change mitigation. The CAA has been an effective vehicle for environmental protection and has dramatically reduced noxious pollutants in the atmosphere like lead, mercury, and chemicals which cause acid rain. During the debate, I took to the floor to argue against this short-sighted measure. You can see video of some of the debate on my Facebook page. Proponents of the resolution suggested that theories about climate change are based on fraudulent data. One delegate even went so far as to say that CO2 is not a pollutant. The resolution passed by a 64-33 margin, an indication of the amount of the work that we need to do to educate people about the reality of climate change.

Survey Results

Over 1450 people participated in my 2011 Constituent Survey by mail or online and these responses guided my decision-making during this General Assembly session.

Large numbers indicated they oppose cuts in K-12 education (85%), higher education (76%), Medicaid (76%), health services other than Medicaid (70%), public safety (71%) and veterans services (76%). 66% of respondents indicated that Virginia should raise taxes to fill any budget holes. I opposed the House budget proposal which, despite increased revenue estimates from the governor, cut K-12 education by almost $50 million and cut the Medicaid provider reimbursement rate.

51% of respondents opposed redirecting part of the General Fund (GF) to fund transportation and I voted against the House’s proposal to take $150 million out of the GF to fund the governor’s Transportation Infrastructure Bank. I expect to vote for a bill that will include new monies for transportation, but this spending will not be at the expense of education. A majority also opposed the privatization of the state-run Alcoholic Beverage Control retail operation, and this bill was defeated when the Republicans in the House refused to have it taken up in committee.

Survey responses on immigration were more mixed. 49% felt that individuals should be required to show proof of U.S. citizenship before receiving state and local services; 46% opposed this and 5% had no opinion. 53% opposed requiring local and state police to attempt to verify the citizenship of all who are arrested, and 59% indicated that they support this citizenship verification only of those accused or convicted of violent crimes. While I voted for HB 1468, which would require verification of the legal presence of an applicant prior to receiving public benefits, I opposed most of this session’s anti-immigration bills, including Arizona-style bills that dramatically broaden the power of law enforcement to demand identification any time a person is stopped for an offense and a bill that would bar young persons from attending public colleges or universities if their parents are undocumented.

The full survey results are now available.

I hope to have more information to you about the budget soon.

Please feel free to contact my office any time with questions, concerns, or suggestions. My number in Richmond is (804) 698-1057 and you may reach me by email at deldtoscano@house.state.va.us. I look forward to serving you in the coming weeks.