David Toscano

Commentary on Virginia and U.S. Politics & Culture

David Toscano
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Why I Serve In The General Assembly

January 7, 2019 by David Toscano

The 2019 Session Is Upon Us

Since my election to the Virginia House of Delegates in 2005, my goal has always been to serve this region with honesty and integrity while pushing the progressive measures which reflect this community’s values.  For all of this time, Democrats have been in the minority in the House, with the result that many of the initiatives our region supports have not yet been adopted. Nonetheless, we have achieved some major victories, not the least of which occurred in the last session when we were able, after 5 years of trying, to pass Medicaid expansion, and provide access to health insurance to over 300,000 Virginians.  It was the most consequential vote in decades.

Working with others in the General Assembly, we have been able to raise teacher salaries, make more investments in environmental protection and mental health, and provide monies for critical investments in transportation, including roads and mass transit.  We have worked to restore and increase funding for education that was cut during the Great Recession.  And we have fought efforts to restrict the reproductive rights of women and deny the rights of our LGBTQ and immigrant communities.  As Democratic Leader for the past seven years, I was proud to help lead these fights.  Under the McAuliffe Administration, Virginia’s economy expanded and many new jobs were created.  Under the Northam Administration, growth rates have increased and we have been able to better meet the needs of all citizens in the Commonwealth.  I remain committed to the following principles and will work to see policies embodied by them passed in upcoming sessions.

Good Jobs that Honor Work, Provide Opportunity, and Build Prosperity: Virginians Need a Raise

Hardworking Virginians should be able to earn a livable wage and have a decent standard of living, including the ability to access paid time for family leave, vacations, and sickness.  Opportunity and prosperity are ensured when employees are protected at work, and have access to health care and other benefits.  Virginia families want their children and grandchildren to succeed and not be forced to move from their communities to seek a better life. To that end, we should pass laws to ensure:

  1. A concrete plan to increase the minimum wage from $7.25 per hour, lowest in the nation, to $15 per hour.
  2. Strong paid family leave policies.
  3. Contracting procedures that reward companies which provide health care and benefits to their employees while ensuring workers’ rights to a safe and secure workplace.
  4. Equal pay for equal work.
  5. Nondiscrimination in hiring and employment.
  6. Incentives to ensure that all Virginians have access to affordable and quality health care.
  7. Prohibitions against wage theft in the workplace.
  8. Better workforce training linked to good jobs in the community.
  9. Greater investments in Virginia’s Affordable Housing Trust Fund, directing these monies for local use (similar to the $1 million grant we obtained for Habitat’s Southwood initiative).

Access to Affordable and Quality Health Care

Virginians continue to experience problems with accessing health care at affordable rates.  Large numbers of Virginians remain uninsured, and in many parts of the Commonwealth insurance premiums take too large a percentage of a family’s income.  Medicaid expansion will permit a larger number of Virginians access to quality insurance, but there are other areas where reforms are necessary.  I support:

  1. Effective implementation of Medicaid expansion.
  2. Expanding health care insurance options to increase access and hold down costs.
  3. Transparency in providing information about the costs of services and prescriptions so that consumers can make educated choices.
  4. Investment in public health centers and free clinics to assist those who are unable to pay for medical procedures and prescriptions.
  5. Emphasis on preventive public health rather than expensive emergency medicine.
  6. Increasing investments to ensure that food insecurity is eliminated among Virginians.
  7. Protecting women’s reproductive rights.
  8. Lowering drug prices under Medicaid by leveraging the purchasing power of state agencies.
  9. Protecting consumers from surprise medical bills from out-of-network providers.
  10. Ensuring that persons with pre-existing conditions do not lose insurance.
  11. Enhancing the ability of our Bureau of Insurance (BOI) to rein in health insurance premium increases.

[Read more…]

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Filed Under: General Assembly 2019 Tagged With: Affordable Health Care, affordable housing, Anti-Discrimination, Education, Environmental Protection, Equal Rights Amendment, Gun Safety, Job Creation, K-12 Education funding, limiting campaign contributions, Medicaid expansion, Mental Health Policy, minimum wage, Pre-K Education Funding, Reproductive Choice, Standards of Learning, Virginia Higher Education Funding

House Passes Budget with Medicaid Expansion — Awaits Senate Action

February 23, 2018 by David Toscano

On Thursday, February 22, the House of Delegates passed perhaps the best budget I have seen come from the body in the last twelve years. The House Budget includes the following highlights: [Read more…]

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Filed Under: General Assembly 2018 Tagged With: Affordable Health Care, Education, Job Creation, K-12 Education funding, Medicaid expansion, State Employee Compensation, Virginia Higher Education Funding

2018 General Assembly Session Commences Wednesday

January 8, 2018 by David Toscano

The 2018 session of the Virginia General Assembly commences at noon on Wednesday, January 10, 2018. After the wave election last November, it appears that the partisan composition in the House will stand at 49 Democrats and 51 Republicans, numbers that many of us hoped for, but few would have predicted last summer. Picking up 15 new seats was an incredible and unprecedented feat, and its significance has not diminished even with the disappointments of the last few days. Not only are our very talented new Delegates entering the chamber this week, but dedicated candidates such as Josh Cole, Donte Tanner, and Shelly Simonds, who came so close and fought for every vote until the end, are to be commended. We expect these and others who ran strong campaigns to be back competing in the next election.

There has been much attention given to recounts and court cases, but on January 10 we put campaigns behind us and will reorganize and start working on the business of governance, the people’s business. There are many issues coming before us, not the least of which will be the two-year budget. In Virginia, the outgoing Governor proposes a budget at the end of his term, and Gov. McAuliffe has continued his focus on building a new Virginia economy and investing properly in education, health care, and job creation. His four-year record has been unparalleled: more than 207,000 jobs created, almost $20 billion in new capital investment, and an unemployment rate among the lowest in the nation. He was just chosen by Governing Magazine as the Best Governor in the nation. [Read more…]

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Filed Under: General Assembly 2018 Tagged With: Affordable Health Care, Charlottesville and Albemarle County, Education, Environmental Protection, Gun Safety, Job Creation, K-12 Education funding, Medicaid expansion, Renewable Energy, University of Virginia, Virginia Higher Education Funding

The Fight of Our Lives—Time to Bend the Arc

November 6, 2017 by David Toscano

We are, simply put, in the fight of our lives. The values that we consider important— social equality and economic justice, diversity and inclusion, tolerance and civility— and the opportunities that everyone should have— the chance for our family members, children, and grandchildren to secure a decent education, obtain a good job that pays a living wage, have access to reasonably priced health care and insurance, ensure the protection of reproductive health, and gain fair access to the ballot box— are all under siege. They are being assaulted, not only by an insensitive and thoughtless President, but by politicians across the country who either mimic his message or, in their silence, have become complicit in his efforts to destroy the great American dream for all but the wealthiest among us.

All Eyes on Virginia

On Tuesday, Virginia will go to the polls in the first major election since the Trump upset. We have heard much about various state house special elections, and even the June Congressional race in Georgia, being tests of the Democratic Party’s “post-Trump” viability. But Virginia is the real deal. Our Governor’s race matches a veteran/doctor/former State Senator/Lieutenant Governor against a Republican who masterminded the GOP’s nationwide gerrymandering strategy, which has brought one-party rule to many states and Tea Party control of the U.S. House of Representatives while encouraging the further polarization of the electorate. Since Republicans control the Virginia House and Senate, putting a Republican in the governor’s seat could make Virginia look like North Carolina in just one legislative session. Take a look at the 120 bills Governor McAuliffe vetoed in his four years, because a Republican victory will mean that many of them will become law very quickly. No one can afford to “sit this one out.” Every vote is crucial.

Mark Herring, Attorney General • Dr. Ralph Northam, Governor • Justin Fairfax, Lieutenant Governor
Democratic Candidates, Virginia Statewide Offices [Read more…]

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Filed Under: Blog Tagged With: 2017 Virginia election, Affordable Care Act - Virginia, Affordable Health Care, Anti-Discrimination, Climate Change, Education, Environmental Protection, Immigration, Job Creation, K-12 Education funding, Legislative Redistricting, Medicaid expansion, Pre-K Education Funding, Reproductive Choice, Virginia Higher Education Funding

Toscano Campaign Update – I Ask for Your Vote

June 12, 2017 by David Toscano

David Toscano has been endorsed by the Sierra Club, the Virginia League of Conservation Voters, the Virginia AFL-CIO, the Virginia Education Association, NARAL, Khizr Khan, and climate scientist Dr. Michael E. Mann [Read more…]

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Filed Under: Campaign2017, Politics Tagged With: 2017 Virginia election, Anti-Discrimination, Climate Change, Coal Tax Credits, Education, Environmental Protection, Job Creation, K-12 Education funding, Renewable Energy, Reproductive Choice

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211 E. High Street
Charlottesville, VA 22902
Phone: 434-220-1660
Fax: 434-220-1677
david@davidtoscano.com

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Help me bring more common sense to the General Assembly by helping elect candidates that share our views in other districts across the Commonwealth. Make a contribution to my leadership PAC, Virginia First, where funds go directly to support candidates across the state. - David

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