K-12 Education funding

Prospects for the 2014 Virginia General Assembly Session

December 19, 2013 by David Toscano

Each General Assembly session takes on its own special character and tone. 2013 was the year of transportation, as House Democrats ensured passage of a bipartisan bill to inject significant monies into road construction and maintenance, rail, and mass transit.

The 2014 Virginia General Assembly session will likely give most of its attention to the following issues:

Budget

This is Governor McDonnell’s last 2-year budget, and his proposal will reflect his priorities. This is the year where we “benchmark for standards of quality,” that is, we determine the costs of providing quality education and hopefully fund it. I will push for additional monies for K-12, higher education, and mental health.

Jobs and Economic Opportunity

The economy is not improving as fast as we would like, and I will be supporting initiatives to create jobs and enhance workforce training to give our citizens greater economic opportunity.

Educational Reform

We will see efforts to reform the Standards of Learning (SOL) tests; I support giving local school divisions more flexibility to innovate and pay teachers what they deserve. We must find ways to challenge our students by fostering creative thinking and problem solving, thereby creating a workforce so our companies can remain competitive in the global economy. All of this, however, will take financial resources, and will require legislators to set priorities in their budget negotiations.

Mental Health System Reform

The tragic events involving Senator Creigh Deeds and his family have cast a harsh spotlight on the gaps in our mental health system. We made progress following the 2007 Virginia Tech tragedy but more resources will be needed to improve the system. I support creation of more crisis intervention teams (CITS) and creating protocols to ensure that each person who needs a bed gets one.

Medicaid Enhancement

House Democrats support enhancement of Medicaid, along with many businesses, hospitals and physicians. There are several reasons to support enhanced Medicaid– which means reforming the system to protect taxpayer dollars while expanding service to those who need it. First, it means jobs and economic activity: $9.9 billion would be injected into Virginia’s economy by enhancing Medicaid, and an estimated 40,000 jobs would be created; it will keep our tax dollars here in Virginia rather than sending them to states that voted to expand Medicaid. Second, it protects local hospitals that provide critical services not to just indigent clients but entire communities; many of us worry that without Medicaid enhancement, some of our smaller community hospitals may risk having to close. Third, it would give up to 400,000 Virginians access to quality care that they do not presently have; it would keep them from having to use emergency rooms, thereby lessening costs for all Virginia taxpayers.

Ethics Reform

Following the scandals involving both Governor McDonnell and Attorney General Cuccinelli, efforts will be brought forth to reform Virginia’s reporting requirements for our top elected officials. Governor-elect McAuliffe has already stated he will institute a self-imposed ban of any gifts over $100 for himself and members of his family, and the legislature will consider a number of proposals, including the creation of an Ethics Commission.

Thank you for the opportunity to again serve you in Richmond. Your input is important to me. Share your thoughts — take the constituent survey.

Sincerely,
David

New Virginia Laws in Effect as of July 1, 2013

July 10, 2013 by David Toscano

July 1, 2013, marked the date on which legislation passed in the previous session took effect, including any changes in the budget. Included in these are the following:

Various fees and taxes will be reformed as part of the recently enacted bipartisan transportation bill. As part of the bill, the gasoline tax of 17.5 cents per gallon has been replaced with a percentage based tax of 3.5% for gasoline and 6% for diesel (an equivalent of ten to eleven cents per gallon). Some have argued that this will mean that the price at the pump will decline, but since the price of gas is based more on the market than on the tax rates, it is hard to predict. Citizens will see a small increase in sales tax that is now designated for transportation. In Hampton Roads and NoVA, there will be additional taxes and fees, with the revenue designated for transportation initiatives in those regions. The bill also, for the first time, provides a dedicated source of monies for passenger rail. The result of the bill will be greater assistance for road and transit improvements throughout the state, including Albemarle and Charlottesville. One downside is the imposition of larger fees on hybrid vehicles, something which makes little sense to me and which we will likely try to repeal in the next legislative session. This is not a perfect bill, but is nonetheless significant as creating the largest influx of transportation money in two decades.
Citizens can now be stopped and ticketed for texting while driving. Unlike the seatbelt safety law, it is now a primary offense meaning a police officer or sheriff can stop a driver if they see a driver texting while driving. Fines for first offenses will range from $25 to $125. So stop texting and driving.
A two percent (2%) teacher pay increase goes into effect on July 1, conditioned on localities providing a local match. A raise is also included for University personnel.
School divisions will be eligible to apply for school safety grants of up to $100,000.00 to purchase security equipment and technology.
Businesses will now be able to donate equipment and machinery to community colleges and vocational schools, and be eligible for a grant of up to $5,000.00.
Persons who financially exploit the elderly or incapacitated will be subject to harsher criminal penalties.

The big news of this month was, of course, the Supreme Court’s decision overturning the federal Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA). While this is an extremely significant court decision, it does not overturn Virginia’s constitutional amendment that prohibits same-sex marriage, a measure I did not support and favor repealing. Repeal will not be easy so long as the House of Delegates retains its current composition. Some of us are concerned that, in order to ensure they will have benefits derived from marriage, gay partners may now seek to relocate from Virginia into states that either allow gay marriage or recognize it. This would be detrimental to our state, and especially our business climate. To compete in a global economy, Virginia businesses need to recruit and retain talented and productive individuals and couples. Given our presently hostile laws, gay couples may choose to relocate to other states, or not come to Virginia at all. We have a long way to go to ensure that gay rights and partners are protected. I expect to see and support various non-discrimination bills that will be offered in the next General Assembly session, including provisions that will extend state benefits to gay partners.

Full List of New Virginia Laws in Effect as of July 1, 2013

GDE Error: Error retrieving file - if necessary turn off error checking (404:Not Found)

Agreement on the Budget

March 1, 2011 by David Toscano

General Assembly Update (3/1/11)

At 5 p.m. on Sunday, February 27, the General Assembly approved a new budget (one day late) and adjourned. This budget represents a major improvement from that which was approved by the Republican-dominated House of Delegates two weeks ago and is a major victory for higher education, mental health, and our local school divisions.

During the debate on the House version of the budget several weeks ago, a number of us took the floor and began our criticism of the proposal with the phrase, “Transportation is important, but…”, followed by a discussion of a particular issue that we considered important, from education and aid to localities to mental health and public safety. Governor McDonnell and the majority party in the House attempted, in their proposed budget, to take monies from these priorities and move them into the transportation fund. Democrats in the House said that while we wanted to increase transportation funding, we refused to take money from schools to do it.

Despite our arguments, the House passed its budget two weeks ago. The battle, however, was not over, and the budget that was finally passed late Sunday evening reflects many of the priorities that we consider important. It restores the cuts the House Republicans made to K-12 education. This dramatically affects Charlottesville and Albemarle, which, under the House plan, would have lost substantial funding. The final budget also increases investments in higher education by $100 million, including for community colleges. The University of Virginia will also receive another $3 million for cancer research and clinical trials. Public broadcasting was saved from elimination, but did incur a 10% cut.

Other budget highlights include:

Additional money for transportation through accelerated bonding, not at the expense of schools and public safety
A contribution of $64 million to the Rainy Day Reserve Fund
Increased funding for Medicaid providers, restoring some cuts made in the House proposed budget
Restoration of funding for Drug Courts and AIDS awareness cut in the House budget
Additional money for local police (HB 599)
Funding for judicial vacancies
Restoration of funding for Planned Parenthood cut in the House budget

The serious problems with the $17.6 billion VRS unfunded liability have not been fully addressed by this budget. The Governor’s proposal, however, to have state employees pay more back into VRS than they would receive in raises was defeated and, instead, they will be required to pay 5 percent of their salary toward their retirement and get reimbursed the full 5 percent in a pay raise. This will inject some additional money into the fund but not enough to make a substantial dent in the unfunded liability. VRS funding will continue to be an issue over the next several years unless the General Assembly starts making larger, consistent contributions to the fund. For employees in the Optional Retirement Plan, the state will not reduce its contribution this year.

I will be back in Richmond on April 4, 2011 for the special session on redistricting and the veto session. I will do my best to keep you informed of the redistricting process and what we can expect for the 57th district.

I appreciate the input you have given me over the last 47 days of session and hope you will continue to be engaged in the pressing issues facing our Commonwealth. 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.

Sincerely,

David

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.

Dueling Budgets & the Immigration Debate

February 16, 2011 by David Toscano

General Assembly Update (2/16/11)

Major events this and last week in Richmond included the passage of the House and Senate budgets, and the consideration of several immigration bills. As has been the case in the last several years, the House budget, while having some positive features, generally lacks support for many of our community’s priorities.

The House budget cuts about $50 million from from K-12 education. If ultimately approved, this would mean substantial reductions for both the Albemarle County and City of Charlottesville school divisions, and is one reason why I voted against the budget.

Another reason involves the cuts to Medicaid funding for those people most in need and for those people who provide critical medical services. For example, the House budget trims Medicaid reimbursements for hospitals and doctors from 72¢ on the dollar to 60¢ on the dollar. We are already among the worst states in terms of our Medicaid reimbursement formula and this will only exacerbate the problem that we have maintaining the Medicaid provider network. While the budget includes additional Medicaid waivers for Virginians with intellectual and developmental disabilities, it caps other community based services like respite hours for families and employees who provide critical services to those most in need.

Finally, the House budget eliminates support for public broadcasting, prohibits Medicaid patients from accessing services at clinics run by Planned Parenthood by prohibiting state reimbursement there, and takes money that could otherwise be used for schools and public safety and transfers it to the transportation fund.

The Senate budget is much more favorable to K-12 education, providing a higher level of funding for both Albemarle and Charlottesville. While it does not attempt to address the VRS funding problems that we have heard a lot about this session in the same fashion as the House budget, it has comparable levels of support for higher education and does not transfer monies from teachers and public safety to the transportation fund. For a complete overview of the differences between the House and Senate budgets, please refer to this study prepared by the Senate Finance Committee (.pdf).

At this point in the process, the two budget documents will be placed before a Committee of Conference composed of House and Senate members, and attempts will be made for each to compromise. I will be attempting to convince conferees of the importance of retaining funding for K-12 education and for critical community based mental health services.

The Senate this week defeated a majority of the immigration measures passed by the House last week. These have been emotional debates and I have heard from many constituents on this issue. If you would like to read more, please see my statement on immigration policy.

Finally, my bills continue to move through the legislative process. My solar energy bill (HB 1686), public infrastructure bill (HB 1872), and a bill to give more flexibility to homeowners seeking to refinance mortgages (HB 1682), all passed the Senate. My bill to lengthen the school year has been incorporated into a study of year-round schooling. Two more bills are still waiting hearing in committee: HB 1868, which pertains to adult adopted-persons better access to their birth parent records and HB 1529, which pertains to the division of assets in divorce proceedings.

Thank you to everyone who participated in last week’s telephone town hall. Our first attempt was a great success and I will hold other public events like this as well as in-person meetings in the future.

It is an honor to represent the 57th District and I look forward to returning home when session adjourns late next week.