State Employee Compensation

An Early Look at Budgetary Prospects for 2019

December 21, 2018 by David Toscano

Perhaps the most important action we take as legislators is to pass a biennial budget. This is done in the even-numbered years and it is then modified in the next year. 2019 will be the year of budget modification. Governor Northam recently presented his proposals for changes we can make in our two-year budget during our session beginning January 9, 2019. I was impressed by several developments:

1. The Virginia economy is booming. Unemployment now stands at 2.9% and our revenue forecast has improved dramatically. The state ended the fiscal year on June 20, 2018, with a surplus of approximately $550 million. Typically, surplus revenues are either saved for a future year or expended on one-time investments, such as buildings, roads, or other infrastructure. [Read more…]

Medicaid Expansion: A Really Big Deal

June 7, 2018 by David Toscano

It’s Been A Long Time Comin’

Today was the final step in perhaps the most significant success in my thirteen years in the General Assembly. After five years of advocating, strategizing, cajoling, pleading, and fighting, last week we passed a budget that includes Medicaid expansion to about 400,000 Virginians; today, Gov. Northam signed it into law. It is an amazing feeling to cast a vote that will help so many. There are about 3,400 people in the 57th District who would be eligible for the expanded Medicaid program now, and as many as 10,000 additional people in the local region who would benefit. [Read more…]

House and Senate Pass Historic Budget with Medicaid Expansion

May 30, 2018 by David Toscano

After almost two months of waiting, the General Assembly has passed a historic budget that expands access to Medicaid for more than 300,000 Virginians. It took a five-year fight in Richmond to get this done, and the battle could not have been won without the efforts of so many Virginians who pushed, especially at the ballot box, for this initiative.

This budget is probably the best I have seen in my twelve years in the General Assembly.

Republican leadership in the Virginia Senate attempted to hold the budget hostage over this issue. Ultimately, they were foiled by members of their own caucus like Emmett Hanger and Frank Wagner, who were willing to expand Medicaid not simply because of human benefits, but because of how the additional federal dollars would help with our state budget. In fact, Virginia’s Medicaid has been expanding for years, but in the most fiscally irresponsible manner. Under the present program, the federal government matches our spending on a one-to-one basis. For every dollar we spend, they match it with a dollar. Under Medicaid Expansion, the federal government will pay over ninety percent of the costs of the new enrollees. This is a much better financial deal for the Commonwealth. Republicans also recognize that the Affordable Care Act is not likely to be repealed, so they concluded it would be better for us to bring billions of tax dollars that Virginians pay to Washington back to the Commonwealth to help Virginians with health insurance and to shore up our budget. [Read more…]

Senate Goes To Richmond, But No Budget Vote

May 23, 2018 by David Toscano

I was planning to be driving to Richmond this morning for the next House floor session to pass a two-year budget for the Commonwealth of Virginia. Instead, I am writing about what didn’t happen yesterday in the Senate. For at least another week, Virginia will remain without a budget.

This impasse reminds me of my first session in 2006 when Republicans in the House and Senate deadlocked on a budget until June 28, the very last minute before the end of the fiscal year. That year, the prospects of a government shutdown were real; now, we have a different dynamic. The 2019-2020 budget legislation has been bottled up by the Senate’s Republican leadership, which is preventing it from getting to the Senate floor.

Here are critical things that you need to know: [Read more…]

Overtime—Special Session to be Convened

March 12, 2018 by David Toscano

The 2018 General Assembly Session adjourned on Saturday, March 10, without voting on a final budget bill. This is unusual but not unprecedented; in my first year, 2006, we deadlocked on a budget until June 28, and in 2014 we did not have a budget until June 23. I am confident we will pass a budget, but it appears that it will take some time for the House and the Senate to come to an agreement. I fully expect that if we do not have a budget early enough to fund government operations on July 1, Gov. Northam will likely propose a new budget and require us to vote on it. [Read more…]