Virginia budget

Winding Down or Gearing Up?

March 6, 2014 by David Toscano

The General Assembly session is scheduled to adjourn on Saturday, March 8, 2014, and it is not clear that we will have a budget by that date. The stumbling block continues to be Medicaid expansion. Many of us have advocated for a budget that includes closing the coverage gap for over 275,000 Virginians. We support bringing some $1.7 billion of Virginian’s taxpayer dollars back to create 30,000 jobs and bolster hospitals that are experiencing severe financial losses at this time. The Senate’s budget includes a compromise approach to Medicaid expansion called “Market Place Virginia,” a proposal which turns over the coverage of these vulnerable Virginians to the private insurance market. Many thought this compromise might win enough support in the House among Republicans, given that it is based on private sector principles, to obtain passage but that does not appear likely at present. For a recent press conference on this issue, click here. You can also watch several speeches on the House Floor on this topic by clicking here.

While much of the focus this session has been on Medicaid expansion, there are other significant initiatives that will likely pass in the next few days. We are making changes in the mental health system to provide better assistance and infuse monies to serve those most in need. The details of these will be finalized in the next several days, but reforms will likely include implementing an internet bed registry so that finding a bed will be easier and provisions that will allow authorities to detain citizens in crisis for a longer period so that assistance can be provided.

Second, we will pass a legislative ethics reform bill that, while not perfect, represents a modest step forward toward restoring some faith that citizens have lost as the result of the McDonnell scandal. We have reduced the number of high-stakes testing associated with the Standards of Learning (SOL), and have set in place a study group to further analyze what needs to happen in the coming years. Finally, the fee on hybrid vehicles that was imposed as part of last year’s transportation package was repealed. Many of us thought that this was not a good idea last year and we are happy to see it overturned.

I was able to pass a number of bills which you can find summarized here:

HB121 – Requires the Department of Taxation to provide to the General Assembly the total amount of credit given for a tax credit regardless of the number of taxpayers who take the credit. Presently, if four or fewer taxpayers take the credit, the Department of Taxation does not release these figures. We allocate approximately $4 billion in tax credits each year. In order to make sound decisions on whether a tax credit is effective, it is necessary to know the total amount of the credit being taken to compare against the economic benefit to Virginia, if any.
HB312 – Allows courts to award attorney fees in civil cases of financial exploitation based on fraud or undue influence. This will assist our senior citizens and their families in the recovery of assets that have been fraudulently taken from them.
HB890 – Co-patroned with Delegate Chris Peace (Hanover), this legislation corrected oversights in the Code created when some Department of Social Services offices changed the title of their ‘social workers’ to ‘family services specialists’. There were many duties that were specified in the Code to be accomplished by ‘social workers’ by definition that are essential to the delivery of services.
HB407 – This measure provides adult adoptees an alternative to the expensive cost of petitioning the Court for identifying information on their birth parents when the parents are deceased by allowing the Commissioner of Social Services to grant their request after the Commissioner has done a full investigation to determine whether or not good cause is shown to release the information
HB1110 – This measure allows a locality to recoup the additional cost of educating a non-resident student enrolled in a special education program from the student’s originating locality. This measure is particularly helpful to Charlottesville City Schools who host a number of non-resident students who attend specialized public education programs available in Charlottesville. The additional cost to the local taxpayers is approximately $36,000 per student. This bill allows Charlottesville to be reimbursed for this additional cost by the locality where the student resided with their parents before being sent to Charlottesville.
HB1233 – Brought to me by the Attorney General, this measure allows individuals who are the target of stalkers to be included in the Address Confidentiality Program. This program allows individuals to hide their physical address from public records if they have been the victim of domestic violence. This bill would provide protection to those who fall victim to stalkers.

In the next few days, we are likely to determine whether to adjourn and go into a special session for purposes of discussing Medicaid reform or remain in session and continue to debate this issue in the coming weeks.

Finally, Nancy and I want to thank you so much for the outpouring of support that we have received in the last couple of weeks. It has made a huge difference to our family and we are humbled by it.

As always, I enjoy hearing from you during the assembly session with your concerns and views about specific bills. This year, Session is scheduled to adjourn March 8, 2014. Please do not hesitate to contact my office. It is a pleasure serving you in the General Assembly.
David Toscano

The Budget, Medicaid Expansion, and my Town Hall Meeting

February 21, 2014 by David Toscano

The House and Senate budgets were debated and ultimately passed yesterday. Budgets are about choices, and the budget that passed the House reflected a choice that Republicans made to reject the expansion of Medicaid coverage to over 275,000 Virginians. In a last minute procedural move, the Republicans offered the Senate plan for Medicaid expansion, the so-called “private option,” as an amendment in order to get a vote on this issue. It was largely a symbolic vote because leadership asked their caucus members to vote as a block. The Medicaid initiative was therefore defeated in the House. It survives in the Senate budget, however, so this issue is anything but dead.

Some interesting contrasts arose in the budget debate. For weeks, a number of us have been arguing that hospitals will experience serious financial losses if we do not expand Medicaid. In response, House Republicans increased appropriations to hospitals by over $100 million. While this appropriation does not approach the shortfall to the hospitals, which is projected at $448 million in 2015, the money nonetheless had to come from somewhere. It was transferred from other parts of the budget, most notably funding for job creation and economic development. House Democrats argued against these transfers: why not help the hospitals by simply expanding Medicaid?

Delegate Toscano with Harold Foley of the Virginia Organizing Project, Deidre Gilmore of the Public Housing Association of Residents, and members of the City of Promise Youth Council.

The House Republican leadership also supported a $300 million initiative to provide the General Assembly members with new office space. Independent of the problems of the building in terms of its air quality and structural soundness, citizens justifiably find it difficult to understand how members can spend $300 million on a new building but be unwilling to use federal dollars to help insure those most in need.

Because of its failure to include Medicaid expansion, I voted against the House budget. For those of you who have any interest in viewing some of my floor speeches on the importance of expanding Medicaid you can watch them on YouTube.

My Telephone Town Hall meeting on Wednesday night was a great success. We had several thousand listeners on the call, despite the fact that we were competing with the public hearing on the 29 Bypass back at home. During the Town Hall meeting, we conducted several instant polls on a variety of issues, from Medicaid to Standards of Learning (SOL) reform. The results were not surprising. Seventy-two percent of the respondents said they support Medicaid expansion, while seventeen percent said they wanted reforms in place before the expansion occurred. And sixty-five percent said they would not support building new offices for the General Assembly unless Medicaid reform was adopted. Sixty-eight percent supported the elimination of certain high-stakes testing as part of SOL reform. Finally, sixty percent said that they were willing to pay a little more on their utility bill if they knew that electricity was being generated through the use of more solar power.

Toscano to Hold Telephone Town Hall

February 16, 2014 by David Toscano

Toscano will talk with constituents on Wednesday, February 19 at 7 p.m

RICHMOND, VA — Delegate David J. Toscano will conduct a Telephone Town Hall on Wednesday, February 19 beginning at 7:00 p.m. to discuss the proposed 2014-2016 budget. Toscano will be joined by Virginia’s Secretary of Finance Ric Brown. Secretary Brown was first appointed Secretary of Finance under then-Governor Tim Kaine, continuing in the position through the McDonnell Administration, and now serving as Governor McAuliffe’s Secretary of Finance. Secretary Brown will join Toscano to provide insight on Virginia’s revenue forecasting process, the recent mid-session revenue revisions and its impact on the biennial budgeting process.

“The most important action we take every two years is to pass our biennial budget,” said Toscano. “This town hall is an opportunity for people to learn about the budget and give me their input on Virginia’s funding priorities. In addition to the budget, I also hope to discuss and answer questions on other legislation that is before the General Assembly.”

In addition to Secretary Brown, Delegate Toscano will be joined by Dan Timberlake, Director of Virginia’s Department of Planning and Budget, as well as Mike Shook, Manager of the Health and Human Resources Division of the Department of Planning and Budget. Both will be available to answer questions about the Virginia’s budget and various factors that may affect it.

Registered voters in the 57th district will receive an automated phone call to advise invite them to join the town hall. They will be instructed on how to “Join the Call” and will be given further information on how to ask a question. To ensure participation, an individual may register their number for the town hall by following this link.

Delegate David J. Toscano represents the 57th District in Virginia’s House of Delegates, which consists of the City of Charlottesville and parts of Albemarle County. Since 2012, Delegate Toscano serves as House Democratic Leader, elected by his fellow Democratic delegate peers.

Time to Change the Frame

August 8, 2011 by David Toscano

August 8, 2011

Watching the recent debt ceiling debate in Washington was discouraging, not just because of the vitriol pervasive in the exchanges, but the nature of the discussion itself. We have now come to the point in this country where our focus is not on how we can rebuild our economy and create jobs in a fiscally responsible manner, but on how quickly we can defund proven programs that the American people support without asking all portions of our society, particularly the wealthy, to share the pain in putting our financial house in order.

Our national political debate has shifted away from a policy discussion about jobs, investments, and economic recovery to cuts and deficit reduction. It is time to change the debate.

Remember how we got here. When Bill Clinton left office, we had a budgetary surplus in this country. After eight years of President George W. Bush, with his legacy of massive tax cuts for the wealthy, a new prescription drug benefit that was never properly funded, two wars paid for by massive borrowing, and an economy heading into a recession deeper than anything experienced since the Great Depression, this country had a budget deficit of $407 billion and a debt of $10.6 trillion.

To think we could be pulled out of this ditch without a massive change in direction was fanciful. The stimulus program (American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, ARRA) brought some measure of relief, especially to states like our own, but the economy still lags. Now, the recent actions of Congress, and worse yet, some proposals yet to be realized, run the risk of further depressing job growth at a time when we need it more than ever. For example, Republicans in the House of Representatives are now proposing to dramatically cut transportation funding. All that will mean is that thousands of well-paid jobs will be lost and our infrastructure further ignored. That will be the consequence of a cuts-only approach to our budgetary challenges.

What does this mean for Virginia? Our governor recently praised this year’s so-called state budgetary “surplus,” but failed to acknowledge that we could not be in the black this year without our receipt of ARRA monies from the federal government (a program he decried), cuts to education and the social safety net, and “borrowing” from our state retirement plan (VRS). Because our state’s economy is so dependent on federal spending, we will likely lose jobs and revenues because of the debt ceiling deal, thereby putting greater pressure on our budget.

Even before the federal deal, a report from the independent think tank, The Commonwealth Institute, projected a budget shortfall for Virginia in the next budget biennium approaching $800 million. And a recent study by George Mason University documents the Commonwealth’s inadequate investment in our transportation network, a dynamic which depresses job growth and hurts our competitiveness.

Unless we change the debate and begin discussing ways to close budget gaps without solely resorting to further cuts, the Commonwealth could look very different in five years than it does at present.

What could we do to enhance revenue in Virginia? If we reformed our tax structure to reduce the rate to 5.6% for those who make less than $75,000 a year and increase to 6.85% the rate for those who earn over $400,000, we could raise an additional $300 million in 2013*.

And even if one is skittish about reforming the income tax, what about closing some tax preferences for some of Virginia’s largest industries? If we were to eliminate special tax preference for the coal industry, which costs Virginians $94 million per year**, we could reduce the tax rate for all Virginia corporations by one-half percent, providing them all with monies they could reinvest in factories and jobs, while creating additional tax revenues of approximately $26 million per year to help fund schools and public safety.

Most Virginians recognize the way to address budgetary challenges is through a balanced approach. They recognize the need to further invest in education and transportation to create jobs and a high performing workforce. They realize that helping those most in need, whether they are the elderly in nursing homes or children with inadequate access to health care, are central to what it means to be a Commonwealth. And they believe that everyone should share in the gains of economic growth and the restraint necessitated by fiscal discipline.

In this country and in our Commonwealth, we are at risk of losing our balance. The only way to restore it is to change the nature of the debate.

Sincerely,

David

Reminder: The City Democratic Firehouse Primary for City Council and Clerk of Court is Saturday, August 20, 2011. This is likely to be THE ELECTION for City Council, so I hope we will have a big turnout. If you want your voice heard, vote between 9:00 a.m. and 7:00 p.m. at Burley Middle School.

* This proposal was made in HB 2588 a 2009 bill patroned by Delegate David Englin and which I co-patroned. The bill was tabled in the House Finance Committee.

** This represents $44.1 million of credits claimed under the Coalfield Employment Enhancement Tax Credit, and an estimated $50 million claimed under the Virginia Coal Employment and Production Incentive Tax credit, as estimated by the Virginia Division of Legislative Services. The exact amount for the latter is not released by the Department of Taxation because three or fewer companies actually claim the credit.

Toscano on Governor McDonnell’s Budget Announcement

July 22, 2011 by David Toscano

Surplus is Artificial and Generated by Cuts to Localities and Employees

Charlottesville, VA – Governor McDonnell today announced a projected $311 million state surplus. Delegate David Toscano (D-Charlottesville) released the following statement in response:

“While this budget surplus is certainly preferable to a shortfall, we should be clear about its origins. First, our national economy is improving and revenues are up as a result. Second, we neglected our obligations in the last budget to adequately fund our state’s retirement plan. Third, the surplus was generated because of substantial cuts made to localities and our social safety net.

“These substantial cuts to localities and our failure to honor our commitment to state employees to adequately fund their pensions are not consistent with responsible budgeting. Restoring funds now to the retirement system is simply what we should have done two years ago. And maintaining assistance to localities is key to keeping property taxes low.

“It is important that we honor our commitments in a timely fashion that is transparent and without gimmicks. Generating surplus on the backs of localities and our state employees is not only disingenuous, but is a disservice to the taxpayers of the Commonwealth.”