Virginia transportation

Guns, Redistricting, Tolls and Right to Work

February 5, 2016 by David Toscano

We are now three weeks into session and “cross-over,” the term used to describe the date by which all bills must be passed by the originating chamber so they then can “cross-over” to the other chamber for consideration, is approaching. The hours are long and many of the debates are heated because we have to meet deadlines for bills to proceed. The highlights of this week include:

Gun Safety Compromise

The gun safety legislation compromise continues to be debated. Much of the criticism has come from gun safety groups who believe the Governor didn’t get enough in exchange for modifying the Attorney General’s stance on concealed weapons reciprocity agreements. Under the proposed compromise, our reciprocity agreements would remain in effect, thereby undoing Attorney General Herring’s recent position. For advocates of gun rights, a deal on reciprocity was very important, as many people who have a concealed weapons permit issued in Virginia want to retain the ability to carry concealed in adjacent states. Reversing the Attorney General’s position, then, was their number one legislative goal.

In exchange, gun safety advocates received two improvements in the law. First, a person subject to a protective order issued by a judge will no longer be able to possess, own, or transport a firearm in the Commonwealth; they will have to surrender those weapons immediately upon issuance of the order, and will face serious consequences for any failure to do so. Second, we will now have “voluntary” background checks available for private sellers at gun shows; they can ask the State Police to conduct a background check of anyone who seeks to purchase a firearm. Proponents of the measure believe that this will establish a “best practices” standard for background checks and potentially could be used to impose liability on a seller who does not adequately check the background of a person who then commits a serious crime and inflicts serious injuries on a citizen. Bills enacting the deal have not yet been completed, but will likely be considered next week. I appreciate the comments on this that I have received to date.

Redistricting Reform Blocked

House Republicans have again killed all redistricting reform. There were at least five different redistricting bills that would have improved our process, which is overly political and simply protects incumbents, but they were all killed with little debate in subcommittee. I will continue to advocate for redistricting reform because I believe it is critical for the long-term viability of our democracy.

“Right to Work” Statute

Both bodies have now passed a measure that will put the so called “right-to-work” statute on the fall ballot for possible inclusion in the Virginia Constitution. You can see the debate on this issue on YouTube. Those of us who voted against this argued that the “right-to-work” statute has been in Virginia law since 1947 and has never been seriously questioned. Since there is no pressing need, there is no reason to amend Virginia’s Constitution. Voters, of course, will have the final say on this issue in November, and I hope that citizens will vote against the constitutional amendment.

Transportation Funding

A wide variety of bills relating to how and when the Commonwealth can place tolls on certain roads was considered and passed by the Transportation Committee in the House. In our area, we do not usually think about this issue, but it has tremendous statewide implications. As many know, I-66 in Northern Virginia is among the most congested highways in the country, and its capacity could be dramatically improved with additional lanes. At present, the Commonwealth does not have sufficient monies to build these additional lanes, with the result that private capital would need to be used to build new lanes, and tolls would need to be imposed to recover the cost. If tolling was prohibited, the possibility existed that road and transit money that would otherwise flow to areas like Charlottesville and Albemarle could be diverted to Northern Virginia to pay for those transportation improvements. That would be a tragedy for our area and is one reason why I voted for the tolling bills. Under the bills, there could be no tolls imposed in places in and around Charlottesville without General Assembly approval.

My Bills

My bill to prohibit discrimination against persons because of sexual orientation and gender identity (HB913) was tabled in a House subcommittee, as well as my bill to prohibit legislators from raising campaign money during special sessions of the General Assembly (HB914). My bill to permit the Jefferson Area Board for Aging (JABA) access to Neighborhood Assistance Tax Credits (HB742) has now passed the House and is moving to the Senate. I have several bills on education that are before committee early next week as well as my “vehicle-to-grid” bill (HB1137), a measure that would allow owners of electric vehicles to sell the energy stored in their batteries back to the grid when their vehicles are not operating.

For those of you interested in seeing recent floor speeches, you can view them all on my David Toscano YouTube channel. There are floor speeches on education, Virginia’s economy, and the successes of the Obama administration.

If you want to find out some more about our session, I recently taped a broadcast that will be presented on our local access cable later this month, or you can watch it on my YouTube channel here.

Toscano on “Inside Scoop Virginia”

February 3, 2014 by David Toscano

David Toscano appeared on “Inside Scoop Virginia” on February 3, 2014.

2014 Virginia General Assembly Session Has Begun!

January 14, 2014 by David Toscano

The 2014 Virginia General Assembly Session began on Wednesday, January 8, 2014, when 100 delegates were sworn in and Gov. McDonnell gave his final “State of the Commonwealth” address. The outgoing Governor gave a deeply personal speech, apologizing for his transgressions over the last year and celebrating what he considered to be a number of singular achievements. He praised the bipartisan transportation bill passed last year, which would never have passed without the substantial support of the Democrats in the House. One of the highlights of the speech was when he welcomed back Senator Creigh Deeds with a simple, “Welcome back, Creigh; we love you.” This brought a standing ovation among the Assembly, the Cabinet, the Supreme Court, and the gallery.

Another highlight of the first week involved the unveiling of the bipartisan conceptual agreement on ethics reform. This is described in greater detail in an op-ed piece that I co-authored with Majority Leader Kirk Cox. You can read it here.

Delegate Toscano with representatives from Albemarle High School who came to the General Assembly to discuss their Math, Engineering and Science Academy (MESA) program — Delegate Toscano with Jeff Prillaman, Eric Lee Hahn, and Tony Borash who came to the General Assembly to discuss Albemarle High School’s Math, Engineering and Science Academy (MESA) program

Little business was transacted in the first week, but challenges await. Paramount among these is the passage of a two-year budget and the questions of whether we will accept federal monies to insure 400,000 additional Virginians who are not presently covered. Gov. McAuliffe and I strongly support this; the House Republican Caucus strongly opposes it. If we are to pass changes in Medicaid, we will have to find a “Virginia Way” to do it. We need to find a way to cover those additional 400,000 Virginians, lessen the fiscal impact on hospitals and emergency rooms, keep Virginia taxpayer dollars in the Commonwealth rather than having them being sent to other places who have accepted Medicaid expansion, create 30,000 new jobs, and ensure that rural hospitals can remain open as engines of the economic activity and providers of critical health services. Hospital Associations says we are losing $5 million a day by not accepting the federal monies.

The highlight of the first week was undoubtedly the inauguration of Terry McAuliffe as the 72nd Governor of Virginia, Ralph Northern as the Lieutenant Governor, and Mark Herring as the Attorney General. They will make a great team. Governor McAuliffe struck a conciliatory tone in his inaugural address by stressing our common values and the need to work together to bring greater economic opportunity throughout the Commonwealth. He has been working very hard reaching out to Republicans to find common ground on a wide variety of issues. Whether they will allow some success is not yet clear. But I will be there fighting for the Governor’s legislative agenda.

We will shortly publish the results of our constituent’s survey. Thanks to those who took it.

You do not need to participate in the survey to provide us input on what you think is important for us to consider in Richmond. Please call my Richmond office at (804) 698-1057 or email me at DelDToscano@house.virginia.gov.

It is a pleasure serving you in the General Assembly.

David Toscano

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

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Reconvene Session Passes Transportation Plan, More Restrictions on Abortion

April 9, 2013 by David Toscano

The “Veto” Session commenced at noon on Wednesday, April 3, 2013, and finished at 1:00 a.m. the next morning. It is hard to believe that we could take so long, but most of our time was focused on electing new judges around the Commonwealth in a Special Session.

The Governor made numerous recommendations for changes in bills that had been previously passed by the General Assembly. The most notable of these involved modifications in the transportation bill, which had been passed by a bipartisan coalition in the House and Senate. The Governor’s changes reduced the size of the plan somewhat and included a small reduction in the “hybrid tax”; the $100.00 fee was reduced to $67.00. The fiscal impact of that action was not large, but was viewed as a symbolic change designed to mollify some of the critics of the original bill. Most of the major increases in revenue remained, including the provision to create a dedicated source of revenue for passenger rail. I was happy to advocate and vote for this bill as the most significant advancement in the transportation funding that has been made in several decades (my speech on the original measure is available here). The measure raises about $1 billion extra per year and includes greater sums for transit, road maintenance, and passenger rail. Finally, the Governor made some changes designed to address concerns about the constitutionality of certain measures in the bill that provide some additional revenue for Northern Virginia and Hampton Roads. Democrats again provided the margin of victory for final passage, as numerous “no tax pledge” Republicans deserted the Governor by failing to support the measure.

The Governor made some changes in budget language that may assist those of us who seek to expand Medicaid in the Commonwealth. My position continues to be that Medicaid expansion is good because it will create 30,000 new jobs in Virginia, insure approximately 300,000 Virginians who do not have coverage at present, allow the return of billions of dollars in Virginia tax monies that would otherwise go to states throughout the country that have embraced Medicaid expansion, and will be 100 percent funded by the federal government for the first several years of the expansion. It will reduce pressure on our emergency rooms, which have become the “health insurer of last resort” for many of the poorest in our region. Using emergency rooms for primary care is very inefficient and raises costs to taxpayers (the state reimburses hospitals for emergency room bills that are not covered by insurance and that individuals are unable to pay) and to those of us who have private insurance coverage.

A day in Richmond at the General Assembly would not be complete without a debate on social issues. This time it was the Governor who was pushing the social agenda, as he inserted language into a bill that would prohibit private health insurance companies from offering health care coverage for abortion as part of private insurance that would be purchased by individuals within the new health care marketplace. A majority in the House and Senate embraced the Governor’s language, despite the arguments of many Democrats (myself included) and some Republicans that this was an unnecessary and unreasonable intrusion into the marketplace, where private buyers and sellers negotiate the terms of the coverage that companies provide. Our further concern is that it could drive certain citizens away from the health exchange, with the result that either they do not get any coverage at all, or because the insurance pool would become smaller, the cost of insurance would rise for other people who seek it. This is not good social policy in a Commonwealth seeking to lower the cost of insurance for everyone and looking to the marketplace for solutions.

Finally, the 16th Judicial Circuit, which serves this area, got two new judges late in the evening. The first is Dale Durrer, who resides in Culpeper and will serve on the General District Court, replacing the Honorable Roger Morton, who recently retired. The second is Claude Worrell, II, an Assistant Commonwealth’s Attorney in the City of Charlottesville, who will take the seat previously occupied by the Honorable Dwight Johnson, who retired in January. I expect that these gentlemen will make fine judges, and am very pleased that we were able to retain these judgeships for our community.

With the completion of the Session, my attention returns to constituent service, my law practice, and the fall elections. It is a pleasure and honor to represent you in the Virginia House of Delegates. As always, please feel free to contact me to share your thoughts and comments on matters before the Commonwealth.

Sincerely,

David