Toscano Report from the General Assembly - February 2, 2006
The second week of the General Assembly has now passed and the big news of the last week was the roll out of Governor Kaine's transportation plan. This plan is based on several assumptions. First, Governor Kaine wants to maintain accountability in funding for transportation by locking up the Trust Fund for Transportation. In that way, monies appropriated into the trust for transportation shall remain there for that purpose.
Second, Governor Kaine's plan seeks to change some ways we plan for development, specifically by linking land use planning to the decisions about whether and where to build roads. Specifically, he has proposed several initiatives that will provide localities with more authority to plan for the future. It remains to be seen which of these bills will ultimately pass. The Senate has passed a Transfer of Development Rights bill which has now gone to the House floor. Many of these bills are in committees on which I do not serve, so I will be monitoring them and arguing for the best bills to be passed in committees so that can be forwarded to the House.
Third, Governor Kaine wants a transportation plan that is adequately funded. This will perhaps be the most controversial element of the plan, as he Proposes to raise the motor vehicle sales and use tax to a percentage equal to what we pay in sales tax on other items, and to further raise other fees and create tolling opportunities in order to raise the monies necessary to adequately maintain our roads, our bridges, and to provide for appropriate new construction. Significantly, his proposals include a doubling of funding for mass transportation. Finally, and of particular interest to Albemarle County, is the fact that secondary road funding, which has been a challenge for Albemarle in recent years, is proposed to increase dramatically in the Kaine proposal.
The Senate plan is different from Governor Kaine's, and raises more refenue from increases in fees. In the House, a Republican plan being advanced proposes to use the state one-time budget surplus for transportation funding. In this plan, there is no ongoing source of revenue for transportation, Other than the present surplus, which may or may not be available in the future.
I hope to have a public forum to discuss these various plans in coming weeks.
Beyond that, my bills continue to advance. My nursing bill, which was designed to collect data about the nursing shortage so we can best address how to plan for it, was the first freshman bill this year to pass out of the House. My affordable housing bill is presently before committee, and we are working hard to get it reported to the House floor. It is a “Charter Bill” which requires a two-thirds majority vote, a real challenge in a House with only 40 Democrats. This bill would help the City of Charlottesville devise more creative affordable housing programs to assist residents.
In the next week or so, the minimum wage bill that I introduced will likely be considered in committee. There is some support for this bill, particularly from legislators in Northern Virginia, but bills like this have a very difficult time getting through the House, so we will simply have to argue as hard as we can for the initiative, and hope it will pass. This bill seeks to have Virginia join at lease 16 other states that have increased the state minimum wage to above that required by federal legislation (now $5.15 per hour).
On the Courts committee we are sorting through over 300 bills, including changes in child support and adoption statutes, issues that are near and dear to me, and all the eminent domain legislation.
The other big legislative news of the week was the House passage of the Communications Tax Reform Act (HB 568). This act fundamentally reforms how taxes are collected on telecommunications. Studies supporting the bill indicate that it will reduce the monthly amount of tax that people pay on telephone can cable, impose a tax on satellite and cellular phones, and be revenue neutral to local governments, an important concern of mine. I joined 64 other members of the House in supporting that bill.
As always, I appreciate your concerns and input, which can be sent to me at david@davidtoscano.com or by calling 804-698-1057. You can get more information by going to my website davidtoscano.com.
