Toscano Report from the General Assembly - February 7, 2006
In a vote closer than one would expect, the House agreed to repeal legislation that authorizes the execution of youngsters under the age of 18. The United States Supreme Court recently ruled that such executions are unconstitutional. The Virginia Crime Commission recommended that the Virginia statute permitting such executions be stricken from the books. The debate came down to questions about whether Virginia would operate under the “rule of law” as set forth by the U.S. Supreme Court, or the Commonwealth should retain, as a symbolic gesture, a statute on the books that is unconstitutional and therefore unenforceable. Delegate Rob Bell took the floor to argue the latter position. I voted with the majority to uphold what I view to be the “rule of law.”
Last week was a bad one for immigrants in the Commonwealth. Three specific bills that focused on “illegal” immigrants were passed by large majorities in the House. I voted against each bill. HB 487 would allow the State Police, after agreement with the U.S. Government, to detain illegal immigrants for violations of Federal law. My concerns with the bill are twofold. First, it absolves the federal government from a major responsibility to enforce immigration laws. Second, it represents yet another unfunded mandate; we do not have enough state police on our roads to address serious traffic and criminal problems, and yet the House would have them assume more responsibility for enforcement of federal laws, when the U.S. Government chooses not to do so.
HB 1050 would bar public colleges and universities from allowing illegal immigrants from qualifying for in-state tuition and HB 262 would bar illegal immigrants from admission to our public universities and colleges altogether. If HB 262 passes the Senate and is signed by the Governor, it would make Virginia the first state to pass such a prohibition.
There are several reasons to be concerned about these bills. First, they impose an undue obligation on our public universities and colleges. The legislation requires colleges and universities to ascertain who is “illegal” and who is not, an unnecessary and costly requirement. Second, there are many youngsters in the Commonwealth whose parents may have come into this country illegally, but who have lived here for many years and are wonderful additions to our communities. These laws penalize these youngsters for no reason other than that their parents failed to register appropriately with the INS. By passing this legislation, we are also preventing many qualified applicants from being admitted to our public colleges and universities. In the process, we potentially drive away some of the best students who can otherwise contribute greatly to our Commonwealth.
Two measures offered to increase the minimum wage in Virginia were defeated in a House Committee on Tuesday. My measure would have raised the minimum wage in Virginia by one dollar per hour per year over the course of three years. I believe the primary responsibility of increasing the minimum wage is with the Federal government. Because Congress has failed to do so, Virginia should act. By doing so, we would be asserting that Virginia values work and the Virginians believe that work should pay. The minimum wage in the United States has not increased since 1997 although the purchasing power associated with that wage has decreased dramatically. There are 19 states and the District of Columbia who have passed increases in their state’s minimum wage and at least 10 other states where such legislation is pending. The committee heard testimony from experts who described the difficulties of living on the minimum wage and debunking the view that raising the minimum wage would lead to unemployment.
The House also passed a repeal of the estate tax and approved a sales tax holiday targeted to food and clothing. The cost to the state of this repeal is $120 million per year. I have favored repealing the estate tax as applied to small family farms, but could not support complete repeal, which largely affects just a small number of our wealthiest taxpayers. The sales tax holiday makes more sense as it is targeted to families with school-aged children and its fiscal impact is less pronounced.
Last Tuesday was pro-choice lobby day, and legislators were treated to scores of citizens lobbying for choice. Substantial numbers we high school and college students and the energy and activism of these advocates is a good sign for the future. I have cast several votes for choice, all of which have been in the minority.
As we move toward February 11, “crossover day,” when bills passed by the House move to the Senate, committees are meeting until midnight to address the many bills that remain to be considered. Included in these are a number of initiatives proposed by Governor Kaine to address the Commonwealth’s transportation problems, providing more money for roads and transit, and by giving more control to localities to better plan for the future. More on this in the next newsletter.
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