TOSCANO GENERAL ASSEMBLY UPDATE -- January 23, 2008
Opening two weeks
Week one of the General Assembly got off to a resounding start, with Republicans in the house especially angry at Tim Kaine for his efforts on behalf of Democrats in the fall elections. House Democrats gained four seats in November’s election, leading to new committee assignments. I picked up an additional committee –Transportation—which has been very interesting so far and will occupy a good deal of my time. Our committee immediately voted to repeal the abusive driver fees. The repeal easily passed the House. I have never supported this approach to solving our transportation problems, so it was an easy vote for me. It now appears to be even more flawed than we thought at first in that it has not generated the amount of money that its proponents suggested. Nonetheless, we have even fewer dollars for transportation than we did before, and we will eventually have to look at other revenue streams if we are ever going to solve our long term transportation needs.
In other news from the first week, an effort to change the rules to permit the recording of votes in sub-committee failed on a strict party-line vote. This new rule was passed two years ago by the Republican majority in the House, and the arguments for the rule are even less persuasive than they were two years ago. On a party-line vote, an effort to televise the House deliberations was also defeated. The proposals for recorded votes and for televised debates speak to the citizens concerns for transparency and accountability in government.
Major House votes this week included a decision to delay the implementation of the HPV vaccination requirement, and passage of legislation that would put more restraints on clinics that provide abortions. I voted against both bills. During the debate on delaying implementation, we found that at least 3,850 women died from cervical cancer in 2004, the most recent year in which the statistics are available. There is clear scientific evidence that the vaccination prevents the spread of HPV, the precursor to cervical cancer in women, and the law permits parents to “opt-out” of the vaccine requirement. Passage of the bill means implementation will now be delayed another 2 years. Similarly, on a near party-line vote, increased regulations on abortion clinics were passed; how this measure fares in the Senate, however, is not clear. The Senate has failed to place these burdensome regulations on these clinics in the past, but the composition of Senate committees has changed and we cannot take the bill’s defeat for granted.
As to my own bills and work, I have been spending considerable time on the Mental Health Law reform subcommittee. Our subcommittee is fundamentally rewriting much of mental health law in Virginia. I have been very careful to advocate for the proper balance of public safety and privacy rights. I am hopeful we will pass some reforms that will increase the effectiveness of the system, including two of my bills (HB1322 and HB1323). Beyond that, however, we need to put financial resources into the system. The Governor has included an expansion of resources for mental health funding in his introduced budget, but it remains to be see how this will fare in the budget negotiation process.
Guns were also in the news this week. Delegates voted against prohibiting concealed weapons on the House floor (I voted for it) and House and Senate Committees nixed the Governor’s proposal (which I support) to close the Gun Show loophole.
Several of my bills failed on close votes, including our proposed tax credit for energy efficient homes, HB162 and two bills designed to provide better notification to citizens who may take advantage of the earned income tax credit, HB284 and HB286.
I have received many responses to my constituent survey, and hope to publish the results in the next several weeks. As always, I appreciate hearing your thoughts and concerns about legislative matters. Please call the Richmond office at (804) 698-1057 or send emails to deldtoscano@house.state.va.us.
