TOSCANO GENERAL ASSEMBLY UPDATE -- February 5, 2008
Week 3
On some days, time appears to stand still at the General Assembly. Given the schedule, it is difficult to know precisely what day it is, as the 7 a.m. meetings morph into 10 p.m. adjournments. In the first few weeks, few bills have passed of major import, with the possible exception of repealing the abuser fees in three separate bills. Legislators who supported these fees last year have rushed to pass repeal, even though the details have not been worked out as to whether the state can refund monies generated by fees to date. Stay tuned.
The House again passed, by wide margins, several measures that attempt to restrict a woman’s right to choose, all of which I opposed. These measures will probably be killed in the Senate, but that does not stop House members from continuing to propose them.
I made a decision early in my tenure here not to introduce many anti-gun bills. My thought was that given the majority of Republicans in the House, the prospect for these bills were minimal and my choice was to attempt to pass measures which might enjoy some degree of bi-partisan support.
This year, however, I was presented with a proposal which I thought would be favorably received on both sides of the aisle. Was I wrong! The proposal came from a Commonwealth’s Attorney, who had attempted to address problems of prosecuting a man who was subject to a protective order who had a firearm in his possession. Under Virginia law, persons subject to protective orders are prohibited from purchasing or transporting a firearm. The law, however, does not prohibit possession. In the case that led to the proposed bill, police went to a home on a domestic dispute. The man was sitting on the couch with a gun located right next to him. There was nothing the police could do as there was no prohibition against his possession. My legislation would add the word “possess” to the prohibitions. The State Association of Commonwealth Attorneys testified for the bill, as well as a local Commonwealth’s Attorney and the local Fraternal Order of Police. I thought I had a reasonable chance at passage.
In the subcommittee, however, where Republicans outnumber Democrats 4 – 1, and on the testimony of a representative of the Virginia Citizens Defense League, a gun rights organization even more conservative that the NRA, the bill went down on an unrecorded vote. Its death was swift and silent, and pointed out the problems of dealing with the subcommittee system as well as how the majority can stack the committees in ways that prevent legislation from being seriously considered. The irony is that my bill would have used the same language as now exists in Federal law.
The other big news of the week centers on the budget. It is clear that the revenue forecasts upon which the Governor produced his budget are not likely to be met, with the result that there be a larger budget shortfall in the remainder of this budget cycle, and less revenues likely in at least the first year of the next budget cycle. The budget crunch is generating much finger pointing, and the House Republicans continue to make speeches about how the Governor has not provided adequate financial information in a timely fashion. What people do not realize, however, is that the Governor has very little to do with the health of the economy. Budgets are built upon assumptions that people make as revenues. The Governor is attempting to provide accurate information and to utilize private sector experts to give it to him and the Assembly. Without good data, we will only build a budget on hunches. I hope cooler heads will prevail so that we do not have a budget stalemate that requires us to remain past the 60 days set for the legislative Session.
I continue to enjoy my visits and contacts from people in the District, who give so freely of their time to let me know what they think about the critical issues of the day. I have received substantial comments from my constituent survey, and hope to publish the results of that soon. 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.
