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At
8:47 on Saturday, February 28, 2009, the 2009 General Assembly session was
gaveled to conclusion. It is the first time during my four years in the
House that we have adjourned on time. As some folks are fond of saying,
the Commonwealth is now safe for yet another year as the legislators have
left Richmond. The big news, of course, is that Virginia passed a balanced budget, as we are constitutionally required to do. The untold story is how significant the efforts of President Obama and the Congress have been in ensuring that Virginia was able to pass a budget that minimized cuts in services that could otherwise have been draconian. Without the stimulus money, it is estimated that as many as 7,100 state employees would have been furloughed and/or laid off, and the trickle down effect of that and the other cuts would have rippled throughout the Virginia economy. Our state was the first to pass a budget in the aftermath of the stimulus so leaders from across the country watched what we did. The stimulus money flowing to Virginia was allocated by House and Senate budget conferees to replace more serious cuts that otherwise would have occurred in K-12 education, public safety, and aid to localities. It has bought us some time for an economic recovery to begin to hopefully replenish our state revenues before the next budget cycle begins. We are by no means out of the woods and we will have to be searching for greater efficiencies in the year ahead as there is a real possibility that more cuts will be needed. For those of your friends who argue that we should have not taken the stimulus money, please feel free to discuss with them the experience of our budget and the impacts that would have otherwise occurred without this help from Washington. In addition to the budget, we were able to pass important legislation in several key areas. A number of measures passed to encourage energy efficiency and greater use of renewable resources. Our Renewable Energy Portfolio Standard was increased and we are providing greater incentives for the production of biofuels that do not compete with food supplies. We passed a ban on smoking in restaurants, something that most observers thought was impossible a mere three months ago. We continued our efforts to promote better land use and transportation planning by strengthening the Office of Intermodal Planning and Investment and providing more authority and flexibility to the Department of Rail and Public Transit. We were able to provide additional Medicaid waivers to help our neediest citizens. Some problems remain unaddressed. We did nothing to address transportation funding; our problems will continue until we find a reliable and sustainable source of revenue to fund projects throughout the state. We failed to pass a bipartisan redistricting bill. And we still have much to do in curbing the impact of predatory lending. Thank you for all of your advice and input during the session. I was fortunate to pass 11 out of the 15 bills I introduced this session, including several measures that were suggested to me by my constituents. It is an honor to represent the citizens of Charlottesville and Albemarle, and I will continue to work hard to protect your interests. In the event that you have group or organization who would like to have a more detailed discussion of what we are doing in Richmond, please feel free to give me a call. I am glad to make a presentation and hear concerns of citizens. In addition, I am attempting to expand my email list and would encourage you to send this along to others who you think might be interested with a gentle encouragement that they should sign up for updates. Please feel free to contact me at (434)220-1660 or at deldtoscano@house.virginia.gov.
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