“Ultimately, it will be up to the Appropriations Committee to decide how that is going to be handled, (but) when the budget hits the floor, we are going to have another discussion and debate about Medicaid,” Toscano said.

“If we have to replay it, we’ll have to replay it and possibly think of different ways to discuss it. If you feel strongly about something, you should continue to work hard to make it happen. That’s what our caucus is committed to doing.”

Also on the Democratic agenda is an increase of the minimum wage. Toscano said Democrats will introduce legislation.

“We have not landed on a number yet, but there will be a real number that will make a real difference in people’s paychecks, because Virginians need a raise,” Toscano said.

“The empirical data shows that when you increase the minimum wage in a phased way, it does not kill jobs. In fact, it does the opposite, because it circulates more money in the economy. When it does that, it generates economic growth.”

Toscano said there are some things Democrats and Republicans will agree on, including further work on strengthening Virginia’s ethics laws and decreasing the number of high-stakes tests within the public educational system.