Newsletter Week of 2/6/2023

Dear Friend,

We have only 2 weeks left in session! This past week was crossover, which is when all of the legislation that has passed the House of Delegates is moved over to the State Senate, and vice-versa. I am thrilled to announce that two of my bills made it through the House of Delegates and will be heard in the Senate in the coming weeks. This week, we also voted on the House version of our state budget.

REMINDER: This Saturday, February 11th, 9:00 am, at the Vienna Police Station, I will be joining my colleague Senator Chap Petersen, as well as Vienna Mayor Linda Colbert, for a Town Hall to discuss the Legislative Session. This will be your opportunity to hear directly from us, ask us questions about legislation affecting our community, and share your thoughts and concerns. We hope to see you there!

My Current Bills:

HB2424 - This bill will increase access to interpreters in civil proceedings for people who are deaf and hard of hearing. It passed the House of Delegates unanimously and has been referred to the Senate Judiciary Committee, which meets this Monday at 8am.

HB2492 - Ensures that Virginia's Disability Board remains in compliance with federal law so that Virginia doesn't lose out on millions of dollars in federal funds. This bill also passed the House of Delegates unanimously and is awaiting committee referral in the Senate.

Updates:

Thursday the House of Delegates passed our version of the state budget. Next we will begin reconciling the differences between this budget and the one passed by the Senate.

Here is an update on the legislation I have co-patroned this session.

Patron Type	Bill #	Chief Patron	Bill Description	Status
​Chief Co-Patron	HB2445	Bennett-Parker	Renews the wholesome food donation tax credit for amounts up to $10,000	Passed House 99-0
Chief Co-Patron	SB 852	Favola	Prohibits issuing a search warrant for the search and seizure of a computer containing menstrual data	Passed Senate 31-9
Co-Patron	HB 1419	Kory	Extends eligibility for the Brown v. Board of Education Scholarship Program to the descendants of persons who were residing in jurisdictions in Virginia in which the public schools were closed to avoid desegregation between 1954 and 1964.	Passed House 99-0
Co-Patron	HB 1520	Simonds	​Places certain restrictions on railroad companies to increase safety	Failed in Subcommittee 4-3
Co-Patron	HB 1566	Rasoul	​Requires teachers to be paid at or above the national average	​Left in House Appropriations Committee
Co-Patron	HB 1566	Ware	Directs the State Corporation Commission to order reductions to base rates charged by utility companies provided that the companies are making unreasonable profits	Passed House 99-0
Co-Patron	HB 1631	Bulova	​Allows emergency dispatchers to claim workers' compensation benefits relating to PTSD	Failed in Appropriations Subcommittee 4-3
Co-Patron	HB 1759	Reid	​Creates a workgroup to study how to improve Virginia for veterans	Passed House 99-0
Co-Patron	HB1852	Subramanyam	Directs the Commission on School Construction and Modernization to make recommendations to incorporate renewable energy generation facilities in schools	Failed in Subcommittee 6-2
Co-Patron	HB1938	Plum	​Requires school boards to employ at least one full-time counselor per 1,000 students	Failed in Appropriations Subcommittee 5-3
Co-Patron	HB 2038	Shin	​Allows state employees health insurance to also cover that of an incapacitated child regardless of whether the child lives with the employee	Passed House 100-0
Co-Patron	HB 2070	Murphy	​Any person who possess a firearm after being found guilty for assault and battery against someone in a dating relationship is guilty of a class 1 misdemeanor	Failed in Subcommittee 3-3
Co-Patron	HB 2073	Murphy	​Creates the Interstate Medical Licensure Compact to speed up issuance of a license to practice medicine in the Commonwealth for qualified physicians from out of state	Left in Subcommittee
Co-Patron	HB2074	Murphy	Repeals mandatory minimums for persons charged with simple assault and battery for those on the autism spectrum provided that the crime was influenced by the person's disability	Left in Committee
Co-Patron	HB2076	Murphy	​Changes eligibility for Virginia Military Survivors and Dependents Education Program: shortens from five years to one the physical presence requirements, 90% static disabled instead of 90% permanent disabled, makes stepchildren of living veterans eligible	Failed in Appropriations Subcommittee 5-3
Co-Patron	HB2078	Murphy	​Makes it a Class 1 misdemeanor for a licensed firearm manufacturer to give a handgun to an unlicensed person without a locking device or a warning that guns should be kept locked	Failed in Subcommittee 5-3
Co-Patron	HB 2080	Murphy	​Creates special license plates for women veterans	Passed house 100-0
Co-Patron	HB 2104	Bourne	Increases the default boundaries of a school crossing zone from 600 feet to 750 feet from the limits of school property.	Passed house 99-1
Co-Patron	HB 2111	Bourne	​Require Department of Education to oversee work-based learning and implementation of teacher mentor programs, requires school boards to decrease ratio of ESOL, assistant principals and support staff to students	Left in Appropriations Committee