2025 Legislative Agenda
I am honored to represent our community in the 18th District in the Virginia House of Delegates! Below is a summary of the bills and budget requests that I have sponsored to build a more just, equitable, and welcoming Virginia.
I look forward to hearing your priorities - I hope to welcome you to Richmond or see you at a future town hall! You can sign-up for my electronic newsletter to learn about my work on behalf of our community. You can also see tips on my website on how you can stay engaged with the legislative process.
2025 LEGISLATIVE AGENDA
Family First Economy
To build an economy that uplifts working families across Virginia, I sponsored:
House Bill 2180 Child Tax Credit — This bill provides targeted relief to working families and addresses child poverty for nearly 800,000 Virginian kids by establishing a one time, refundable state child tax credit. (Did not pass the House of Delegates)
House Bill 2764 Public Sector Collective Bargaining - Every worker deserves a seat at the table and this bill ensures that all of Virginia’s public sector employees will be able to collectively bargain. (Passed the House of Delegates)
House Bill 2218 Improving Tenant Rights — Tenants should be able to pay their rent in a manner that makes the most sense for their financial situation.This bill requires landlords to accept all lawful forms of payment for rent and security deposits, and to offer a free form of payment. (Passed the House of Delegates)
House Bill 2264 Establishing Virginia Direct File — This bill re-establishes a system to directly file our state taxes and requires Virginia to join the IRS’s Direct File program so that no one has to pay to file their taxes. (Passed the House of Delegates; Passed the state Senate)
Budget Amendment Item Item 289 #2h Cover All Kids — This program provides health care to vulnerable kids by creating a Medicaid-like program for about 13,000 children in Virginia, regardless of their immigration status. (Was not included in the House of Delegates budget)
World-Class Education
To ensure that each student in Virginia gets a world-class education, I introduced:
House Bill 2593 Creating the Virginia College Access and Affordability Scholarship Program — This bill uses the actuarial surplus from the Legacy Prepaid529 program to offer rebates to eligible account holders, create a Virginia College Access and Affordability Scholarship Program, and fund college access programs to encourage students to pursue higher education. (Did not pass the House of Delegates)
House Bill 2541 Accessible Tech — Technology is ubiquitous in how we perform our jobs, access government services, and learn in school. This bill aligns Virginia’s Information Technology Access Act to federal accessibility standards by requiring state agencies, local governments, institutions of higher education, and local school districts to ensure their information and communication technologies are accessible to all persons with a disability. (Passed the House of Delegates)
House Bill 2219 Augmentative and Alternative Communication — This bill requires schools to provide teachers and staff with training on students’ augmentative and alternative communication before classroom instruction begins so they can fully engage with each of their students. (Passed the House of Delegates)
House Bill 2265 Special Education Licensure — This bill allows qualified licensed teachers with over 15 years of experience teaching preschool special education the opportunity to continue teaching in their classroom without requiring extra training, if their superintendent recommends it, which helps meet critical teacher shortages. (Passed the House of Delegates)
Budget Amendment Item 140 #6h Troops to Teachers Budget Amendment — This budget request allows the Troops to Teachers program at the College of William and Mary to continue. This program prepares veterans to teach in K-12 schools, thereby helping veterans transition successfully to the civilian workforce while filling our teacher gaps. (Included in the House of Delegates and state Senate budget)
Strong Communities
To build strong, safe, and connected communities, I introduced:
House Bill 2241 Preventing Perpetrators of Hate Crimes from Accessing Firearms — America has experienced a sharp rise in hate crimes, and unfortunately, more than 25,000 hate crimes involve a firearm each year. This bill bans people convicted of misdemeanor assault from possessing a firearm, ammunition, or explosives if they intentionally selected their victim because of their race, religious conviction, gender, disability, gender identity, sexual orientation, or ethnic or national origin. (Passed the House of Delegates)
House Bill 2269 Reporting Threats and Violence Against Health Care Providers — Violence against health care providers has increased dramatically, and it is important to ensure safety of all providers and their patients. This bill requires hospitals to report threats and violence against health care providers in hospitals to the Virginia Department of Health. (Passed the House of Delegates)
House Bill 2746 Voting Rights for People Under Guardianship — This bill requires Virginia courts to determine that an individual under guardianship or conservatorship lacks the capacity to understand the act of voting before disqualifying them from voting. (Passed the House of Delegates; Passed the state Senate)
House Bill 2266 Removing Barriers to Solar Development — Costly infrastructure upgrades are barriers to expanding solar on our schools, government buildings, and parking lots. This bill spreads interconnection costs among eligible projects, allowing more solar energy. (Passed the House of Delegates; Passed the state Senate)
House Bill 2604 Competitive Procurement of Fossil Fuel Infrastructure — This bill requires electric utilities to consider all types of power resources, including clean energy, through a complete and competitive procurement process before building new fossil fuel plants. (Did not pass the House of Delegates)
Budget Amendment Item 456 #5h Hope for the Warriors — This budget request would expand the capacity of Hope for the Warriors to provide mental health and supportive services to post-9/11 service members, veterans, reservists, military spouses and their families in Northern Virginia. (Was not included in the House of Delegates budget)