December 27, 2023

Neighbors, 

My family and I hope you have had a wonderful holiday season and that you have been able to spend time with family and friends. We wish you a happy New Year full of joy, good health, and prosperity.

In this newsletter, I’ve included information about the following:

  • Town Halls

    • Fairfax Delegation Public Hearing - January 6

    • South County Town Hall with Senator Surovell and Delegate-Elect Henson - January 27

  • Community Updates

    • Long Bridge Funding Announcement

    • WES Economic Inclusion Forum

  • Legislative Updates 

    • Legislative Briefings

    • Governor’s Introduced Budget

  • Virginia Asian American and Pacific Islander Caucus

  • Transportation Updates

    • New VDOT Website

    • VDOT Stopping End-of-Year Road Closures

As always, let me know if you have questions or need assistance by calling my office at (804) 698-1042 or emailing me at DelKTran@house.virginia.gov. 

Best, Kathy

Kathy KL Tran

Delegate


Town Halls

Thank you to everyone who attended my Pre-Session Legislative Town Hall earlier this month. I appreciated hearing from you about your priorities for the upcoming legislative session and sharing my work. 

I hope that you will be able to join me at our upcoming town halls!

Fairfax Delegation Public Hearing — January 6

Fairfax Delegation Public Hearing

Saturday, January 6th at 9:00am 

Fairfax County Government Center

Registration is required to provide comments.

To register and for more information, click here.

Our annual Fairfax Delegation Public Hearing is an opportunity for the residents of Fairfax County to share their priorities with state legislators that represent our community. You are invited to attend in-person or watch live online. Note, you must be in-person to provide comments.

South County Town Hall with Senator Surovell and Delegate-Elect Henson - January 27

Save the date for an in-person South County Town Hall with Senator Scott Surovell, Delegate-Elect Henson, and me! We will meet on  January 27 at 10am. More information will be available soon!

Community Updates

Long Bridge

It was wonderful joining U.S. Senators Mark Warner and Tim Kaine; U.S. Representatives Don Beyer, Gerry Connolly, Abigail Spanberger, and Jennifer McClellan; Governor Youngkin; and many other leaders from around the Commonwealth to celebrate a $729 million federal investment to expand the Long Bridge.

This funding, from the bipartisan Infrastructure and Jobs Act, will expand the capacity of the Long Bridge across the Potomac River. The Long Bridge is used by CSX, Amtrak, and VRE and is the biggest rail choke point on the East Coast. Its expansion will allow for the more efficient movement of people and goods up and down the coast, and it will ease congestion.

WES Economic Inclusion Forum

I was honored to join World Education Services at their 2023 summit to discuss legislation and strategies to increase the participation of New Americans in our economy. 

I shared my work, which includes legislation I introduced and passed to establish the Virginia Office of New Americans and to provide instate tuition to new refugees. I also discussed my efforts to meet critical workforce shortages in Virginia by tapping into the experience and expertise of immigrants and refugees who call the Commonwealth home and are internationally-trained nurses and teachers.

Legislative Updates

Legislative Briefings

In anticipation of the upcoming 2024 General Assembly legislative session, my team and I are  continuing to attend briefings with constituents, advocates, and stakeholders to hear about their priorities.

I met with my constituents Ting and James to hear about their advocacy with Chesapeake Climate Action Network and NoVa New Leaf.

I also enjoyed having tea and coffee with my constituent Eileen, a volunteer with the Fairfax Humane Society, and Gina, who serves as president of the chapter.

In addition, during the past few weeks, my team and I met with the Equality Virginia, Fairfax County Board of Supervisors, Fairfax County School Board, Northern Virginia Community College, Potomac Conservancy, Potomac Riverkeeper Network, Rockbridge Conservation, Southern Environmental Law Center, Virginia Conservation Network, and Wild Virginia.

Governor’s Budget Proposal

Governor Youngkin announced his proposed budget on December 20th. 

As I have shared, the Virginia constitution requires the General Assembly to pass a balanced biennial budget every two years, and this will be one of the top priorities for the House of Delegates and state Senate during the 2024 legislative session. I look forward to working with my colleagues to put forth a House budget proposal that invests in public education, expands health care, and lifts up working families. 

You can find the Governor’s budget on the legislature’s website.

Virginia Asian American and Pacific Islander Caucus 

It has been an incredible honor to serve as the Chair of the Virginia Asian American and Pacific Islander Caucus (VAAPIC). During my tenure, we have made unprecedented progress in growing our caucus and passing legislation to address priorities for Virginia’s Asian Americans and Pacific Islander (AAPI) community, including expanding language access, reducing barriers to professional licensure for immigrants, and increasing support for refugees.  

At the beginning of the month, I told the Caucus that I would not stand for reelection as Chair. Delegate Irene Shin was recently elected as the new VAAPIC Chair and I look forward to working with her to lift up the perspectives and concerns of AAPI Virginians. 

You can read more about the change in leadership here.

Transportation Updates

New VDOT Website

Recently, the Virginia Department of Transportation announced that they had launched a new website that prioritizes popular content and makes important alerts easier to find. Visit https://www.vdot.virginia.gov/ to see the new site!

VDOT Stopping End-of-Year Road Closures

To make our holiday travel a little faster and a little smoother, VDOT announced recently that they will be stopping highway work zones and lifting most lane closures from December 22 at noon until January 2 at noon.

I hope this makes your holiday travel easier and less stressful! Learn more on VDOT’s website.