GREETINGS FROM RICHMOND
Greetings!
We have finished the fourth week of the 2020 legislative session. Given the large number of bills that needed to be heard before the mid-session deadline, the House was in overdrive this week, with many Subcommittees beginning hearings at 7am and others ending well after 10pm.
As always, if I can be of any assistance, please email me at DelKTran@house.virginia.gov or call (804) 698-1042.
Cheers, Kathy
Legislative Update
We passed many bills out of the House of Delegates this week alone that will help move Virginia forward. I am pleased to share a highlight of some of the key bills. These and many others will head over to the State Senate for consideration.
We finalized the ratification of the Equal Rights Amendment and took an important step towards enshrining equality for women in the United States Constitution.
We passed seven gun safety measures. Below are short descriptions of each one:
House Bill 2: This bill would establish universal background checks and eliminate current loopholes in our Code.
House Bill 9: This bill would require gun owners to report lost or stolen firearms within 24 hours of discovering the loss.
House Bill 421: This bill gives localities the option of establishing policies regarding firearms. Any laws passed by localities must adhere to the U.S. and Virginia Constitutions, federal laws, and Virginia state laws.
House Bill 674: This bill would grant judges the authority to issue a temporary Emergency Substantial Risk Protective Orders for people deemed a risk to themselves or others based on sworn petition from a law enforcement officer. Those under an ESRPO would be prohibited from purchasing, owning or transporting a firearm during that time.
House Bill 812: This bill would reconstitute previous Virginia law and would restrict Virginians to purchasing one handgun per month.
House Bill 1004: This bill would make it a Class 6 felony if an individual who is subject to a protective order knowingly possesses a firearm.
House Bill 1083: Currently, Virginians are unable to recklessly leave loaded and unsecured firearms around children age 14 and under. This bill increases the age limit to 18 and under and also increases the penalty.
We expanded access to democracy by passing several voting rights bills:
House Bill 1 - this bill establishes no-excuse absentee voting
House Bill 238 - this bill allows additional time for absentee ballots to be received and counted in an election.
House Bill 207 - this bill allows Virginian voters to sign-up once a year to vote absentee by mail for all elections they are eligible to vote in that year.
We removed medically unnecessary barriers to abortion services and reproductive healthcare, such as eliminating a 24 hour mandatory waiting period, by passing House Bill 980.
In order to protect Virginians from predatory short-term loans, we passed House Bill 789 to cap interest and fees that can be charged for these types of loans.
Finally, we took an important step in criminal justice reform by passing House Bill 995. This bill doubles our current felony larceny threshold of $500 to $1,000.
Legislation
I previously shared that a number of my bills had passed out of subcommittees. Here is an update on those bills as they continue to move through the legislative process in the House:
House Bill 1206 - This bill would provide compensation for attorneys appointed as a guardian ad litem in Circuit Court when compensation is not currently otherwise allowed. This bill reported from the full Committee on Courts of Justice unanimously and was referred to the House Committee on Appropriations.
House Bill 1209 - This bill would create an Office of New Americans to assist with immigrant integration in Virginia. This bill passed the full Committee on Health, Welfare, and Institutions. It was referred to the Committee on Appropriations, and I presented the bill to the Appropriations Health and Human Resources Subcommittee for consideration.
House Bill 1222 - This bill would allow individuals living in nursing homes and assisted living facilities to use certain expired IDs when getting their documents notarized. This bill passed unanimously from the Committee on Courts of Justice and the full House of Delegates.
House Bill 1217 - This bill would direct the Virginia Department of Transportation to study and develop recommendations to address road and bridges that are deteriorating due to frequent flooding in Planning District 8, which includes the 42nd District. This bill passed the full Committee on Transportation.
House Bill 1141 - This bill ensures that pre-existing conditions are not being used when considering health coverage for individual and group plans covered by the Affordable Care Act if the ACA was repealed. This bill passed the full Committee on Labor and Commerce.
Several of my bills began the legislative process this week when I presented them in subcommittee. The status of these bills are below:
House Bill 1199: This bill would provide whistleblower protections for employees and independent contractors if they report that their employer is misclassifying workers to avoid paying required benefits or other compensation. I presented this bill to the Committee on Labor and Commerce - Subcommittee #1. It passed the Subcommittee and also the full Committee on Labor and Commerce.
House Bill 1204: This bill would require localities to create an opt-in program when they want to spray for the fall cankerworm on private property. A native type of caterpillar, the fall cankerworm is an important food source for birds and their young during their breeding and migratory season. I presented this bill to the House Committee on Counties, Cities, and Towns - Charters Subcommittee where it passed. I appreciated working with constituents and members of the Audubon Society of Northern Virginia, the Sierra Club, and other stakeholders on this bill
House Bill 1225: This bill clarifies when electric utilities are able to terminate power without notice and also establishes an appeals process for customers. I presented this bill to the Committee on Labor and Commerce - Subcommittee #3, and it passed on a unanimous vote. This issue was first raised in 2019 by Cheri, a constituent, and I am glad to have worked with the Virginia Poverty Law Center on this bill.
House Bill 1226: This bill would prohibit the VCU Health System Authority and UVA Medical Center, Virginia’s public hospitals, from aggressively collecting medical debt unless reasonable efforts have been made to determine if the patient is eligible for Medicaid or financial assistance. This bill unanimously passed both the Committee on Health, Welfare, and Institutions - Health Subcommittee and the full Committee on Health, Welfare, and Institutions. It was referred to the House Committee on Appropriations where it passed on a strong bipartisan vote.
House Bill 1211: This bill would ensure all Virginians, regardless of immigration status, know the rules of the road and meet all DMV requirements before being issued a driver’s license. I presented this bill to the Committee on Transportation - Transportation Innovations and General Topics Subcommittee. It passed the Subcommittee as well as the full Committee on Transportation, and it was referred to the Committee on Appropriations. I appreciated the support of the Virginia Coalition for Immigrant Rights, Americans for Prosperity, and other stakeholders.
House Bill 202: This bill would increase the frequency of trainings that election officers would receive on updates to voting laws. I presented this bill to the Committee on Privileges and Elections - Gubernatorial Appointments Subcommittee. It passed the Subcommittee and later the full Committee on Privileges and Elections unanimously.
House Bill 1210: This bill would ensure all Virginians, regardless of their English language abilities, are able to participate in our democracy by requiring our state and local governments to translate elections materials that meet criteria set by the Voting Rights Act. I presented this bill to the Committee on Privileges and Elections - Gubernatorial Appointments Subcommittee. The bill passed the Subcommittee and the full Committee on Privileges and Elections.
House Bill 1701: This bill would direct our state government to study ways we can expand access to telemedicine services, directs the Virginia Department of Health Professions to pursue reciprocal medical licensing agreements with states that border Virginia, and requires the Virginia Board of Medicine to expedite the licensing applications for certain medical professionals from bordering states. This bill passed unanimously from the House Committee on Health, Welfare, and Institutions - Health Professions Subcommittee. I am glad to have the support of the Northern Virginia Medical Society and the Medical Society of Virginia on this bill.
Several of my bills were either incorporated into other bills, referred to various Commissions for further study, carried over into the 2021 legislative session, or failed to report from subcommittee. Here is an update on those bills:
House Bill 203: This bill would provide additional time for our active duty overseas military members to cast their absentee ballot. The Committee on Privileges and Elections voted to continue this bill to the 2021 legislative session. I appreciated the support of the Joint Leadership Council, which is made up of various veteran service organizations, on this important issue.
House Bill 1202: This bill would allow localities to require potential contractors for public works contracts to enter into a project labor agreement. My bill was incorporated into Delegate Alfonso Lopez’s House Bill 358, which passed the Committee on General Laws. I look forward to working with Delegate Lopez to advance this bill on behalf of working families.
House Bill 1215: This bill would require employers to obtain informed consent when handling employees’ biometric data and provide safeguards for how this data is stored and disposed. The Committee on Communications, Technologyand Innovations Chair recommended that the Joint Council on Technology and Sciences further study this bill. I look forward to seeing the results of this study and expanding data protections for employees next session.
House Bill 1207: This bill would allow Virginians to petition for expungement of misdemeanor and felony larceny convictions if they meet certain criteria. There were many bills introduced regarding expungement of records, and the Courts of Justice Committee Chair referred all of these bills to the Virginia Crime Commission for further study. Thank you to my constituent, Mike, for working with me on this issue, and I look forward to hearing from the Commission on these bills.
House Bill 1702: This bill would direct the Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) to assess the speed limit of certain roads in Planning District 8 that are 55MPH and with intersections near schools and road curvatures. This bill came at a request of constituents in Mason Neck concerned about the speed limit on Gunston Road. While the bill failed to report and will no longer be addressed this session, I plan on continuing to work with VDOT to address the safety on Gunston Road.
House Bill 1216: This bill would make bridges subject to frequent flooding eligible for repair funding. Since the Committee on Transportation has advanced my legislation directing VDOT to study these types of bridges and roads, the Transportations Systems Subcommittee tabled this bill until VDOT completes the study and provides recommendations on how to address this issue.
Constituent Meetings
Thanks to those constituents who came to Richmond this week, sharing their perspectives on bills related to animal welfare, access to healthcare services in our hospitals, and more.
I had the pleasure of hosting my constituents from Girl Scout Troops 5551 and 1722. I enjoyed talking with them about our work in the House of Delegates and introducing them from the House Gallery.
Thank you to the hardworking members of Amalgamated Transit Union (ATU) Local 689 for visiting me. We worked together from the fall through the beginning of this year to push WMATA leadership to do all they could to restore service to bus lines originating from the Cinder Bed Bus Garage, which affected many of my constituents.
Celebrating the Washington Nationals World Series Championship
The House of Delegates invited Washington Nationals General Manager, Mike Rizzo, and staff to join us for a special Center Aisle Presentation. We presented the General Manager with House Joint Resolution 165 to commend the Washington Nationals on becoming the 2019 World Series Champions. My family and I are big Nationals fans, and it just happened that my eldest son was with me in Richmond that day because Fairfax County Public Schools was closed. This will be a wonderful memory for both of us!