February 6, 2022
Neighbors,
We just finished the fourth week of the legislative session, and our pace is picking up as we prepare for Crossover, a major milestone during the session. This is the deadline when all bills must be heard in the chamber that they were introduced before they “cross over” to the other chamber. I anticipate we will have a lot of late nights in the Capitol this coming week as we consider the remaining House bills.
In this newsletter, I’ve included information about the following:
Upcoming Town Halls
Constituent Meetings
Legislative Update
Governor’s Executive Order 2
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, 42nd District
Upcoming Town Halls
Thanks to everyone who joined my Town Hall last weekend with Senator Scott Surovell! I hope you will be able to attend one of my upcoming virtual Town Halls in the next few weeks.
Tuesday, February 8 at 7:00pm Virginia Asian American and Pacific Islander Caucus Town Hall
My fellow members of the Virginia AAPI Caucus and I will be providing a virtual legislative update. All are welcome! Register here!
Thursday, February 24 at 6:30pm with Virginia Department of Transportation
Join me and VDOT to get a virtual update on transportation infrastructure in the 42nd District! VDOT officials will present and then take questions from participants. Register here!
Constituent Meetings
Many thanks to constituents for taking the time to meet with me and my team, writing or calling about your priorities! This week, we met with constituents and members of the Burke/Fairfax Moms Demand Action Chapter, the Virginia Conservation Network, the Faith Alliance for Climate Solutions, and Clinicians for Climate Action.
I also spoke to members of the Virginia Conservation Network during their virtual lobby day. I appreciated the opportunity to share tips on advocating in the General Assembly and highlight my bills to protect our environment and natural treasures. If you would like to schedule a meeting, please email my office at delktran@house.virginia.gov.
Legislative Update
Below, I have highlighted some bills that have passed the House of Delegates and will now be considered by the state Senate:
HB320 - This bill keeps the Virginia state minimum wage at $11/hour, repealing parts of a law we passed in 2020 to put us on a pathway to a $15/hour minimum wage. I did not support this bill and it passed the House 51-48.
When my parents and I first came to the United States, my parents’ first jobs paid minimum and low wages. Today, the majority of workers in these jobs are adults, women, and Black Virginians and other people of color. Raising the minimum wage is a matter of economic justice, women’s equality, and immigrant justice, and I spoke out against this bill. You can see my remarks here.
HB492 - This bill increases transparency in our campaigns by allowing the Department of Elections to conduct audits of campaign finance reports. I supported this bill and it passed the House 81-19.
HB827 - This bill prohibits local governments from banning firearms on their property, which repeals a law that the General Assembly passed in 2020. I did not support this bill and it passed 52-48.
HB1203 - This bill creates the Suicide Prevention Coordinator position in the Department of Veterans Services to coordinate mental health care services for military service members, veterans, and their families. I supported this bill and it passed the House unanimously.
Update on My Legislative Agenda
Many of my bills were heard this week. Thanks to constituents who testified virtually or in person for legislation that we partnered on. I’m honored to work with you to bring light to issues affecting our community! You can see my full legislative agenda here.
Expanding Health Care
HB987 - This bill updates our code to comply with federal regulations by ensuring information about the Medicaid program is available to Virginians with limited English proficiency and people with disabilities affecting communication. This bill passed unanimously out of subcommittee.
HB1071 - This bill protects vulnerable hospital patients from overly aggressive debt collection and increases language access about medical billing. I appreciate having the support of the Virginia Poverty Law Center and Legal Aid Justice Center on this issue. This bill passed unanimously out of subcommittee.
Strengthening Public Education
HB979 - This bill would allow eligible internationally-trained teachers to qualify for a provisional license from the Department of Education. It helps address our teacher shortage, while enabling refugees and immigrants to practice their trained profession. Thanks to the Virginia Association of School Superintendents, Virginia PTA, Virginia Education Association, American Federation for Teachers, and Church World Service for their support. The bill passed unanimously out of committee and was read for the first time on the House floor.
HB1047 - This bill increases classroom support for students who use augmentative and assistive communication. Thank you to my constituents, Toby and Lindsay, and more than 30 organizations who supported this bill, including CommunicationFIRST, The ARC of Virginia, the Virginia Education Association, and American Federation of Teachers. Given the subcommittee’s recommendation to study this issue, we determined the best path forward is to strike this bill and continue working on a legislative solution in future sessions.
HB1246 - This bill requires the Department of Education to recommend how local school divisions can ensure that all digital learning tools are accessible to all students. Thank you to my constituent and the National Federation for the Blind for working with me. This bill passed unanimously out of subcommittee.
Protecting Our Environment
HB965 - This bill would have modernized an outdated tax credit for energy efficient water heaters, the second-largest use of energy in homes. It would have been a small way to address climate change and keep money in your pocket book. It failed on a party-line vote in subcommittee.
Improving Road Infrastructure
HB992 - This bill increases transparency and public engagement in developing our state plan to address at-risk infrastructure. It failed on a party-line vote in subcommittee.
HB975 - This bill aims to protect drivers and wildlife by gathering data about animal-vehicle collisions. Thanks to Wild Virginia, the Nature Conservancy, the National Council of Environmental Legislators, and the Virginia Conservation Network for their support. This bill failed in subcommittee on a party-line vote.
Protecting Consumers
HB1027 - The bill regulates companies offering merchant cash advances, providing new protections for small businesses against these predatory lending practices. This bill passed out of subcommittee again on a bipartisan vote. I appreciate having the support of the Virginia Poverty Law Center, The Commonwealth Institute for Fiscal Analysis, and Richmond Black Restaurant Experience. You can learn more here.
HB1013 - The bill increases transparency and protections for individuals who have long term care insurance policies. Thanks to my constituent Jeff and the Virginia Academy of Elder Law Attorneys for working with me on this issue. Unfortunately, this bill failed on a party-line vote in subcommittee.
Protecting Kids
HB1043 - This bill requires the Virginia Department of Education to make recommendations on how to increase youth safety through required background checks and child abuse and neglect training for employees and volunteers of sports leagues. Thank you to many activists and the YMCA of Greater Richmond for their support.
Honoring Our Military Families
HB957 - The bill allows localities to exempt surviving spouses of service members who died in the line of duty from certain property taxes. Thank you to my constituents Traci and Edith, and all the surviving spouses who bravely shared their stories in support of this legislation. It was my honor to introduce some of these spouses on the House floor, where they were greeted with a standing ovation. Thank you as well to the Joint Leadership Council of Veterans Service Organizations for their support. This bill passed unanimously out of subcommittee.
Building A More Welcoming And Inclusive Virginia
HB1020 - This bill would have directed the Secretary of Administration to collect data about telework policies for individuals with disabilities and create model practices of inclusive telework policies for state agencies and businesses. The bill failed in subcommittee on a party-line vote.
HB1049 - This bill advances language access equity by making sure that people who are limited English proficient or people with disabilities affecting communication have access to Virginia state government. Thank you to the many supporters of this legislation, including the Virginia Asian American and Pacific Islander Caucus, The Commonwealth Institute for Fiscal Analysis, Virginia Poverty Law Center, and Voices for Virginia’s Children. You can learn more about this issue here. This bill passed out of committee on a bipartisan vote.
Governor’s Executive Order 2 (School Mask Mandates)
On January 15, Governor Youngkin issued Executive Order 2, banning school mask mandates. This Executive Order is being challenged by three lawsuits, including one brought by Fairfax County Public Schools and other school boards.
As I mentioned previously, in an effort to get our kids back to in-person school, the General Assembly passed Senate Bill 1303 in 2021 with strong bipartisan support. This law requires school districts to offer in-person classes while following the Center for Disease Control’s COVID guidance. The CDC recommendations currently include universal mask wearing in schools.
On February 4, the circuit judge hearing the lawsuit brought by school boards temporarily blocked implementation of Executive Order 2 because Senate Bill 1303 is a Virginia law that remains in effect and cannot be overturned by an Executive Order. You can read the opinion here.