NEWSLETTER

January 16, 2023

Neighbors, 

We finished the first week of the 2023 legislative session, which kicked off on January 11. Please see my website for tips and resources on how to follow session and share your input here.

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

  • Upcoming Town Hall

  • Constituent Meetings

  • Legislative Updates

    • My Legislative Agenda

    • Governor’s State of the Commonwealth

  • Community Updates

    • Organizing a Town Hall on Safety of Lee Chapel Road

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

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

  • Legislation Updates

    • Upcoming Town Hall

    • My Legislative Agenda

    • Staying Engaged During Session

  • Community Updates

    • Deadly Crash on Lee Chapel

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

Upcoming Town Hall

My next legislative town hall is on February 4 with Senator Scott Surovell — I hope you will be able to join us!

Town Hall with Delegate Kathy Tran & Senator Scott Surovell 

February 4 at 10:00am

South County High School

8501 Silverbrook Rd, Lorton, VA 22079

Constituent Meetings

This week, I met with constituents and neighbors from the Burke-Fairfax Chapter of Moms Demand Action. We discussed the need to address gun violence by improving safe storage policies and banning “ghost guns” or firearms that are unserialized and untraceable, and are manufactured or assembled at home. Thank you for your advocacy!

Legislative Updates

This year, the legislative session lasts 45 days. Already, more than 1,600 bills have been introduced and committees have begun debating legislation

In addition to shepherding my bills through the legislative process, I am a member of the House Committee on Health, Welfare, and Institutions and the House Committee on Agriculture, Chesapeake, and Natural Resources.

I am also the Chair of the Virginia Asian American and Pacific Islander Caucus, an official bicameral caucus that serves as a voice for nearly 800,000 Asian Americans and Pacific Islander Virginians.

My Legislative Agenda

My legislative agenda focuses on:

  • expanding health care

  • defending reproductive rights

  • increasing voting rights

  • keeping kids safe at school

  • lifting up working families

  • honoring our military families

  • protecting our environment

  • increasing consumer protections

  • creating a competitive workforce

  • and building a more welcoming and inclusive Commonwealth

I hope you will take some time to read more about the bills that I have introduced on my website.

Two of my bills were covered in the press this week.

Clean, safe water is essential to public health and the wellbeing of our environment and wildlife. I introduced House Bill 2209 to let local governments prohibit the sale and use of pavement sealants with high levels of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH), which increases cancer risk, particularly in young children. You can read more about this effort here.

The federal government’s 340B Drug Pricing Program helps safety-net hospitals save money by purchasing prescription drugs at a discount, with a goal of ensuring these hospitals have additional resources to increase services for low-income patients. 

An expose by the New York Times in September showed how this program is being abused in Virginia. To address this issue, I am finalizing a bill to require participating hospitals to report if and how they are investing the savings into the local community. You can read more about the community’s response and my efforts here and here.

Governor’s State of the Commonwealth

Governor Glenn Youngkin gave the annual State of the Commonwealth address on January 11 during which he shared his vision for Virginia and his legislative and budget priorities for the 2023 session. You can read his speech here.

A couple of highlights from his speech:

  • Virginia has a $3.6 billion surplus, and one of Governor Youngkin’s priorities is to decrease the corporate income tax. As I have noted previously, providing targeted tax relief is important; however, I am wary of giving corporations tax cuts when we still need to fully fund education, health care services, housing support, road infrastructure, and other key public services. You can find the Governor’s proposed budget here.

  • Governor Youngkin is asking for significant investments into Virginia’s behavioral health system. Our mental and behavioral health services and substance abuse programs are extremely stretched, and I support efforts to increase funding for these important services.

  • The Governor called for a 15 week Abortion ban, which is a sweeping restriction on Virginians’ reproductive freedom. Reproductive care is health care, and I will not support policies that reduce access to abortion care. 

  • Governor Youngkin is pushing to repeal Virginia’s clean car emissions standards, which passed the General Assembly in 2021. The adoption of these standards was supported by both environmental advocates and Virginia’s automobile dealers, who recognized having stronger standards makes us have a more competitive marketplace. These policies help us reduce our carbon footprint, and I do not support efforts to repeal them.

  • The Governor is focused on recruiting and retaining nurses to fill critical workforce gaps. I agree we must address Virginia’s severe nursing shortage so we can provide excellent health care throughout the Commonwealth. I am open to discussing the many different ways we can approach this issue, and I introduced House Bill 2211 to tap into the skills of immigrants and refugees who were trained in their home countries to be nurses.

Community Updates

Organizing a Town Hall on the Safety of Lee Chapel Road

Last Tuesday evening, three teenagers were killed in a car crash on Lee Chapel Road. As our community mourns this devastating loss, I have received an outpouring of messages from neighbors asking what can be done to prevent a tragedy like this in the future.

I have reached out to the Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) and the West Springfield Police Station to request the crash report and subsequent recommendations. Also, I am also organizing a Town Hall with VDOT and other agencies to discuss safety concerns on Lee Chapel Road. Once it has been confirmed, I will provide the date/time for the town hall in a future newsletter and on social media.