January 28, 2024

 

Neighbors, 

Thank you to everyone who attended my South County Town Hall this weekend with Senator Scott Surovell and Delegate Rozia Henson — I appreciated hearing from you about your priorities for our community!

 

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

 

  • Upcoming Town Hall

    • Session Town Hall on January 30

  • Legislative

    • My Legislative Agenda

    • My Budget Priorities

    • Constituent Meetings and Legislative Briefings

  • Community Update

    • Lake Accotink Update

  • Transportation Updates

    • New Braddock Road DMV Customer Service Center

 

As always, let me know if you have questions or need assistance by calling my office at (804) 698-1018 or emailing me at DelKTran@house.virginia.gov. 

 

Best, Kathy

 

Kathy KL Tran

Delegate


Upcoming Town Hall


Session Town Hall on January 30

This Tuesday, January 30 at 7:00pm, I will be giving an update on my policy agenda and other major legislation at my virtual Session Town Hall - I hope to see you there! Click here to register!


Legislative Updates


My Legislative Agenda

 

I presented four of my bills in House Committee and Subcommittees this week.

  • House Bill 970 , Cover All Kids — This bill provides health care to vulnerable kids by creating a Medicaid-like program for about 13,000 children in Virginia, regardless of their immigration status. It passed unanimously with bipartisan support out of the Social Services Subcommittee. Thank you to all of the stakeholders that came to support this legislation, including the Healthcare for All Virginians Coalition, Medical Society of Virginia, Virginia Hospital and Healthcare Association, and the Virginia Catholic Conference.

  • House Bill 982 , Medicaid Coverage for Hearing Aids — This bill provides Medicaid coverage for hearing aids for adults. We know that untreated hearing loss profoundly affects quality of life and may lead to cognitive decline. The bill was heard in the Health and Human Services Committee and passed with strong bipartisan support. Thank you to AARP, Speech-Language Hearing Association of Virginia, Virginia Poverty Law Center, and Alzheimer’s Association for their support.

  • House Bill 984 , Head Start Centers in Community Colleges — This bill requires the Virginia Department of Education and Virginia Community College System to provide recommendations on expanding the availability of Head Start programs at community colleges — ensuring working students will have access to affordable, high quality child care programs for their kids. The bill was heard in the Early Childhood Subcommittee and passed with bipartisan support. I appreciate having the support of Virginia Head Start Association and Voices for Virginia's Children. 

  • House Bill 1001 , Expanding Collective Bargaining — This bill would expand the right of public employees to collectively bargain for better pay, benefits, and working conditions. It passed Subcommittee #2 of the Labor and Commerce Committee. 

I joined Senator Jennifer Boysko, Virginia AFL-CIO, SEIU 512, SEIU 32BJ, and other unions at a press conference about the need to expand collective bargaining in Virginia. You can read more about the press conference and my bill from the Courthouse News Service. 

 

You can learn more about my legislative agenda and the bills I have introduced in the General Assembly this year on my website.  


My Budget Priorities

 

This year, the General Assembly is required by the Virginia Constitution to pass a balanced biennial budget. You can see the Governor’s proposed budget here.

 

Legislators are able to submit requests to be included in the biennial budget. You can see all of my budget requests on my list of legislation.


Constituent Meetings and Legislative Briefings

I had a wonderful time joining Principal Mukai and fellow West Springfield High School parents at their monthly PTSA meeting to give an update on the legislative session. Go Spartans!

It was good to connect with the Fairfax County Alumnae Chapter of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority and my constituent Lenior.

Thank you to the advocates with Church World Service for all you do to welcome New Americans to Virginia. I appreciate your support for my House Bill 995, to provide a path to professional licensure for refugee doctors living in Virginia. 

I was so glad to see President Kress, faculty, and students from Northern Virginia Community College and hear about their priorities.

 

My staff and I also enjoyed meeting with advocates from All Points Broadband, the American College of Nurse Midwives, the American Diabetes Association, the American Heart Association, the ASK Childhood Cancer Foundation, Birth in Color, Holistic Addictions Recovery, the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees (IATSE), the Medical Society of Virginia, Northern Virginia Family Services, Omega Protein, Reston Strong, Virginia Area Health Education Centers, the Virginia Association of Museums Breakfast, the Virginia Cattlemen’s Association, the Virginia Health Workforce Development Authority, Virginia Humanities, the Virginia Poverty Law Center, Virginia Promise Partnership, and the Virginia Skill Game Coalition.


Community Updates


Lake Accotink Update

 

Lake Accotink is an important treasure for many neighbors. As I have heard from constituents about the future of Lake Accotink, I wanted to share and make sure you saw updates from Supervisor James Walkinshaw regarding actions taken by the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors on The Walkinshaw Advisory.


Transportation Updates

 

New Braddock Road DMV Customer Service Center

 

The Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) recently opened their new customer service center at 9855 Braddock Road! 

 

The new customer service center will be open from 8:00am to 5:00pm Monday to Friday and 8:00am to noon on Saturdays. 

 

Need help from DMV? You can conduct transactions online at www.dmv.virginia.gov. If you need to visit in-person, check out the new Braddock Road location or you can find the nearest location on DMV’s website.

 

My staff and I are also available to help. You can email us at delktran@house.virginia.gov or call us at 804-698-1018.