FROM: Delegate Kathy Tran

SUBJECT: Newsletter 1/5/2023

January 5, 2023

Neighbors, 

Happy New Year! My family and I kicked off 2023 with our annual “first day hike” at Mason Neck State Park. I hope your year is filled with delight, wonder, peace and good health. 

During the holidays, I presented two resolutions to Jaime Lizárraga, a neighbor and constituent, to commend him for being confirmed by the Congress to be a commissioner of the Securities and Exchange Commission and for being given the Congressional Staff Award by the Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute. Please join me in congratulating Jaime on his accomplishments!

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

  • Upcoming Town Halls

  • Legislative Updates

    • New Laws in Effect

    • Governor’s Proposed Budget

    • Staying Engaged During Session

  • Inclement Weather Resources

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

LEGISLATIVE UPDATES

Upcoming Town Halls

I look forward to giving you updates about my work in Richmond and hearing from you about your priorities for our community at one of my upcoming town halls:

Fairfax County Delegation Public Forum

Saturday, January 7, 2023

Fairfax County Government Center in Conference Room #11

9:00am

Registration required by noon on 12/5 to provide public testimony - see link here.

New Laws in Effect

While new laws typically are enacted on July 1, there were two important laws that took effect on New Year’s Day:

Virginia’s minimum wage increased to $12 per hour. In 2020, we passed legislation to periodically raise the state minimum wage, which was $7.25 at the time and had not increased since the federal minimum wage was raised in 2009. This is the third periodic increase of our state minimum wage since 2020.

We also decreased the grocery tax to 1% by eliminating the statewide 1.5% tax on groceries and personal hygiene products such as menstrual products. 

During a time when families are struggling with inflation, I am pleased that we are able to provide some tax relief, including eliminating the tax on women, and make sure our vulnerable workers are not left behind.

Governor’s Proposed Budget

On December 15, Governor Glenn Youngkin released his budget proposal for the upcoming legislative session. As I have shared in previous newsletters, we passed a biennial budget during the last legislative session that took effect on July 1. The Governor’s proposed budget amends that biennial budget and includes his proposals on how to allocate about $2 billion in surplus revenue.

You can find the Governor’s proposed budget here. Highlights include:

  • a $362 million tax break for corporations. If approved, Virginia’s corporate tax rate would be reduced from six percent to five percent, which is lower than Virginia’s highest individual income tax rate. I am concerned about this proposal as many corporations are raking in record profits while many families struggle to make ends meet. We also need to make sure we can fully fund education, health care services, housing support, road infrastructure, and other key public services.

  • $500,000 to study financial incentives to move the Washington Commanders to Virginia. I strongly oppose public financing for stadiums for professional sports teams. I have concerns about the ability of the Washington Commanders’ team owners to ensure a safe workplace with strong anti-sexual harassment policies. In addition, professional sports team owners have access to immense personal wealth and other financial capital. Instead of giving our taxpayer dollars to these teams, I believe we should invest in other priorities facing the Commonwealth.

  • $230 million to address gaps in Virginia’s mental health, substance abuse, and other behavioral services. These types of investments are important to meet the high demand for mental health services and programs to address substance abuse that we are experiencing throughout Virginia. 

You can share your input to the Governor’s proposed budget with the House Finance and Appropriations Committee and Senate Finance Committee by providing written comments through Thursday, January 5 here.

Staying Engaged During Session

I want to ensure that you stay informed and engaged during the General Assembly session, and I’ve highlighted some tips and resources below as well as my website. 

My Newsletter and Town Halls

During session, I send a weekly electronic newsletter to provide updates about my work in Richmond on behalf of our community and to share key issues that are being considered in the General Assembly. 

I also host or attend several town halls and hope you will be able to join us. You can subscribe to my newsletter here. You can learn about my town halls through my newsletter or via my social media.

Providing Input to Legislation

Your input is important to me. You can call my office at 804-698-1042 or email me at delktran@house.virginia.gov with your feedback or to schedule an appointment to meet with my team. You can also write to me at P.O. Box 2731, Springfield, Virginia 22152.

Tracking Legislation

You can keep track of the things we do in Richmond using the resources below:

  • View all of the bills that have been introduced for the 2023 General Assembly Session on the Legislative Information Services homepage.

  • Watch the live floor session, live committee meetings, and archives of previous meetings.

  • Find the agenda for each committee meeting on the committee’s homepage.

    • Each agenda will identify the bills that have been “docketed” or will be heard during the committee meeting.

  • Sign-up to provide public comments or submit written comments for committee hearings.

Visit Richmond

You can schedule an in-person meeting with me or my team by calling or emailing my office. We would also be happy to schedule a tour of the Capitol for you. You can find resources to organize your visit to our Capitol on my website.

Inclement Weather Resources

As winter continues, I encourage you to check out tips and resources for preparing for inclement weather on my website here.

Throughout the year, I provide information about shelters, how to keep updated about road conditions and snow plowing, contact information for public transit and utility companies, and more. I hope this information is helpful to you!