March 13, 2022

Neighbors, 

We completed the last week of the 2022 regular Legislative Session and adjourned sine die yesterday. However, our work remains — Since we were unable to decide on a final biennial budget, I will be heading back to Richmond for a special session soon to consider unfinished bills and the budget.

On March 12, we marked the end of the second year since former Governor Northam first declared a state of emergency in response to the COVID pandemic. Since then, more than 19,200 Virginians have died of COVID. My heart is with their families. May their memories be a blessing.

I am grateful to our healthcare professionals, essential frontline workers, and teachers for all they have done throughout to support our communities and children. Their sacrifices have saved countless lives. And I am grateful for neighbors in the 42nd District and beyond who have generously given time, donated goods, and lent a helping hand so that others in our community did not go without. This selfless spirit will allow us to recover stronger than before.

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

  • Upcoming Town Halls

    • Electric Reliability Town Hall on 3/14

  • Legislative Updates

    • My Legislative Update

    • Budget Update

    • Snapshot of Legislation Passed This Week 

  • Virginia Asian American and Pacific Islander Caucus Updates

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

Electric Reliability Town Hall with Dominion at 6:30 on March 14

Please join me for my rescheduled Electric Reliability Town Hall with Dominion Energy on Monday, March 14 at 6:30pm!

If you registered for the original date, you can use the same link. If you haven’t registered yet, you may do so here: https://bit.ly/ElectricReliabilityTownHall

Legislative Updates

My Legislative Update

Five of my bills are being sent to the Governor for consideration!

HB957 — This bill allows localities to give tax relief for surviving spouses of service members killed in the line of duty. I’m proud to have worked on this legislation with my constituents Traci and Edith, and with the Joint Leadership Council of Veterans Service Organizations and the Military Officers Association of America.

HB979 — This bill allows eligible internationally-trained teachers to qualify for a provisional teacher license. This 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, Church World Service, and the Jewish Community Relations Council of Greater Washington for their support. 

HB987 — This bill ensures that Medicaid information is accessible to Virginians with limited English proficiency or with disabilities, bringing Virginia into compliance with federal regulations. 

HB1027 — This bill defends Virginia small businesses from merchant cash advances, a potentially predatory practice, by regulating these transactions. Thanks to the Virginia Poverty Law Center, The Commonwealth Institute, and the Richmond Black Restaurant Experience for working on this legislation with me. You can learn more here.

HB1071 — This bill protects vulnerable hospital patients against medical debt. It requires hospitals perform financial aid screenings, provide payment plans, and make charity care information more accessible. I appreciate the Virginia Poverty Law Center and Legal Aid Justice Center for partnering with me.


Budget Update

As I mentioned previously, in February, the House of Delegates and the state Senate passed their own proposals for the biennial budget. I shared highlights of the introduced budget proposal versus the House proposal in an earlier newsletter.

If you would like to see a summary of all of the proposals, I would recommend the analysis that The Commonwealth Institute did here.

We are required to pass a balanced budget by June 30 under the Virginia Constitution. Unfortunately, the House and Senate were unable to negotiate a biennial budget by the end of the regular session. The Governor will call us into a legislative special session in the next few weeks.

At issue is the Governor’s proposal to double the standard deduction, which would cost the state $2 billion over the biennium, as well as other proposals regarding the gas tax, grocery tax, creation of a football stadium authority, and other spending.

Snapshot of Legislation that Passed This Week 

Below is a highlight of bills that had final passage in both Chambers and are now headed to the Governor for consideration.

HB191 — This bill establishes a special advisor to the Governor focused on health workforce needs in Virginia. Given the need to address talent shortages we face in the nursing, behavioral health, and other health care fields, I supported this bill. 

HB632 — This bill allows law enforcement to stop cars for exhaust systems that are not in good working order as a primary offense. I voted for this bill.

HB734 — This bill limits release of cold case files, including certain police records, from the Virginia Freedom of Information Act, rolling back a law that the General Assembly passed last year. I opposed this bill. 

HB763 — This bill requires charitable electronic gambling be limited to social organizations at their headquarters. I voted for this bill.

HB1191 — This bill delays the implementation of and makes other changes to the Marcus Alert Bill, which passed in 2021 and requires local governments to ensure coordinated response between mental health experts and law enforcement for certain situations. I opposed this bill.

HJ16 — This resolution renames the Joint Subcommittee on Coastal Flooding as the Joint Subcommittee on Recurrent Flooding and expands the Committee’s scope to include riverine and stormwater flooding. The Committee is charged with making recommendations to minimize the impact of flooding in Virginia. I supported this resolution.

SB591 — This bill would include any substance that has .3% or a certain per-serving or per-package amount of tetrahydrocannabinol in the definition of “marijuana.” The bill is intended to regulate substances like delta-8, which have made kids sick because they’re unlabeled. I supported the bill.

SB90 — This bill would require dog and cat breeders to put an animal up for adoption before euthanizing it. It is directly in response to the horrific practices of the Envigo dog breeding facility in Cumberland. I voted for this and other legislation that ensures we prevent this situation from occurring again.

SB741 — This bill allows local law enforcement and campus police to use facial recognition technology, rolling back protections the General Assembly passed last year. Facial recognition technology increases the risk for bias and racial profiling in our criminal justice system and erodes our privacy and civil luberties. You can see my remarks on the House floor opposing this legislation here. 

Virginia Asian American and Pacific Islander Caucus (VAAPIC) Updates

I serve as the VAAPIC First Vice Chair for Policy, and this week, I joined Caucus members for an afternoon with the House of Delegate Pages to share our work.

March 16 marks the one year anniversary of the Atlanta Spa Shootings, which killed eight victims, four of whom were Asian American women. I spoke on the House floor about the need to​​ remember the lives we lost that day and to join our collective voices in condemning hate and violence. You can hear my remarks here.