March 27, 2022
Neighbors,
This week, I had the pleasure of joining the annual Crosspointe Homeowners Association Meeting to give an update from the 2022 regular legislative session. Please let me know if you would like for me to provide an update to members of your Homeowners Association, Civic Association, or neighborhood group.
In this newsletter, I’ve included information about the following:
Upcoming Town Hall
3/28 Post-Session Legislative Town Hall
Legislative Update
Special Session
Community Updates
NVRC Collecting Donations for Ukrainian Refugees
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 Hall
3/28 Post-Session Legislative Town Hall
Join Delegate Vivian Watts, Delegate Paul Krizek and me at our Post-Session Legislative Town Hall on Monday, March 28 at 6:30pm. We’ll be discussing the regular legislative session that just ended and the upcoming special session. Register here!
Legislative Update
Governor Youngkin Calls Special Session
Governor Glenn Youngkin has issued a proclamation calling the General Assembly into Special Session on April 4 “for the purpose of the completion of the 2023-2024 biennial budget.”
As I mentioned in a previous newsletter, on March 12, the General Assembly ended our regular 2022 legislative session without passing a biennial budget. We have until the end of our fiscal year on June 30 to pass a new budget. (Note, the Virginia Constitution requires us to have a balanced budget.)
The main issues that need to be resolved concern taxes, including the gas tax, grocery tax, and Governor’s proposal to double the standard deduction.
If you would like to see a summary of all of the proposals, I would recommend the analysis that The Commonwealth Institute did here.
Special Session Legislation
In addition to the biennial budget, when the General Assembly adjourned the regular session, we had several other bills that were still being negotiated between the House of Delegates and Senate.
If agreements are reached on these bills, then we will also consider them during the special session. I have highlighted some of the bills still being negotiated below.
HB103 — This bill would create a new income tax deduction for teachers for up to $500 they spend on school supplies. I supported this bill.
HB177 & SB273 & SB652 — These bills would increase requirements for absentee ballots, including witness signatures, additional identifying information, and/or a unique identifier for any qualified voter without a social security number. I voted against all of these proposals when they came to the House floor.
HB305 & SB371— These bills change the process for appointing the commissioner of the Virginia Department of Elections and expands the size of the Board of Elections. I supported the bills.
HB833 & SB487— These bills create a state entity to address gun violence. The House bill creates the Operation Ceasefire Grant Fund with oversight from the Office of the Attorney General. It grants money for violent crime reduction and group violence intervention efforts, and provides money to law enforcement. The Senate bill creates a Virginia Center for Firearm Violence Intervention and Prevention and Virginia Firearm Violence Intervention and Prevention Fund, which focuses on assessing gun violence and gun violence prevention and distributing funds to localities and organizations implementing evidence-informed gun violence intervention and prevention efforts. I opposed the House version and prefer the Senate proposal.
HB1128 & SB528 — These bills exempt some military retirement income from taxation. The House version would phase in over three years, culminating at $40,000. The Senate version would phase in over three years but culminate at $20,000. I supported the proposals and prefer the House approach.
HB1261 — This bill changes the composition of the State Air Pollution Control Board, the Virginia Waste Management Board, and the State Water Control Board. The House version changes the composition of the citizen boards and removes their authority to approve permits, giving it to the director of the Department of Environmental Quality. The Senate version only changes the composition of the boards. I opposed this bill and spoke against it on the floor as well as co-wrote an op-ed opposing it.
HB1306 — This bill makes it a crime to remove, alter, change, or destroy a serial number from a firearm or distribute such a weapon. The House version makes all of these actions a class 1 misdemeanor. The Senate version makes it a class 1 misdemeanor to alter the serial number and a class 6 felony to distribute the weapon. I supported the House approach, which passed with strong bipartisan support.
HB1339 — This bill expands the ability of local law enforcement and campus police to use facial recognition technology. I opposed the bill and spoke on the floor about this issue on the Senate version of the bill.
HB1353 & SB727 — These bills create the Virginia Football Stadium Authority and provide public financing to create a stadium for a professional football team, widely understood to be the Washington Commanders. I opposed these and any proposals that use public money for the development of professional sports arenas.
Community Update
NVRC Collecting Donations for Ukrainian Refugees
The Northern Virginia Regional Commission (NVRC) announced they were going to start an aid program for Ukrainian refugees. Donations will be collected through April 15 and will be sent to Poland to be distributed to refugees and Ukrainian residents across the region. NVRC had a similar program in 2013 to help Syrian refugees fleeing the war in their country.
Thank you to many community members for assisting recent refugees from Afghanistan, and I hope you will be able to support this effort as well. NVRC is asking for new coats, blankets, socks, and gloves and are collecting the materials in multiple locations across the county.