March 6, 2022

Neighbors, 

 

We wrapped up the 8th week of the legislative session and are gearing up for our final week!

I enjoyed meeting my constituent, Audrey, when she stopped by my office to share her experience interning with CASA to support Virginia’s immigrant communities. It’s so inspiring to meet college students who are engaged in making a difference in our community through advocacy and policy work.

I toured the new General Assembly building, which is still under construction. It will be a beautiful building and will have ample space for the public to gather and participate in our legislative process. I look forward to welcoming you to the Capitol when the building opens this fall!

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

  • Upcoming Town Halls

    • VAAPIC Legislative Briefing on Tuesday, March 8

    • Electric Reliability Town Hall with Dominion on Monday, March 14

  • Virginia Employment Commission Equity Grant

  • Virginia DMV Expands In-Person Service Hours

  • Legislative Update

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 

VAAPIC Legislative Briefing at 5pm on March 8

The Virginia Asian American and Pacific Islander Caucus is hosting a legislative briefing on Tuesday, March 8 at 5:00pm. I serve as First Vice Chair for Policy, and I hope you will join us! You can register at https://bit.ly/VAAPIC.

 

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

 

Virginia Employment Commission Equity Grant

The Virginia Employment Commission received $6.84 million from the United States Department of Labor for a first-of-it’s-kind grant to promote equity in unemployment insurance programs. 

Especially during the pandemic, unemployment benefits have been a lifeline for neighbors throughout the 42nd District, and we need to ensure these benefits are being distributed fairly. 

Barriers continue to exist for limited English proficient Virginians and, even now, constituents are not able to appeal their cases because of the backlog. I will follow closely to see how the Governor uses this grant.

 

Virginia DMV Expands In-Person Service Hours

On March 2, the Virginia Department of Motor Vehicles started offering appointment and walk-in services at all of their customer service centers on Mondays-Fridays. Before, these services were limited as a COVID precaution. 

To find the customer service center closest to you or to make an appointment, visit the DMV’s website.

 

Legislative Update

We considered some major pieces of legislation in the House of Delegates this week, including:

HB30 and SB30 - Budget Bills

The House of Delegates and the state Senate passed their own proposals for the biennial budget. 

You can see highlights of the introduced budget proposal versus the House proposal that I shared in my previous newsletter here. 

For a summary of all of the proposals, I would recommend the analysis completed by The Commonwealth Institute for Fiscal Analysis here. 

We have until the last day of session on March 12 to pass a final budget. The General Assembly will consider any changes the Governor may propose at our reconvened session on April 27.

SJ5/HJ57 and SJ1/HJ28 — These are two proposed amendments to the Virginia Constitution that had bipartisan support in last year’s session. 

SJ5/HJ57 remove the defunct portion of the Virginia Constitution that outlaws same-sex marriages and affirm an individual’s right to marry. SJ1/HJ28 automatically restore returning citizens’ voting rights. 

Unfortunately, all of these proposals failed in subcommittee in the House of Delegates. House Democrats are again seeking a change in our procedural rules to allow these proposals to come before the full House of Delegates for consideration so that, if they pass, Virginians can vote on them on the November 2022 ballot.

I joined the Virginia NAACP, Virginia ACLU, New Virginia Majority, Virginia League of Women Voters, Virginia Legislative Black Caucus and many advocates and my House Democratic colleagues in calling for voters to be allowed to decide the fate of the constitutional amendments.

SB391 — This bill would have established a framework for allowing the recreational sale of marijuana in the Commonwealth, while making preparations for enforcement and cultivation. The bill failed on a party line vote in subcommittee. I was not on that subcommittee so I was not able to vote on the legislation.

 

SB657 — This bill would move the environmental permitting authority from Virginia’s citizen boards, the State Water Control Board and the Air Pollution Control Board, to the Department of Environmental Quality. Transparency and input of community members directly affected by pollution are critical, and as such, I voted against this bill. It passed the House and state Senate. Delegate Ken Plum and I wrote an op-ed in the Washington Post opposing the bill. You can read the op-ed here.

 

HB1353 and SB727 — These bills establish the Virginia Football Stadium Authority. While they take different approaches, both finance a stadium for a professional football team, understood to be the Washington Commanders. 

I voted against both bills because I do not believe it is appropriate to use public financing for professional sports stadiums. In addition, I have continued concerns about the Washington Commanders’ workplace safety policies, including prevention of sexual harassment, that have not been fully addressed the NFL or the team owners. Both bills passed the House of Delegates and the state Senate, and now a final proposal is being negotiated.

 

My Legislative Update
Several of my bills that had passed the House of Delegates were heard by the State Senate this week. You can see my full legislative agenda here, and I’ve included a description of my bills that the state Senate heard this week below:

 

HB957 — This bill allows localities to give tax relief for surviving spouses of service members killed in the line of duty. It passed unanimously out of the state Senate. 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.

HB1027 — This bill defends Virginia small businesses from merchant cash advances, a potentially predatory practice, by regulating these transactions. It passed the state Senate unanimously. 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. 

 

HB1043 — This bill directs the Department of Education to assess requirements for background checks and child abuse training in youth sports. This bill passed the House and Senate unanimously. 

However, the Speaker of the House ruled an amendment proposed by the Senate as not germane. Unfortunately, the Senate did not agree with this decision and, in turn, ruled the bill was improperly before them. This effectively stops the bill from moving forward.

I am very disappointed this bill was caught up in the dynamics between the two Chambers and now we are unable to make progress on the important issue of our kids’ safety during this session.