May 15, 2022

Neighbors, 

I hope you are having a wonderful spring! I want to share my congratulations to South County Middle School on its 10th anniversary. Thank you to Principal Peter Kownacki and all of the teachers and staff for creating such a wonderful community for the Mustangs.

During the legislative session, I sponsored resolutions commending community members for their significant accomplishments and have had the honor of presenting several of them. Thank you to Dr. Kelly Sheers, Principal at West Springfield Elementary School, Dale Rumberger, Past President of the South County Federation, and Reinhardt Gray, former Mason Neck Park Manager, for your extraordinary service to our community.

I also appreciated the opportunity to give legislative updates to neighbors during recent meetings of the Barrington HOA and West Springfield High School Parent Teacher Student Association. If you would like me to speak with your organization, please don’t hesitate to reach out to my office.

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

  • Legislative Update

    • Reconvened Session

      • Vetoed Legislation

      • Amended Legislation

    • Budget Update

  • Primary Voting

  • Transportation Updates

  • I-95 Southside Study 

  • I-495 Express Lanes Northern Extension Project

  • Extended Nighttime Single-Lane Closures

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 

Legislative Update

Reconvened Session

On April 27, the General Assembly met to consider the Governor’s vetoes and amendments to bills that passed during the regular legislative session. 

I have highlighted some of the Governor’s proposals below; you can see a complete list of bills he vetoed here and his amendments here.

Vetoed Legislation

The Governor vetoed 26 pieces of legislation, more than every Governor since Jim Gilmore. Each of these bills had passed with bipartisan support, some unanimously. The General Assembly sustained each veto.

Vetoed bills included:

  • HB1298 to protect high school athletes from exploitation by banning contracts selling a kid’s name, image, and likeness;

  • HB573 to create a statute of limitation on medical debt;

  • SB347 to establish energy efficiency saving targets for Dominion Energy customers who are low-income, elderly, disabled, or veterans; and

  • HB675/SB422 which would have lowered health care premium costs and was recommended by the Joint Commission on Health Care.

Amended Legislation

The Governor recommended amendments to over 100 bills. If the General Assembly rejects the amendments, then the Governor can either veto the bill or sign into law the version that passed during the regular legislative session. 

Many of the Governor’s recommendations were adopted by the General Assembly. For example, the Governor’s changes to my bill, HB987, expanded the applicability of new language access requirements for the Medicaid program. These amendments passed the House of Delegates and Senate unanimously.

However, the Governor also proposed  substantial changes to legislation. For example his amendments to HB1138 would have forced members of the Loudoun School Board to run for reelection this fall instead of in 2023, their usual timeline. His amendments also changed SB591 from increasing regulation on Delta-8 and candy-like cannabis products to banning personal possession of over two ounces of marijuana. These proposed changes to both of these bills failed.

Budget Update

As I covered in previous newsletters, the House of Delegates and Senate continue to negotiate a biennial budget. We are required by the Virginia Constitution to pass a balanced budget before the end of the fiscal year on June 30. Debate is centered on funding for education, health care, transportation and other key services while balancing tax relief for working families, veterans, and other Virginians. At this time, we do not know when an agreement will be reached between the House of Delegate and Senate negotiators. 

Primary Voting

Tuesday, June 21 is primary election voting day and early voting began on May 6. To find your voting location, visit the Virginia Department of Elections’ website. To vote by mail, see here and to vote early in person, see here.

Our community in the 42nd House of Delegates District is in the 8th, 10th and 11th Congressional Districts (CD), of which only the Democratic Party nomination for the 8th CD is being held by a primary election. 

The Democratic nomination for the 10th and 11th CDs are uncontested. The Republican Party in the 8th, 10th and 11th CDs have chosen to select their nominees by a method other than a primary election.

Please note that Virginia recently finished redistricting the congressional maps, as is standard protocol every 10 years following the Census. You can find what district you live in by searching your address at this link.

Transportation Updates

I-95 Southside Study

VDOT will be holding a series of Public Information Meetings about its 495 Southside Express Lanes Study. You can find more information about the study on VDOT’s website. 

The public meetings closest to our community will be held at the following dates and times:

VIRTUAL MEETING

Wednesday, May 18, 2022

6:30 – 8:30 p.m. (presentation at 7 p.m.)

Visit https://www.virginiadot.org/projects/northern-virginia/495southsideexpresslanes.asp  or call 703-259-3752 for details on how to join the meeting.

IN-PERSON MEETINGS

Monday, May 23, 2022

6:30 – 8:30 p.m. (presentation at 7 p.m.)

John R. Lewis High School

6540 Franconia Road, Springfield, VA 22150

Wednesday, May 25, 2022

6:30 – 8:30 p.m. (presentation at 7 p.m.)

Nannie J. Lee Memorial Recreation Center

1108 Jefferson Street, Alexandria, VA 22314

All public comments must be received by VDOT by June 6. You may submit public comment by filling out a VDOT comment form online, by providing oral or in-person comments at the public information meetings, by submitting comments by email to 495southsideexpresslanes@vdot.virginia.gov, or by submitting comments by mail to Nick Nies, AICP, VDOT 495 Southside Express Lanes Study Project Manager, 9030 Stony Point Parkway, Suite 220, Richmond, VA 23235.

I-495 Express Lanes Northern Extension Project

The Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT), Transurban, and contractor Lane Construction will be holding Project Update Meetings for their I-495 Express Lanes Northern Extension Project. You can learn more about this project here. The public meetings will be held: 

VIRTUAL MEETING

Tuesday, June 7, 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. (presentation at 6:30 p.m.)

Visit 495NEXT.org/public_meetings for details on how to join the meeting

IN-PERSON MEETING

Monday, June 6, 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. (presentation at 7 p.m.)

Langley High School Auditorium

6520 Georgetown Pike, McLean VA 22101

Extended Nighttime Single-Lane Closures

From May 11 to May 27, VDOT is implementing weekday nighttime single-lane closure between 9 p.m. and 5 a.m. for expedited milling and repaving on certain routes, including:

  • Westbound Route 289/Franconia Springfield Parkway from Spring Village Dr ato east of Route 286/Fairfax County Parkway interchange

  • Southbound Route 286/Fairfax County Parkway from ramp at Rolling Road/638 to Barta Road interchange

  • Route 235/Mount Vernon Memorial Highway between Old Mount Vernon Rd and George Washington Memorial Pkwy

  • Route 235/Mount Vernon Highway between Route 1/Richmond Highway and George Washington Memorial Parkway