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Dear Friend,
We are finishing out the final days of the 2024 General Assembly. At present, we are scheduled to adjourn sine die on Saturday, March 9. I am hopeful that we will conclude this session with a budget bill to present to the Governor. If a budget agreement is not reached between the Senate and the House conference committee members, they will continue their work over the course of the next several weeks.
This week’s newsletter provides updates about my legislation and also highlights select meetings from this past week. Thank you for reading and staying informed.
A National Spotlight on Some of Our Bills
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This past Thursday afternoon, I joined Chris Jansing on her daily show on MSNBC ( Chris Jansing Reports ); Representative Anthony Daniels, Alabama House Minority Leader, also joined the interview. The discussion focused on the ongoing threats to the full spectrum of reproductive healthcare that are looming across many state legislatures and judiciaries. Representative Daniels spoke about his efforts to protect IVF treatments in the face of the Alabama Supreme Court ruling, and I shared our work here in Virginia to protect the rights to contraception. The full interview [[link removed]] highlights more about these topics of discussion. As more and more Americans lose access to reproductive healthcare, including contraception, we must fight harder in Virginia to protect essential rights.
For these reasons, Tuesday’s passage of my bill, the Right to Contraception Act, was so important. SB 237 [[link removed]] passed the House on a 53-43 vote and is now headed to the Governor’s desk. Recent polls show that 90-80% of voters, of all political stripes, agree that contraception access must be protected: “A new national poll conducted by Americans for Contraception and obtained by The New York Times found that most voters across the political spectrum believe their access to birth control is actively at risk, and that 80 percent of voters said that protecting access to contraception was ‘deeply important’ to them. Even among Republican voters, 72 percent said they had a favorable view of birth control.” (See Republican Opposition to Birth Control Bill Could Alienate Voters, Poll Finds [[link removed]] )
A Governor’s veto on this legislation would be deeply unpopular for the majority of Virginians who agree that the use of contraception is oftentimes both a medical necessity and the private decision that individuals – not politicians – should make.
Our Work in Public Education Also Spotlighted
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On Friday, I joined a few other Chairs of state Education Committees to speak directly with Secretary Miguel Cardona [[link removed]] to discuss our efforts to advance student achievement, provide mental health support, raise teacher pay, and protect public education in this country. I was able to share the work happening in Virginia, especially as we close out the 2024 Session, with the General Assembly’s funding priorities for public education. Secretary Cardona indicated appreciation for the work we have done over the past three sessions to protect public education in the face of efforts here in Virginia to destabilize, defund, and denigrate our public schools, teachers, and administrators.
Legislative Updates on My Bills
Last week was productive at the General Assembly. In addition to the Right to Contraception Act, my bill to expand support for English language students ( SB 272 [[link removed]] ) also passed the House on a 57-43 bipartisan vote. This bill is now on its way to the Governor’s desk.
Select Community Events and Meetings
As the session comes to a close, we still have a daily and steady stream of visitors coming to meet their representatives and to observe the state government in action. Here are a few highlights from this week:
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This week, I had a chance to chat with students from St. Christopher and St. Catherine’s AP Government class. Accompanied by their teacher, the students had a unique opportunity to see the ways in which our state government compares and contrasts with the federal government. They asked several thoughtful questions, and I hope that some of them may return to our General Assembly in the near future as interns and perhaps later as legislative aides and as legislators themselves.
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On Wednesday evening, I joined the Metro Richmond Area Young Democrats (MRAYD) for their February meeting for a legislative update. Also attending were Senator Lamont Bagby, Delegate Michael Jones, and Richmond City Council Members Katherine Jordan and Stephanie Lynch . We were able to share some of our recent legislative efforts and answer questions. Senator Bagby was himself a past president of MRAYD, and I know that his political career certainly serves as an inspiration to so many young Democrats in Virginia.
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This week, we also had a visit from enCircle and some members of this year’s VCU Humphrey Fellows class. This group came in support of my Cover All Kids bill. The Humphrey Fellows Program is a nationwide program that is part of the Fulbright program; it brings mid-career professionals from around the world for a year-long program to develop skills and knowledge, engage in professional development, and focus on projects that can be developed in their home countries.
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On Thursday night, House Democratic Caucus Chair Delegate Kathy Tran, Delegate Kannan Srinivasan, and I represented the Virginia Asian American and Pacific Islander Caucus (VAAPIC) at a Happy Hour hosted by Lisa Vedernikova Khanna, Harry Khanna, Richmond City Democratic Committee, and the Democratic Asian Americans of Virginia (DAAV). We were honoring the work and successes of our AAPI communities in building political engagement and voter turnout. The evening included comments from Democratic Party of Virginia Chairwoman Susan Swecker and from outgoing DAAV president Praveen Meyyan.
Connecting With My Office
My office can be reached at the following:
Email: [email protected] [gmail.com]
Phone: 804.698.7515
If you were forwarded this email, you can sign up to receive my office’s weekly newsletter here [[link removed]] .
— Ghazala
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