Dear Friend,

This week’s newsletter discusses the outcomes of 2024 Reconvened Session, reflects on a recent tour of our Chesterfield Career and Technical Education Center - Hull Street Campus, shares information on an upcoming civic engagement opportunity in Chesterfield County, provides updates from the Virginia Housing Commission, and highlights select community meetings from this past week. Thank you for reading and staying informed. 

Reconvened Session

On Wednesday, members of the Virginia Senate and House of Delegates returned to Richmond for the General Assembly’s 2024 Reconvened Session. This annual session brings legislators back to the Capitol to take action on the Governor’s amendments and vetoes to the legislation that passed during the regular session. 

Many of the Governor’s amendments were rejected and now go back to his desk for reconsideration. Included in that package are a number of my bills: 

• Our education omnibus legislation SB105 (which includes my SB227 and SB228) was amended by the Governor to delay its enactment. Because of the urgency of crisis points in our schools, the Democratic majority in the Senate voted to reject the Governor’s amendments. Our children, teachers, administrators, and local governments cannot wait another year to begin addressing the crisis of underfunded schools; this crisis has been two decades in the making already.
• The Governor’s substitute offered in response to SB237, known as the Right to Contraception Act, gutted the legislation and made it a soft policy statement only rather than a law. Further, the substitute removed all references to contraceptives, including IUDs, condoms, birth control pills, and emergency contraceptives. I made the motion to pass the bill by for the day. This procedure returns the original legislation to the Governor’s desk, and he has 30 days to take action on the legislation in its original form. A few weeks ago, we had delivered over 37,000 signatures to the Governor directly petitioning that sign the legislation in order to protect contraception drugs and devices so that Virginians can continue to access necessary healthcare medications and products.
• The amendments to SB238, known as the Contraceptive Equity Act, were rejected by the Democratic majority in the Senate, and the bill goes back to the Governor for reconsideration. The bill itself focuses on the costs of contraception that are imposed by some healthcare insurance plans and brings Virginia into alignment with the federal Affordable Care Act which has removed burdensome co-pays and other fees on contraception. For some reason, the Governor added an amendment that is not germane to the bill itself. His language speaks to whether or not contraception coverage can be denied to individuals on the basis of religious or “ethical beliefs” (a term not defined in Virginia Code).  The Contraceptive Equity Act simply addresses the removal of fees imposed by healthcare plans; these fees often make access to contraception prohibitive for Virginians in low income and rural communities.

Overriding a Governor’s veto requires 26 and 67 votes in the Senate and House of Delegates, respectively. Accordingly, we did not have enough support in the Chambers to override the Governor’s vetoes to my legislation: SB235, SB236, and SB276. I will consider reintroducing these critical bills in future sessions. 

Because the Governor returned the negotiated, bipartisan budget bill to us with an unprecedented 233 individual amendments that essentially re-wrote the budget, a Special Session must now be scheduled. The Special Session has been called for Monday, May 13. I will be providing updates on budget discussions and the Special Session within this weekly newsletter and on social media.

Chesterfield Career and Technical Education Center Tour

The day after Reconvened Session was eventful, as we hosted Senator Travis Hackworth (SD-5), along with members of the Virginia Department of Education, Secretary of Labor Bryan Slater and other members of his Secretariat, and Virginia Works, at the Chesterfield County Career and Technical Education Center - Hull Campus. 

Chesterfield students and employers alike recognize the power of Chesterfield's CTE Centers. Its thousands of graduates since the Center’s inception and over 300 businesses currently partnering with the Center are a testament to the thoughtful curricula and credentials that have been developed to provide students pathways to exciting career and further education opportunities. Senator Hackworth and members of state government were interested in observing the successes of Chesterfield’s programs and discussing how these efforts can be replicated in the Southwest Region. 

During our tour, we had the opportunity to observe a variety of their programs, including veterinary science, occupational therapy, and advanced biotechnology. Students and faculty were eager to speak with us about their coursework and experiences at the CTE Center. We were treated to the delicious products of our culinary arts students.

During our visit, we also heard directly from teachers and administrators about their areas of concern, including the need for an equitable salary structure for CTE faculty, recruitment and retention of highly-skilled CTE instructors, licensing requirements for teachers within the programs, and funding for CTE. As we begin planning for the 2025 General Assembly session, these discussions will help to inform policy decisions.

Our Career and Technical Education Centers in Chesterfield exemplify the power of connection: connecting students with programs aligned with their personal career interests and connecting our education programs with economic partners to meet our market needs. Under the leadership of Chad Maclin and the CCPS administration, our programs have become a model for CTE across the Commonwealth. I thank all of the Chesterfield County staff, administrators, faculty, and students who made this insightful tour possible and Principal Brian Russell for hosting us on his campus. 

Pictured from left to right (back row): Principal of Chesterfield CTE Center - Hull Campus, Brian Russell; Director of Virginia Works, Carrie Roth; Deputy Secretary of Education, Emily Anne Gullickson; Secretary of Labor, George “Bryan” Slater; Virginia State Senator Travis Hackworth; Deputy Secretary of Labor, Anthony Reedy; Director of Career and Technical Education for Chesterfield County,Chad Maclin. 

Pictured from left to right (front row): Virginia State Senator Ghazala Hashmi; Chesterfield County School Board Chair, Dot Heffron; Deputy Secretary for Workforce Development, Nicole Overley; and Deputy Secretary of Labor, Lizbeth White.

Chesterfield Board of Supervisors Meeting: Dominion Energy’s Peaker Plant Proposal 

On Wednesday, April 24, the Chesterfield County Board of Supervisors will meet to discuss Dominion Energy’s proposed peaker plant; the public will have an opportunity to share thoughts. This past February, I hosted a community town hall with representatives from Dominion Energy and community organizers to provide more information about the proposed plant. A recording of the town hall is available here, as well as the presentations from Friends of Chesterfield and Dominion Energy. 

After reviewing the information provided during our town hall, I and most members of the Central Virginia Region Delegation (Senators Lamont Bagby and Lashrecse Aird, and Delegates Delores McQuinn, Betsy Carr, Rodney Willett, Rae Cousins, Michael Jones, and Debra Gardner) released a statement in opposition to the peaker plant.

In advance of Wednesday’s Board of Supervisors meeting, public comments can be submitted virtually, and Chesterfield County residents can also sign up to speak in-person by contacting the Clerk to Board of Supervisors at 804-748-1200 or by emailing Sara Hall at [email protected]. Additional information, including meeting location and live streaming details, are available at Chesterfield County. 

Commission Meeting and Appointments

On Tuesday, the Virginia Housing Commission hosted its first meeting of the year; we focused primarily on legislation from this recent General Assembly session, including my legislation with Delegate Betsy: the Faith in Housing for the Commonwealth Act (SB233, HB1124). A recording of the meeting is available. 

On Wednesday, just prior to the start of the Reconvened Session, the Senate Rules Committee also met to make appointments for state boards and commissions. In addition to being reappointed to a variety of commissions and boards, I was also selected for a number of new roles, including the following:

• Education Commission of the States   
• Healthcare Workforce Development Authority
• Pandemic Response and Preparedness Joint Subcommittee

The full list of appointments and reappointments highlights the broad range of efforts, workgroups, and studies that are ongoing for legislators throughout the year and beyond Session. I look forward to working with my colleagues, community members, and policy experts in these additional roles. 

Select Community Engagements

Last Saturday, I traveled to Charlottesville to participate in the 4th Annual Protecting Health in a Changing Climate Conference at the University of Virginia School of Nursing. I presented on the policy impacts of the climate crisis, particularly in the areas of legislative efforts to respond to extreme heat, extreme weather, and health conditions affected by rising temperatures. As I shared, one of the biggest challenges facing us as we work to address climate change and its impacts on health care is convincing policymakers about the need for urgent action.

Later that evening on Saturday, I joined the Hunter Mill Democrats in Fairfax to celebrate legislative accomplishments as well as ongoing necessary work to protect reproductive health care, fund public education, and support working families. 

On Sunday afternoon, I returned to Fairfax to join community leaders outside of the National Rifle Association (NRA) Headquarters to honor the lives and memories of those killed by gun violence. Tragically, nearly every family across the country has been touched by gun violence. Tom Mauser (pictured) lost his son Daniel in the Columbine High School shooting, and has consistently advocated to change gun policies throughout the country. Last Saturday, as he joined us in Fairfax in front of NRA headquarters, he wore Daniel’s shoes – the very shoes that his son was wearing on the day that he was gunned down by high school classmates – as a graphic reminder of what it means to walk in the shoes of those harmed by gun violence.

Today, Saturday, April 20, is the 25th Anniversary of the horrific murders at Columbine High School, a day that shook us all to the core and changed our sense of security for our children in schools.

On Monday afternoon, I joined other Virginia Museum of Fine Arts (VMFA) guests to tour the Susan and David Goode Center for Advanced Study in Art Conservation. This state-of-the-art training and research center is among the country’s most extensive art conservation facilities. I also enjoyed the opportunity to preview the Samurai Armor exhibition from the Collection of Ann and Gabriel Barbier-Mueller with other VMFA members. This remarkable exhibit of the largest and finest collections from this period in Japanese history opens to the public today.

On Tuesday, I attended the Virginia Community College’s 18th Annual Chancellor’s Award for Leadership in Philanthropy Luncheon, an event that recognized philanthropists for their generous support of Virginia’s community colleges and their students. The honorees have each made remarkable differences in the lives of so many Virginians who are pursuing  higher education and career credentials.

On Thursday afternoon, following the morning’s tour of Chesterfield County’s CTE programs, I attended the 4th annual Construction Rodeo and Expo presented by Associated General Contractors of Virginia and the Richmond Area Municipal Contractors Association. As the largest construction showcase in Central Virginia, I learned about new products as well as technological advances in construction and equipment. 

On Thursday afternoon as well, my staff participated in Richmond City Councilmember Stephanie Lynch’s Annual Ice Cream Social at Fonticello Park. This beautiful evening gave us an opportunity to connect with community members, answer questions about the Reconvened Session, and to hand out soap bubbles, always a favorite with our tiniest constituents. 

Connecting With My Office

My office can be reached at the following:

Email:  [email protected] 

Phone:  804.698.7515

If you were forwarded this email, you can sign up to receive my office’s weekly newsletter here. 

— Ghazala

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