Dear Friend,
This week’s newsletter provides information on our recent town hall for Senate District 15, the Joint Meeting between the Richmond City Delegation and our School Board, and some of my appointed Commission meetings, and also reflects on select community engagements from this past week. Thank you for reading this newsletter and for staying informed. |
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A Community Conversation
This past Wednesday, I hosted a community conversation with Senate District 15 constituents to share updates from the General Assembly, highlight the upcoming 2025 Session and the work on the anticipated constitutional amendments, and hear from constituents about their top concerns. Our participants raised areas of concern and interest as far-ranging as environmental issues in Chesterfield, academic freedom on college campuses, the lack of tracking of COVID spread in the Commonwealth, the need for adequate air filtration and safe internal environments in our office and school buildings, menhaden harvesting and the health of the Chesapeake Bay, affordable housing, and much more.
Town halls and conversations of this sort are important opportunities for me to connect with constituents and hear about issues that are relevant to our community. We will be scheduling another town hall soon and sharing further details. |
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A Joint Meeting: Richmond City Delegation and Richmond City School Board
On Thursday, at Reynolds Community College - Downtown Campus, I brought together the Richmond City Delegation and the Richmond City School Board to discuss the legislative and budgetary priorities for the upcoming 2025 General Assembly Session. Discussions such as these help us in state government to better understand the direct experiences of our students, teachers and staff, schools, and the communities they serve. Our wide-ranging discussion included topics such as mental health challenges for students, faculty and staff; needs for new schools and modernization of schools that are 60+ years old; teacher and staff shortages; a better funding formula; the report of the Joint Legislative Audit and Review Council (JLARC) that highlights the gross underfunding of public education; the new accreditation model released by the Board of Education; and much more.
Earlier this summer, the Richmond City Delegation had a similar meeting with our Richmond City Council and had the opportunity to hear about priorities for this upcoming Session. We look forward to working closely with our elected local government officials to address and champion the many issues that are in front of us as representatives of Virginia’s Capital City. I thank all of the elected officials as well as public participants who were able to join us on Thursday: -
My General Assembly Colleagues Delegates Betsy Carr and Michael Jones
- Richmond City School Board Members Dawn Page (Chair), Elizabeth Doerr (Vice Chair), Mariah White, Kenya Gibson, Garrett Sawyer, Dr. Shonda Harris-Muhammed, Cheryl Burke, and Shavonda Fernandez
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Richmond City Superintendent Jason Kamras
- Chancellor of the Virginia Community College System, Dr. David Doré (Special Guest)
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Commission Meetings
This past week was also busy with meetings of workgroups and commissions to which I am appointed.
On Wednesday, the Joint Housing Commission’s Affordable Housing Workgroup, for which I serve as Chair, met to discuss several items of legislation that were sent to us from the 2024 Session. These are bills that did not pass during session but that were recommended for further study, research, and possible revision. Inclusive among these bills were issues of tenant rights, disclosures for flood zones and airport proximity, opportunities for faith communities to convert land and property into sites of affordable housing, and more.
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Also on Wednesday, I also joined the afternoon meetings of the Joint Commission on Technology and Science. Prior to the full Commission’s meeting, I participated in the Subcommittee discussions on Online and Data Protections focused primarily on protections for minors and minors using social media. These discussions will help us emerge with recommendations for legislation during this upcoming session. |
On Thursday, the Education and Workforce Data Work Group held its second comprehensive meeting to discuss the Virginia Longitudinal Data System (VLDS), access, privacy, and protection of the state’s data infrastructure, and Virginia’s next steps in data governance. The discussion highlighted the work that is ongoing in other states and opportunities for Virginia to learn from other states’ models. |
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Select Community Engagements |
The past week was also quite busy with a series of community engagements and travels. |
Last Saturday, I was able to welcome the Association of Kannada Kootas of America (AKKA) to Richmond for its bi-annual World Kannada Conference. This well-attended international conference highlights the culture and contributions of our immigrant communities from the state of Karnataka which is located in southern India. |
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Labor Day weekend began with a joyous gathering in Fairfax as I joined the Northern Virginia Labor Federation’s Labor Day Picnic to celebrate the labor movement in the United States and to reinforce our commitment to fair wages, worker protections, and increased opportunities for women and minority communities. |
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On Labor Day itself, I joined the International Brotherhood of Electricians Local 666 at the annual cookout. Unions built America’s economy and its middle class. The success of our workforce is directly connected to the strength of unions as they represent and fight for fair wages, protections, and a well-earned seat at the table. |
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Later that day, I joined Democrats from across our Commonwealth for Congressman Bobby Scott's Labor Day Cookout with special guest Second Gentlemen Doug Emhoff. As the unofficial kickoff to the campaign season, Democrats' energy and enthusiasm was palpable as we spoke about our commitment to elect Kamala Harris and Tim Walz, re-elect Senator Tim Kaine, and ensure success for Democratic Congressional candidates all across Virginia. |
On Tuesday evening, I joined the Chesterfield County Democratic Committee (CCDC) to discuss my many exciting experiences and efforts from the Democratic National Convention ahead of this year's presidential election and to share my priorities for the year ahead. The critical work in this year's federal election year begins with our local committees, and CCDC is expanding rapidly as more voters engage with the political process. |
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On Wednesday, I was pleased to welcome Virginia Commonwealth University and Virginia State University social worker student interns who have joined the Boys to Men Mentoring program. I shared my journey to elected office, the values guiding my legislative work for a better Virginia, and my legislative priorities for the 2025 session. The students shared their own insights and asked a variety of engaging questions. |
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On Friday morning, I was honored to join the Virginia Community College System’s XLearn Conference as its keynote speaker. The conference’s focus on “P3: Pedagogy, Practice, and Partnership” gave me the opportunity to discuss the values of experiential learning, our work in the General Assembly to support innovative internship opportunities for our students, and the growth in work-based learning.
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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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