Constituent Newsletter - February 21st, 2020

Dear Jack,

I hope you and your family are doing well during these tough times. We'll be sending out weekly Bulletins to update you on all the information you need in the 13th District. Please reach out to my office with any questions or concerns you may have regarding legislation or state policy. If you are having trouble with a state agency, such as the VEC or the DMV, we are happy to assist you and be your advocate. You can call our office at 571-367-9080, or email us at [email protected].

Sincerely,

Senator John J. Bell
Senator of Virginia
13th District

Special Session Updates

During the Special Session last week, the House of Delegates took up bills that passed the Senate, and vice versa. I'm proud to say that quite a few of my bills have already passed the House floor, and will be heading to the Governor's desk to be signed.

SB1259, which will require the Greenway to meet certain financial accountability standards and prevent unjust toll increases from being approved by the SCC, passed the House on Tuesday. I am particularly proud of this bill, as it was the result of a bipartisan team effort that included the Loudoun County Board of Supervisors, the Loudoun Delegation to the General Assembly, and former Delegate David Ramadan.

SB1280, which will require owners of dams that do not meet health and safety standards to correct those deficiencies, passed the House unanimously on Monday. Nearly half of the dams in the Commonwealth are not in compliance with health and safety standards, and this bill will help to fix that.

SB1298, which will allow localities to create tourism improvement district plans, passed the House on Wednesday. This bill will go a long way towards helping the tourism industry get back on its feet after COVID.

SB1410, which prohibits discrimination against military service members, veterans, and their families in housing, employment, and public accommodations, passed the House on Tuesday as well. This bill is important to me as an Air Force veteran, and will protect military families from unfair treatment.

Vaccine Updates

Virginia's vaccination response continues to rank highly among other states -- as of Friday, we ranked #6 in the U.S., with over 87% of our distributed vaccine doses having been administered. Here in Virginia, we are steadily administering vaccinations, but the supply continues to be an issue across the whole country. However, we are expecting our vaccine allocation to surge dramatically beginning in mid-March. For those of you who are on the waiting list -- I know it's hard to be patient when we all just want our normal lives back. But rest assured, by the end of March, we will likely be vaccinating folks at double the rate that we are now, and it will only get better from there.

On Tuesday, the new statewide vaccine registration system went live. Here, you can register for a vaccine appointment if you haven't already, and you can also check to make sure that you are registered in the system. If you know that you registered in Loudoun or Prince William County, but the new system says you are not registered -- don't panic! County data is still being integrated into the statewide system. If you don't see your registration reflected in the statewide system within a few days, please reach out to my office and we will check into it for you.

If you have already registered for a vaccine with a county health department, you do not need to re-register. Your place in line has been saved, and you will be called when your time comes.

CVS continues to release limited numbers of vaccine appointments each day. In order to qualify, you must be 65 years or older, AND on a county waiting list already. You can get more information here.