Dear friends,

This week, I will share the legislation I’ve introduced this session, talk about how to stay in-touch with my office and my office’s updated COVID policies, and discuss the upcoming gubernatorial transition. Thank you for taking the time to read our newsletter and staying informed about the current happenings around Virginia Senate District 10.

Overview of Legislation
For months, my office has been hard at work connecting with constituents, meeting with advocates, holding discussions with other elected officials, and examining legislation from other states to determine what bills I would be carrying this session. After many conversations, we’ve focused on some key areas of efforts, and these bills are now available for review:

• SB 156: Increases the number of staff, professional development opportunities, resources, and community-based support services for the increasing numbers of English language learners in the Commonwealth’s schools

• SB 157: Requires that teachers in the Commonwealth be paid at or above the national average by 2027 and calls for compensatory increases for other SOQ instructional staff and support positions

• SB 158: Establishes the Virginia Black, Indigenous, and People of Color Historic Preservation Fund to award grants to recognized organizations, tribes and localities to acquire and preserve land of cultural significance to Black, indigenous, or communities of color.

• SB 159: Bans transcript withholding as a form of debt collection for students who attend public colleges and universities in Virginia

• SB 160: Clarifies that energy efficiency programs can include electrification with the goal of reducing sources of energy that require on-site combustion of fossil fuels

• SB 161 Directs the Virginia Department of Education to develop guidelines on policies to inform and educate coaches, student-athletes, and parents of the risks, signs, and prevention of heat related illnesses

• SB 200 Exempts names, addresses, and telephone numbers of complainants in the active investigations of onsite sewage complaints made to the Department of Health or Department of Environmental Quality from Freedom of Information Act requests, with the goal of protecting tenants from retaliation from their landlords

• SB 239 Adds science, technology, engineering, mathematics and computing (STEM+C) to the Standards of Learning in Virginia

• SB 240 Protects the rights of credentialed journalists to report on acts of civil unrest  

• SB 241 Creates the Renal Disease Council and the Renal Disease Council Fund which focuses on advising state-level electeds on renal disease, funding research, developing programs, and more related to renal disease

• SB 242 Prohibits insurers from discriminating against living organ donors 

• SB 243 Directs the Department of Health to establish the End Stage Renal Disease Patient Navigator Network to assist persons diagnosed with end stage renal disease 

• SB 244 Requires that an entity employing 15 or more employees provide eligible employees with up to 60 business days of unpaid organ donation leave in any 12-month period to serve as an organ donor and up to 30 business days of unpaid organ donation leave in any 12-month period to serve as a bone marrow donor

• SB 245 Requires state hospitals  to make payment plans available to each person who incurs a debt related to medical treatment; the bill defines concerns about language access and reasonable payment plans 

• SB 257 Authorizes Virginia to become a signatory to the Interstate Counseling Compact, which would permit eligible licensed professional counselors to practice in Compact member states, provided that they are licensed in at least one member state; 10 states must sign on in order for it to go into effect

• SB 260 Requires every H-2B employer to report to the Commissioner of Health the physical address of every unit of employer-provided housing, as well as the number of H-2B employees residing in the housing and the number of beds per unit and also establishes a registry of H-2B employer-provided housing in the Commonwealth

• SB 261 Directs the Virginia Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) Education Advisory Board (the Board) to perform a comprehensive review of U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics categories within the standard occupational classification system and assess deficit areas that do not capture Virginia's existing STEM+C (Computing) workforce profile for the purpose of better aligning K-12 and higher education priorities

• SB 262 Provides that any person 21 years of age or older who knowingly or intentionally possesses psilocybin or psilocin shall be punished by a civil penalty of no more than $100 and such civil penalties shall be deposited into the Drug Offender Assessment and Treatment Fund

• SB 263 Requires the Department for Housing and Community Development to expand the existing Housing and Supportive Services Interagency Leadership Team (the ILT) initiative to include older Virginians as a target subpopulation, in order to increase the supply of permanent supportive housing for older Virginians

• SB 264 Provides for collective bargaining by public employees and creates the Public Employee Relations Board, which will determine appropriate bargaining units and provide for certification and decertification elections for exclusive bargaining representatives of state employees and local government employees

• SB 265 Provides opportunities for children who are deaf or hard-of-hearing to receive early intervention language development resources

• SB 266 Creates a nonrefundable income tax credit for taxable years 2022 through 2026 for expenses incurred by an individual in caring for an eligible family member

• SB 270 Establishes the Interagency Language Access Working Group to maximize state policies, resources to further language access and equity in Virginia and its state government agencies

• SB 272 Seeks to lower the carbon emissions of concrete manufacturing

Staying in Touch During Session 
With the start of the 2022 General Assembly Session, my staff will continue to hold meetings with constituents via Zoom or by phone. You can now sign up for a meeting with either of my staff members with our easy scheduling app: 

June Laffey - Chief of Staff 
Charles Turner - Legislative Assistant

As a response to the recent surge of COVID-19 due to the Omicron variant, we have made sure to protect staff and the public by accommodating Zoom and phone meetings. Limited in-person meetings will be offered, but must be scheduled by emailing our district email ([email protected]). All in-person meetings will require attendants to wear masks and provide proof of COVID-19 vaccination.

The General Assembly session is easily accessible online using the Legislative Information System (LIS) website. Here are some helpful links:

• See what legislation has been introduced by all elected officials

• Watch live streams of Senate committee meetings and our floor sessions

• View daily floor calendars to see what bills will be addressed in the chambers

Inauguration This Saturday
This Saturday marks the inauguration of the 74th Governor of Virginia, Glenn Youngkin. He, along with Lieutenant Governor-Elect Winsome Sears and Attorney General-Elect Jason Miyares, will receive their Oath of Office. The Virginia Department of General Services announced that the Capitol Square will be closed this week to prepare for the inauguration. Individuals with tickets can enter Capitol Square starting at 9:30 a.m. Saturday. As a Commonwealth, we now make a transition as the new Governor and his Cabinet (once they are fully appointed) begin to chart their policy priorities. Over the next several weeks, I will be highlighting these transition points to help keep you informed.

Thank you, Governor Northam 
I thank Governor Ralph Northam for his four years of service as the 73rd Governor of Virginia and congratulate him on the many accomplishments of his administration. Through a tumultuous term, arguably during one of the most difficult and unprecedented times in Virginia history, he led with grace, conviction, and a true desire to listen to all Virginians.

This is an important time to look back and acknowledge what has been accomplished in the past four years. Under Governor Northam, the Commonwealth expanded Medicaid to nearly half a million low income Virginians, became the first state in the South to abolish the death penalty, expanded environmental protections and renewable energy investments, made early childhood education for all 3- and 4-year olds a central priority, and ensured significant gains in criminal justice reform and civil rights.

Beyond these accomplishments, Governor Northam has shown strong leadership during the COVID-19 pandemic, a crisis that has posed unprecedented economic, social, and public health problems to the Commonwealth for nearly two years. As the only governor in the nation who is also a doctor, Governor Northam understood what type of response we needed to this unprecedented crisis. By assembling a team of scientific experts to lead our pandemic response, we have become a national leader in vaccination efforts and have also saved countless lives.

I thank Governor Northam for his many years of public service, and I wish him and First Lady Pamela Northam the best as they return now to private life, and he resumes his medical practice and continues to save lives.  

— Ghazala