2023 Session Adjourns
The 2023 legislative session adjourned sine die on Saturday evening! It's been a whirlwind six weeks, but I'm happy with the progress that we made this year. In an environment with a divided government, it takes a lot of discussion and compromise to pass just about anything. I'm happy to say that of the bills I introduced this session, eleven of them have passed and are on their way to Governor Youngkin's desk. Those bills are:
SB1313, which ensures that construction subcontractors will finally be able to count on being paid for their work;
SB1072, which directs school administrators to report bullying incidents to parents within 24 hours of the incident;
SB891, which allows landlords additional time to assess damages to a rental property after a tenant moves out;
SB824, which broadens the scope of the Substance Abuse Services Council to include problem gambling and adds additional members to combat the opioid crisis and updates the title to be more inclusive to the recovery community;
SB825 and SB826, which ensure that the Virginia School for the Deaf and the Blind (VSDB) is able to keep students safe and secure via hiring security staff and conducting employment background checks;
SB1249, which prevents deceptive websites from mimicking official venue and ticketing websites by using copycat fonts, venue photos, and other tools to trick consumers into thinking they’ve reached an official venue website;
SB1014, which is a Loudoun County bill that invalidates a voluntarily conveyed park restrictive covenant so the County may purchase the park and utilize it for the public;
SB1024, which keeps medical and educational records confidential even after they are transferred into state archives;
SB1491, which removes arbitrary restrictions on the ability of construction managers to perform construction work on locality infrastructure projects; and
SB1071, which adds military service members transitioning to civilian life and their families to the list of individuals who can receive mental health services through the Department of Veterans Services.
As for the budget, our budget conferees in the House and Senate have been unable to come to a full agreement. However, one important thing that we have done is pass a stopgap measure -- a "skinny" agreement that just makes a few technical amendments. The most crucial of those amendments is the one that corrects an egregious error from the previous version of the budget that resulted in a $200 million shortfall for Virginia schools. We've now fixed that problem with this "skinny" agreement, and budget talks will continue for our other priorities.
While we have passed many great things this year, I consider what we didn't pass to be another accomplishment. This year, the Senate "Brick Wall" blocked every bill that came before us that would have made voting more difficult, targeted and victimized transgender students, and curtailed the right to choose.
Of course, now that the session in Richmond is over, that does not mean our work in my office has stopped. We are available year-round to help with constituent issues. Please feel free to contact us at [email protected] or at 571-367-9080.
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