Publications

It has been rewarding to introduce impactful legislation each year to improve the lives of my constituents - sometimes in big ways, other times small. I have passed bills targeting gun safety, hazing prevention, expanding broadband, increasing safety in schools, improving healthcare for people with rare diseases, supporting the needs of veterans (especially our women veterans), and so much more. It has been equally frustrating to have meaningful legislation die simply because my party was not in the majority.

We have finally wrapped up the 2023 regular session of the General Assembly. Throughout this session, I worked hard to respond to the needs of my constituents. In this session, only three of the eleven bills I proposed managed to pass. It isn’t unusual for the party in the majority to table the bills offered by members of the minority.  In addition to my two bills that passed through both houses last week, my third bill, HB2224 passed through the Senate. HB2224 directs the Department of Health and the Department of General Services to convene a work group to evaluate the current funding model for the Commonwealth's newborn screening program. All three of my bills will now make their way to the Governor who will sign them into law.

It is hard to believe that only one week is left of the 2023 legislative session. I am excited to share that two of my bills have passed unanimously through both chambers of the General Assembly! HB2080 creates a special license plate to honor women veterans. HB2077 requires all attorneys who assist veterans with VA-related claims and appeals processes to provide a written disclosure informing all clients of the free services provided by the Department of Veterans Services for service members, veterans, and their families. These bills will now make their way to the Governor who will sign them into laws.

Today marks the end of our fifth week in the 2023 legislative session of the Virginia General Assembly. We have finally heard all of the bills offered by members of the House of Delegates and will now take up the bills that were passed by the Senate. Some of these bills are identical to those offered in the House, but many are unique to each chamber.

This week marks the end of our first month in the 2023 legislative session of the Virginia General Assembly. We are now preparing for “Crossover” which begins next week. During Crossover, the House considers the bills that have passed in the Senate, and the Senate takes up bills that have passed in the House.

This week marked the end of our third week in this session of the General Assembly here in Richmond.  We have reviewed and voted on dozens of bills that have been offered in the different committees. While many bills have made their way through Subcommittees and moved on to the Full Committees, we still have a long way to go. Most of our debates take place in the Full Committees before they reach the House floor for a vote. So far I have had one bill make its way through the whole process. It is a bipartisan bill to create a license plate to honor our Women Veterans. I am still waiting to have the rest of my bills heard in the various Subcommittees where they have to pass before moving on to the floor for final passage. Most of the debates take place in the Full Committees. Bills that don’t pass there won’t make it to the floor for consideration by the full House. 

We are two weeks into the 2023 Virginia General Assembly Session. My week was very busy! I had many committee meetings, some as early as 7:30am, and eight of my eleven bills have been referred to committees.

This week we returned to Richmond for the start of the 2023 session of the VA General Assembly. I continue to serve on the committees on Finance, Transportation, and General Laws.  This is our “short session” due to the elections that will take place in November. We have two new members of the House due to the retirement of Delegate Keam and the passing of Delegate Campbell.  It is always great to reconnect with our members from across the Commonwealth. 

In less than two weeks, I’ll be back in Richmond for the 2023 General Assembly Session. I am looking forward to working with my colleagues on many new and impactful bills. During Session, I will introduce commending resolutions to honor residents who deserve recognition for their outstanding contributions to our community. Please send nominations to my Chief of Staff, Madison McCabe, at [email protected] Your submission should include the nominee’s full name and a description of their contributions.

This week, I joined federal, state, and local officials at the grand opening of the Metro Silver Line Extension. The new rail connections provide convenient and affordable transportation from Reston, Herndon, and Eastern Loudoun County to Washington Dulles International Airport. This is a momentous infrastructure milestone in Northern Virginia!