Week 6: A flurry of House Bills Come to the Senate

Sunday, February 18, 2024

Dear Friend,

In this session, the House of Delegates passed 1,010 bills and the Senate passed 637. With Democratic control of both chambers, the bills that passed reflect the progressive values that propelled us to victory last November. Below you will find highlights of the major pieces of legislation we must act on to give Governor Youngkin the opportunity to show us his values. I expect we will see many vetoes and sharp contrasts in philosophies in the days ahead.

Strategically, we are quickly sending bills that easily passed both chambers to the governor. This approach will give us some indication of how vigorously he will exercise his veto pen. One of the first bills to hit the Governor’s desk with be my Kinship Care bill. As you might recall, this bill establishes a framework for financial aid and case management services to support relatives who care for children in their extended family while the biological parents are facing challenging times. This bill received wide bi-partisan support and I worked with officials in the Youngkin administration on technical aspects of the bill. My fingers are crossed.

Update on Reproductive Rights: I want to give a shout out to VA Planned Parenthood, Repro Rising Virginia, Birth in Color, the New Majority and a number of other groups who spoke in favor of my bills to protect menstrual health data from law enforcement; and women who seek abortions in Virginia from other states and the health care professionals who provide that service. Another positive development on the women’s healthcare front is SB237 that makes access to contraception a right. The bill provides a private right of action if access to contraception is denied. None of these bills passed with Republican support and that fact was noted.

Bills in the Health Subcommittee- a Subcommittee I Chair under Education and Health:

Health Coverage for Immigrant Children: I was pleased to help shepherd a bill through the legislative and budgetary hurdles that will provide health insurance to immigrant children who are not eligible for Medicaid because of their immigration status. Right now, these children can only receive Medicaid coverage for emergency care. They have no ongoing health insurance to enable them to establish a medical home and access the preventive health and dental services they desperately need to grow into healthy and productive adults.

Medicaid Coverage for Preventive Services: Several bills have moved forward to provide Medicaid coverage care associated with the social determinants of health. Examples of these bills include coverage for community health workers and gun violence prevention workers. Each of these bills was put into a study to better understand the infrastructure needed and the fiscal impact to support the stated goals. As a former employee at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services responsible for overseeing many state Medicaid programs, I remember how heavily the federal Medicaid regulatory framework favored a pure medical model (or stated another way, a model that reimburses trained healthcare professionals). In recent years, we’ve made progress through the waiver process to secure some federal Medicaid dollars to fund community-based health interventions such as the doula program, a program which I advocated for a few sessions ago. However, I don’t believe the Feds have fully embraced a preventive approach that integrates social determinants into the Medicaid reimbursement arena.

Easier Access to the Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program (SNAP): Another bill that is likely to secure bi-partisan support is an effort to ask food banks and other central food locations to provide information to customers on how to apply for SNAP benefits. Local Departments of Social Services are required to screen for SNAP eligibility when individuals apply for Temporary Assistance for Needy Families and Medicaid and vice versa. According to the state Department of Social Services, the one-stop shopping model for eligibility for our safety-net programs is now available in all corners of the Commonwealth.

Pilot Program to Provide Seamless Discharge Services: Among my many responsibilities, I serve on the Behavioral Health Commission (BHC). The BHC evaluated the discharge process from our state psychiatric hospitals and determined that things need to change. My bill creates a pilot program at three psychiatric hospitals (in the Central, South and Southwestern parts of the state) that requires the respective hospitals to take responsibility for the discharge process for patients released within 30 days. Usually, this would be the responsibility of the local Community Services Board but the BHC and the Department of Behavioral Health Services are attempting to identify ways that streamline services to our patients while ensuring access to quality care in the community.

Rehabilitation and Social Services—Referred to as Rehab & Social Services - A Committee that I Chair:

Prison Reform: Several bills reported out of my committee with significant fiscal impacts that may detour the acceptance of these bills, but they offer huge positive impacts on the humane treatment front. One such bill limits restrictive housing, more commonly recognized as solitary confinement, to no more than 15 days in any 60-day period. The Department of Corrections does not want any such limitation on the books so this proposal may not make it into the budget but we have made considerable progress in chipping away at the solitary part of confinement. There are now requirements on the books to ensure a certain amount of time for exercise and participation in rehabilitation programs for those in solitary confinement. Another bill bans the use of canines to discipline or terrorize inmates. Progress on these bills is the result of the advocacy efforts of the group, Social Action Linking Together.

Universal School Lunch Coverage: A bill passed out of the Senate that requires state funding to cover the cost of school lunch for every child in every school in the Commonwealth. The funding for this bill is in the millions, therefore, it will take a continued commitment by lawmakers and a willing governor to ensure that such a policy is implemented.

Cannabis: All cannabis bills come through Rehab and Social Services. I am working with key lawmakers and stakeholder groups to craft a compromise bill that blends priority items from the medical cannabis community, social equity groups and cannabis growers into a bill that opens a regulated marijuana retail market. Even with all this work, I am fairly certain that Governor Youngkin will veto any marijuana retail bill. However, there are many twists and turns ahead of us this session so nothing will surprise me.

Other Items

Campaign Reform and Elections:

Third Party Reporting: My bill to require third parties who spend money on election communications (to influence the vote on a specific candidate) to disclose their top donor on the relevant communications (SB78 ) was defeated. I’ve been working with the group Money Out and had expected all the Democrats to vote for this bill but there were countervailing winds. Groups like the ACLU, the NAACP and other organizations had concerns with the bill.

Personal Use of Campaign Funds: SB377 - A bill to ban legislators from using campaign funds for personal use advanced out of the Senate 35-4 but failed to report out of the House subcommittee. Campaign finance reform is a very tricky issue to draft.

Rank Choice Voting: For those who are interested in the rank-choice voting issue, SB270 - passed the senate on a party-line vote. This bill allows ranked choice voting in presidential primaries only. Moreover, SB428 allows elections for any local or constitutional office to be conducted by ranked choice voting. Under current law, only elections of members of a county board of supervisors or a city council are allowed to be conducted by ranked choice voting.

Minimum Wage:

Minimum Wage Bill: SB1 - a bill that will take the minimum wage to $13.50 an hour starting January 1, 2025 passed the Senate on a party-line vote. In an excerpt of my floor remarks I noted that “Making a living wage helps people stay working. In fact, the minimum wage bill before us is a pro family, pro work measure.” Democratic lawmakers made many persuasive points during the debate on this bill. Of course, the usual arguments about burdening small businesses and strangling the economy were presented by our friends on the Republican side of the aisle. The Democrats did have facts to counter these arguments but minds were made up before the bill was debated.

Potomac Yard Project: 

Monumental Sports Arena: So far this proposal leaves lots of unanswered questions. The debt capacity needed from the state is too much for my comfort level. Moreover, the economic analysis makes certain assumptions that seem too rosy. I would rather an economic analysis that shows a worst case scenario so I can fully understand what the magnitude of the financial implications could be. The Senate Finance and Appropriations committee did not docket the Sports Arena Bill so the only bill in play is a House bill. I understand that a re-enactment clause has been added to the House bill. That means nothing can happen until the General Assembly acts next year. The reenactment clause was a “must have” for me.  We’ll see how the bill takes shape as the legislative process evolves. 

State of Virginia's Finances: 

Senate Budget Process: I serve on the Finance and Appropriations Committee and two subcommittees under the parent committee’s purview; one committee is Health and Human Resources and the other is Economic Development and Natural Resources. We will be releasing our Senate budget today, February 17.  It is always difficult to balance so many good ideas and worthy causes with limited resources. In this budget, the senate put a big emphasis funding K-12 public education. We propose raising tax revenue and reallocating dollars to fund this important priority. I will provide you with more details in next week’s email blast.

Lastly, thank you for the ongoing calls and emails. Although the volume of correspondence from constituents and others has been very high, I do appreciate hearing from you. 

It is an honor and privilege to represent you in Richmond.

Sincerely,