Your Gov't at Work: To Local Audiences, Va. Del. Simon, Sen. Salim Share Richmond Agenda

By Cindy Sieden,

Before, during, and after every Virginia General Assembly session, delegates and state senators typically hold events with their constituents to inform them about legislation they’re sponsoring or voting on, and budget priorities. Va. Delegate Marcus Simon (13th District) and State Senator Saddam Salim (37th District) did just that this past week, with Delegate Simon holding a Road to Richmond lunch at the Northern Virginia Association of Realtors’ offices on Wednesday, January 7, and Senator Salim holding his own Richmond Sendoff at Clare and Don’s on Saturday, January 10.

Delegate Simon gave an overall preview of the upcoming session, including clarifying that while Democrats now hold a large majority in the House (64 seats out of 100), the House is not necessarily more progressive than the Senate, because many of the wins came in flipped Republican seats in much more purple districts. He also explained that Virginia is currently defined by Moody’s as being “on the verge of recession” because of continuing unemployment of federal workers, slowing economic growth in Virginia (dropping from 6th highest-growing to 34th nationally), and the need to take into account drastic cuts to SNAP benefits and Medicaid in the state budget.

Some of the hot issues the General Assembly will take up this session include the four constitutional amendments: reproductive rights, voting rights, marriage equality, and allowing the legislature to do a mid-decade redistricting if other states do so. Those are expected to be passed for their required second time in the first week of the General Assembly, and then go to the voters either during a special referendum in mid-April, or on the November general election ballot. Beyond that, since Governor Youngkin vetoed hundreds of bills during his four years, those are a starting point for what the legislature will work on first. Some examples include commonsense gun violence prevention bills such as the assault weapons ban, Delegate Simon’s ghost gun ban, safe storage of guns in cars, and restricting the possession of guns in mental hospitals.

Other high priorities for Democrats include pro-worker bills that Youngkin vetoed, such as increasing the minimum wage to $15 an hour and paid sick leave. The General Assembly also is likely to finally establish an adult-use retail marijuana market, after legalizing cannabis possession and use a few years ago. Additionally, several bills to protect renters and to increase affordable housing will be high priorities, including extending the 5-day eviction notice for late rent to two weeks to give renters time for their next paycheck to come in before beginning the eviction process.

Continuing the trend of the last few years, we can expect a focus on gambling: whether or not to allow a casino in Fairfax (Delegate Simon and Senator Salim both repeated their opposition to this); setting up a Gaming Commission to provide a single regulatory umbrella for the numerous forms of gambling now permitted in Virginia; and Delegate Simon also mentioned a bill he is carrying to regulate (and tax) “i-gaming” such as Chumba Casino.

Bills Delegate Simon specifically mentioned he's carrying include:

• Requiring settlement agents upon discovering restrictive covenants – old, now-illegal discrimination clauses – in the title documents of a property, to disclose to the purchaser that they have a right to have them removed;
• Establishing a framework for class action lawsuits in Virginia (one of only two states in the country that do not allow them!);
• Eliminating the common-law crime of suicide, which is not legally enforceable but which has important effects on military spouse benefits and is generally stigmatizing to loved ones;
• Requiring universities to establish and publish in the student handbook a specific policy regarding religious accommodations for students in the scheduling of assignments and exams, as well as for attendance.

Senator Salim at his event gave a similar overview of what to expect from the legislature this session. In addition to the policy focuses mentioned already, he said the Senate would be taking up a handful of immigrant rights bills, including: a bill to prohibit localities from entering into 287g agreements with ICE to delegate immigration enforcement authority; a bill to protect people when they're visiting the courthouse for legal proceedings, including to pay fees or serve as a witness; and a bill to prevent any law enforcement agents, including ICE, from wearing face coverings while performing their job.

Bills that Senator Salim's carrying include:

• Protecting consumers from financial scams by requiring disclosures at cryptocurrency kiosks;
• Stronger worker protections for “gig economy” transit workers, such as those at Uber and Lyft, to ensure they're paid fairly and have access to basic worker benefits;
• Requiring a disclosure on AI-generated video images used in political campaigns;
• Other bills to require disclosures that AI is being used instead of a decision-making human — particularly in healthcare decisions, on state websites, and when AI-powered rental pricing algorithms are used;
• Prohibiting localities from requiring a minimum number of parking spots on new buildings being developed;
• Ending single-family zoning adjacent to transportation hubs, such as Metro stations.

This should be a productive and exciting General Assembly session, both for our district’s legislators and for the whole Commonwealth. One important caution Senator Salim mentioned is that while legislators have a laundry list of great policy ideas they'd like to implement, we’re in a precarious budget situation due to needing to replace federal funds and to cover expenses that have been pushed down to the states from the federal government; many of the bills are likely to die quietly in Appropriations because they simply cannot be paid for in this budget environment. The discussions are important, nonetheless, and we look forward to hearing more from our delegation as the session progresses.

Cindy Sieden is a Falls Church City resident of more than 15 years. She discovered several years ago that her civic duty extended beyond merely voting when an election arose, and now takes a very active role in following state and local government and helping others understand how those governments work, what actions they take, and how to advocate for issues important to them. She founded the Virginia Progressive Legislative Alert Network (VAPLAN) to that end, and is also a regular contributor at Blue Virginia.