Greetings from a very chilly and busy week down here in Richmond at the General Assembly. While today (Wednesday) is only the third day we have had legislative business in the Capitol due to last week’s water crisis, today still counts as the eighth day of session, so we have a lot to catch up on in a very short amount of time!
Bills introduced by my colleagues are slowly being referred to their respective committees and subcommittees to be scheduled for hearings, and I have my very first bill up to be heard today, HB 2077 which aims to add Virginia’s federal and state recognized tribes as entities eligible to receive grants from the Virginia Community Flood Preparedness Fund.
Now that we are officially underway, I thought it would be a great opportunity to write about a few of my legislative initiatives introduced this session.
I reintroduced the Virginia’s Great Outdoors Act (HB 2059) which I championed last year. This legislation directs at least $200 million from recordation tax revenues and at least $30 million of bond proceeds to support funding to our underfunded Virginia state trails, parks, battlefields, and other public land, protect farm and forest land at risk of development, as well as include a “Get Outdoors” fund to support communities working to increase their access to outdoor spaces.
Turning to labor efforts, I have reintroduced a bill to expand the eligibility for workers’ compensation to include injuries or diseases caused by repetitive and sustained physical stressors. As the only state in the nation without this coverage, this legislation will fill the current gaps in worker compensation eligibility to ensure greater financial security to Virginia residents and their families injured in the workplace. I am also working with Virginia’s firefighters and law enforcement officers to expand workers’ compensation benefits related to anxiety disorder or depressive disorder from one year to two years, and benefits due to post-traumatic stress disorder from 52 weeks to 500 weeks. This expansion will provide our frontline disaster responders with the care and support they and their families need while recovering from traumatic workplace situations.
This year I have also introduced several pieces of legislation related to gaming, alcohol, and drug regulation as the Chairman of the ABC/Gaming subcommittee on General Laws. My landmark legislation this session, in coordination with Senator Reeves, is HB 2498, which establishes the Virginia Gaming Commission, an independent agency charged with overseeing and regulating all forms of legal gambling in the Commonwealth. This future agency is essential to streamline the oversight and enforcement of all gaming activities in Virginia. It will focus on prioritizing problem gambling treatment and prevention while promoting greater gaming responsibility to protect all Virginians. Therefore, any new gaming legislation, such as the establishment of a casino in Tysons Corner, should be put on hold until this agency is fully operational. This will ensure the agency can properly evaluate and regulate new projects to align with its mission.
For a full list of my introduced legislation, please visit the brand new Legislative Information Systems site at https://lis.virginia.gov/.
Today, the Mount Vernon Springfield Chamber, the local Moms Demand Action, and a number of other constituents visited me, and I hope to see many more of you visit my office in Richmond this session. Please continue to contact my office to share your views on the bills that I will hear and vote on. It is an honor to serve as your Delegate representing you in Richmond.