Dear John,

Thank you for your ongoing support, visits, and emails. The last few days of session are aways hectic and tense, so touches from home are greatly appreciated.

Virtual Town Hall-February 27:

I will be hosting a virtual town hall on February 27th at 7:00 PM to provide a legislative update and hear your concerns regarding potential impacts from Trump’s executive orders. You can register to attend here.   

On Saturday, Delegate Alfonso Lopez and I held our annual mid-session town hall at the Walter Reed Community Center in South Arlington. I always enjoy learning about issues important to constituents and sharing legislative updates. Thank you to all who took time out of their Saturday morning to join us.

General Update:

I am delighted to say that 27 bills for which I was the chief patron passed out of the Senate. To view the complete list, click here. I earned the honor of sponsoring the most number of bills to pass the Senate.

This week, the House of Delegates passed eight of my 27 bills and have scheduled action on the remaining 19 bills. The eight bills that passed are now on their way to the governor.  Later in this newsletter is a description of those eight bills. If you are a regular reader of my newsletters you have seen these descriptions before, but if you are engaging for the first time you may find the summaries helpful.

Stay tuned for updates on the governor’s actions.  

Legislation of Interest:

Constitutional Amendments: This week, Virginia moved a step closer to enshrining the right to marry, protecting access to reproductive health care services, and automatically restoring the right to vote for individuals convicted of felonies (who have served their time). Both chambers have now passed resolutions that lay forth constitutional amendment language protecting these rights. The governor does not have a say in this process. The next step is another vote in each chamber next year. If this step is successful, a referendum will be placed before voters in 2026.

Debates on Solar: HB2037- This bill would permit localities to allow a solar canopy on designated surface parking areas. Even though this is a pretty simple bill, the Senate undertook a surprisingly long debate on it. I spoke to this measure after Republicans repeatedly misinterpreted the bill as an unwelcome mandate.

This bill allows local governments, during their land-use planning process, to consider whether the requirement for solar canopies over large scale parking areas is a good policy for their locality. I reminded lawmakers that a locality could only apply a solar requirement through the ordinance process, and this process has lengthy and comprehensive public participation rules. It became very clear that the Republicans are doing everything they can to undermine our transition to a cleaner and greener environment. The bill passed with a party line vote, and will now go to the governor.

Fairfax Casino: SB982- This bill that would have allowed the Fairfax Board of Supervisors to place a referendum question regarding the placement of a casino in Tysons Corner is on life support. Although it is possible that the bill could be resuscitated, it is likely dead for this session. The House Appropriations Committee voted to defeat the bill.

The anticipated, and I believe exaggerated, state revenue likely to be raised through another casino operation is still very appealing to lawmakers, so I expect a similar casino proposal to come forward next year. I made several arguments on the floor of the Senate in opposition to the casino. I am hopeful that my point about modernizing our income tax structure being a better way to increase state revenue, rather than subjecting individuals to addictive behavior, will one day resonate.

Electric Utilities and Data Center Cost Allocations: SB960- This bill directs the State Corporation Commission (SCC) to initiate proceedings to determine if the current allocation of costs among different customer classifications of electric utilities requires individual customers to unreasonably subsidize the costs of data centers. The bill directs the Commission to promulgate such rules as necessary to eliminate or minimize any such unreasonable subsidies as much as possible. This bill passed the Senate with a vote of 25 to 14. 

My Bills on the Governor’s Desk:

Removing Firearms from Abusers: SB744- This bill takes steps to ensure that someone who is the subject of a protective order or convicted of domestic assault and battery and is therefore prohibited from possessing a firearm, actually relinquishes that firearm. The bill requires that the offender file a form with the court that discloses the name and address of the firearm recipient, and that affirms that the recipient is at least 21 years of age, does not reside in the same household with the offender, and is otherwise legally eligible to possess a firearm. The bill passed both bodies on party-line votes and will likely be vetoed by Governor Youngkin. I introduced this same bill last year and the governor vetoed it. But I  am eternally hopeful that common sense and the desire to keep women safe will one day prevail with my colleagues on the other side of the aisle.

Protecting Reproductive Health Data: SB754- This bill, which passed the Senate 20-17 and the House 52-43, prohibits the willful disclosure of private reproductive health information. It enables a consumer to exercise a private right of action if a company or individual willfully releases personal information related to reproductive health services without consent. Even though willful conduct is a high legal bar, I expect the data companies to oppose this bill when it reaches the governor’s desk. I consider this bill to be the next step after my successful achievement last year in protecting menstrual health data from law enforcement. As a member of the Joint Commission on Technology and Science, I will continue to work on efforts to protect our most sensitive and personal information.

Reporting on Deaths in Jails: SB770- This bill, which passed both chambers unanimously, will ensure that an annual report is published that includes the number of deaths in our local and regional jails, the nature of the deaths, and any trends that may become obvious and require corrective actions. I worked with the Youngkin administration to ensure that lawmakers, advocates, and the general public will be made aware of critical information about the treatment of individuals in our local and regional jails.

Children in Need of Services: SB801- This bill, which passed out of both the Senate and the House unanimously, is a recommendation of the Commission on Youth, which I chair. This legislation aims to codify current practice by adding children found to be “In Need of Services,” as determined by a judge, to the groups that are statutorily eligible for services funded through the Children’s Services Act.

Federal Benefits for Foster Youth: SB818- This bill requires notifying children in foster care of the federal benefits such as Social Security and Disability Income or veteran family benefits for which they may be eligible. If social services is the legal guardian of the foster youth, my bill requires the local department of social services to notify a child over the age of 12, their legal guardian or next of kin, their guardian ad litem, and their counsel that the youth is eligible for federal benefits. This disclosure requirement is an important step towards ensuring that federal payments are retained in a trust fund for the eligible foster youth and not used to offset the state-required monthly maintenance payments to foster families.

Alcohol Beverage Control Authority: SB834- This bill, which passed both the Senate and the House unanimously, codifies current ABC policies that protect against anti-competitive practices in Virginia’s alcohol market.  

Mobile Health Clinics: SB842- This bill directs the Department of Housing and Community Development to include broadband access services for mobile health clinics as a priority in the Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment Program. Mobile clinics often have difficulties operating in remote areas where their services are most needed because of challenges connecting to broadband. This legislation passed both chambers unanimously and is a recommendation of the Joint Commission on Healthcare, of which I am a member.

Health Services for Pre-Release and Re-Entry: SB870- My bill would allow the Department of Medical Assistance Services and the Department of Social Services to access health data on state and local inmates to improve pre-release services around the continuation of medical services. It passed through both the Senate and the House unanimously.

Chairing the Rehabilitation and Social Services Committee 

My Committee Work:

Friday marked the final meeting of the Senate Committee of Rehabilitation and Social Services, a committee that I chair. We heard over 60 bills related to protecting children, criminal justice reform, behavioral health, and other social issues.

I also chair the Health Subcommittee of the Education and Health Committee. My subcommittee heard bills to increase access to telehealth care, improve the quality of care in nursing homes and assisted living facilities, and enable easier access for low-income pregnant women to obtain prenatal, perinatal, and postpartum care. 

I hope you’ll visit my website at BarbaraFavola.org and subscribe to my regular newsletters. I also have a dynamic social media presence through Facebook, X (formerly Twitter), and Blue Sky. I hope you’ll follow my work using one or more of those platforms.

You may also track legislation through Virginia’s Legislative Information System. The Commonwealth’s General Assembly Website is a useful tool as well. You can follow events, find pertinent information, observe sessions, and monitor committee meetings through the site.

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

Sincerely,

Barbara Favola

Representing District 40