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NEWSLETTER

February 3, 2025

Neighbors, 

Our nation experienced an unimaginable tragedy with the aviation collision over the Potomac River. During this time of immense sorrow, my thoughts are with the victims and their families, including members of our Fairfax County community. I am grateful to the first responders who are providing assistance, and I will continue to receive updates from the Virginia Department of Emergency Management on how Virginia is helping with the response effort.  

Our 2025 legislative session is nearing the mid-point – I have included an update on my legislative agenda below, and hope you are able to read about my efforts to support students who use augmentative and alternative communication here and my push to provide public sector employees with the right to collectively bargain here.

In this newsletter, I’ve included the following updates:

  • Town Hall

  • Community Updates

    • Fairfax County School Board

    • Humane Society of Virginia

    • Healthcare for All Virginians Coalition

    • Virginia Restaurant, Lodging, and Travel Association

    • Medical Society of Virginia

    • Virginia Annual Conference of the United Methodist Church

    • Radford University

    • Fairfax Education Association

    • Southern State Police Benevolent Association

  • Legislative Update

    • House Democratic Caucus Press Conference

    • Page Program

    • Lunar New Year

    • My Legislative Agenda

    • Staying Engaged During Session

As always, let me know if you have questions or need assistance by calling my office at (804) 698-1018 or emailing me at DelKTran@house.virginia.gov. 

 

Best, Kathy

Kathy KL Tran

Delegate

Town Hall

Delegate Kathy Tran’s Virtual Session Town Hall

Tuesday, February 11

6:30pm

Register here: https://bit.ly/2025SessionTownHall 

I hope to see you at my upcoming Virtual Session Town Hall – I'll be sharing the latest news from Richmond, including updates on my legislative agenda and the budget!

Community Updates

Fairfax County School Board

I appreciated seeing Fairfax County School Board Members Sandy Anderson and Rachna Sizemore Heizer and discussing opportunities to support our public K-12 schools.  


Humane Society of Virginia

I enjoyed meeting with my constituent Eileen and advocates from the Humane Society of Virginia about how we can better take care of domesticated animals and wildlife.

Healthcare for All Virginians Coalition

I visited with the Healthcare for All Coalition and thanked them for supporting my budget request to ensure every child has health care coverage, regardless of their immigration status. 


Virginia Restaurant, Lodging, and Travel Association

I had the opportunity to speak with members of the Virginia Restaurant, Lodging, and Travel Association about their priorities to increase tourism in Virginia.

Medical Society of Virginia

I met with Dr. Joel Bundy, President of the Medical Society of Virginia, to discuss his support for my bill, House Bill 2269, to collect data about violence and threats against health care providers in hospitals.


Virginia Annual Conference of the United Methodist Church

I was glad to hear from my constituents Max and Carolyn with the United Methodist Church about their interest in expanding affordable housing.


Radford University

I had the pleasure of seeing Annie, a Radford University student and my constituent. I was very impressed by her leadership and advocacy experiences as an undergraduate student!


Fairfax Education Association

Thanks to educators with the Fairfax Education Association for paying me a visit this week. We discussed the need to increase teacher pay and support collective bargaining for educators, including my House Bill 2764.

Southern State Police Benevolent Association

Thank you to the Southern State Police Benevolent Association for sharing your support of my bill, House Bill 2764, to expand public sector collective bargaining!

My team and I also met with:

  • Children’s Home Society of Virginia

  • Civil Air Patrol

  • Delta Sigma Theta Sorority

  • Democratic Party of Virginia

  • Fairfield Foundation

  • Hemophilia Association of the Capital Area

  • Jewish Community Relations Council

  • NASA Langley Research Center

  • Northern Virginia Association of Realtors

  • Pretty Purposed – Voices for Virginia’s Children

  • Service Employees International Union 512

  • Swipe Out Hunger

  • Virginia Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics

  • Virginia Association of Elementary School Principals

  • Virginia Economic Development Partnership

  • Virginia Government Employees Association

  • Virginia Interfaith Center for Public Policy

  • Virginia Pro Life Day

Legislative Updates

House Democratic Caucus Press Conference

My Democratic colleagues and I held a press conference regarding President Trump’s federal funding freeze. While the freeze has been lifted, the threats to federal funding for public K-12, Medicaid, food and rental assistance, workforce training programs, veterans programs, and so much more would harm people across Virginia and our country. I am committed to making sure that we do all we can at the state level to support vulnerable Virginians.  


Page Program

I joined Delegate Chris Obenshain to discuss the legislative process with the House Pages. The House Page Program provides 13 and 14 year old Virginian students with the opportunity to learn about the General Assembly and develop their leadership skills during session. Each year, House Pages participate in a mock legislature, including writing, drafting, and debating their own bills. I had so much fun sharing ideas on how they can pass their own bill!  

 

Lunar New Year Floor Speech

January 29 was the Lunar New Year – This holiday is celebrated by more than 1.5 billion people worldwide. This year is the Year of the Snake, which reminds us to embrace change and act with purpose and intention. You can see my comments here.


My Legislative Agenda

Tuesday, February 4 is Crossover, the deadline by which all bills must pass the chamber they were introduced in and “cross over” to the other chamber. As such, our committees held long meetings this past week in order to finish debating and voting on bills in order to meet this deadline. I’ve included an update below on my legislative agenda:


My legislation that has already been voted on by the full House of Delegates

House Bill 2219 improves educational experiences for our students with disabilities. It requires schools to provide teachers and staff with training on using augmentative and alternative communication before classroom instruction begins so they can communicate and fully engage with each of their students. You can read more about this bill here.

The bill passed unanimously out of the House of Delegates and now will be heard in the state Senate. Thank you to my constituents Toby and Lindsay for their advocacy and to the Arc of Virginia, the Arc of Northern Virginia, disAbility Law Center of Virginia, Autism Society of Central Virginia, Autism Society of Northern Virginia, REV UP Virginia, Special Education Administrators, and American Federation of Teachers for their support.

House Bill 2265  supports our youngest students by allowing qualified licensed teachers with over 15 years of experience teaching preschool special education the opportunity to continue teaching in their classroom without needing extra coursework if their superintendent recommends it.

This bill passed out of the House of Delegates unanimously and will next be heard in the state Senate. Thank you to my constituent Jennifer and the Arc of Virginia, disAbility Law Center of Virginia, the Arc of Northern Virginia, American Federation of Teachers Virginia, and the Virginia Education Association for supporting this bill.


My legislation that passed out of Committee and will be voted on by the full House of Delegates

House Bill 2218 improves tenant rights by requiring landlords to accept all lawful forms of payment for rent and security deposits and ensuring tenants have at least one fee-free option to pay their rent. 

I am thankful for the support of the Virginia Poverty Law Center, Housing Opportunities Made Equal of Virginia, and the Virginia League of Women Voters.

House Bill 2241 helps reduce gun violence by prohibiting people who are convicted of misdemeanor assault from possessing a firearm, ammunition, or explosives if they intentionally selected their victim because of their race, religious conviction, gender, disability, gender identity, sexual orientation, color, or ethnic or national origin. 

Thank you to Everytown, Moms Demand Action, Giffords, and Virginia Moms for Change for their partnership, and the Virginia Asian American and Pacific Islander Caucus for their support.

House Bill 2264 helps reduce fees that working families face by re-establishing a free system to directly file our state taxes and requires Virginia to join the IRS’s Direct File program so that no one has to pay in order to file their taxes. 

I am grateful to the Commonwealth Institute and Freedom Virginia for supporting this bill.

House Bill 2266 promotes solar energy by spreading the costs of expensive infrastructure upgrades to installing solar panels on our schools, government buildings, and parking lots among users on a transmission line. 

Thank you to the Southern Environmental Law Center, League of Conservation Voters, Chesapeake Climate Action Network Action Fund, Virginia Conservation Network, and Dominion Energy for supporting this legislation.

House Bill 2541 helps ensure that Virginians with disabilities are able to equally obtain government services and educational opportunities. It requires information and communication technology that is used to deliver services by state agencies, local governments, institutions of higher education, and local school districts to meet federal accessibility standards. 

I am grateful for the support of the Virginia Higher Education Accessibility Partners and the National Federation of the Blind of Virginia.

House Bill 2269 addresses the proliferation of violence against health care workers in hospitals by requiring this data be captured and analyzed. 

I am thankful for the partnership of the Medical Society of Virginia, Virginia Council of Nurse Practitioners, Psychiatric Society of Virginia, Orthopedic Society of Virginia, Virginia Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics, Virginia Society of Anesthesiologists, Virginia Nurses Association, Virginia Association of Nurse Anesthetists, and Virginia Hospital and Healthcare Association.

House Bill 2746 requires Virginia courts to determine, with clear and convincing evidence, that an individual under guardianship or conservatorship lacks the capacity to understand the act of voting before disqualifying them from voting.

Many thanks to the disAbility Law Center of Virginia, the Arc of Virginia, the Virginia Poverty Law Center,  the ACLU of Virginia, Virginia AARP, Virginia Autism Project, REV UP Virginia, and the Virginia Board for People with Disabilities for their support.

House Bill 2764 gives the right of state employees to collectively bargain for better pay, benefits, and working conditions. You can read more about this legislation here.

I appreciate the support of the Police Benevolent Association, Virginia AFL-CIO, SEIU 512, Virginia Education Association, United Campus Workers of Virginia, Virginia Conference of the American Association of University Professors, Virginia Professional Firefighters, Virginia Council of the Communications Workers of Virginia, The Commonwealth Institute for Fiscal Analysis, and Virginia Building and Construction Trades Council.


My legislation that did not advance out of Committee

House Bill 2180 provides targeted relief to working families and addresses child poverty for nearly 800,000 Virginian kids by establishing a one time, refundable state child tax credit.

While this bill passed the Finance Committee, it did not pass out of the House Appropriations Committee. Thank you to our partners for their support, including The Commonwealth Institute for Fiscal Analysis, Virginia Education Association, Voices for Virginia’s Children, Freedom Virginia, Virginia Interfaith Center for Public Policy, New Virginia Majority, Progress Virginia, and Virginia Catholic Conference.

House Bill 2593 uses the surplus from the Legacy Prepaid529 program to offer rebates to account holders, create a Virginia College Access and Affordability Scholarship Program, and offer access programs to encourage students to pursue higher education or workplace training.

The bill passed the Education Committee but did not pass the Appropriations Committee.

House Bill 2604 requires electric utilities to consider all types of power resources, including clean energy, through a complete competitive procurement process before building new fossil fuel plants.

After extensive discussions with environmental partners, we decided to continue working on this policy proposal in future years. 

Staying Engaged During Session

You are able to watch Committee and Subcommittee meetings in real time; see the schedule of meetings at this link. 

As the 2025 legislative session continues, I hope to welcome many of you to my office in Richmond to learn more about your priorities for our community. However, you can still stay engaged through these online resources and my town halls. I hope to hear from you soon!