With water-system issues in Richmond delaying the start of the legislative session, Arlington representatives are ready with firm goals as the Virginia General Assembly prepares to get going next week.
“There is so much more to do to continue building a more just, equitable Commonwealth,” said Del. Adele McClure (D-2), who is entering her second legislative session after winning election in 2023.
McClure and fellow legislators said they were looking forward to the session’s start.
“This milestone always brings me hope and optimism,” state Sen. Barbara Favola (D-40) said in a note to constituents earlier this week.
The five-member, all-Democratic county legislative delegation is unchanged from 2024, with Arlington being represented in the Virginia Senate by Favola and Adam Ebbin, and in the House of Delegates by Patrick Hope, Alfonso Lopez and McClure.
Favola is unique among the five-member delegation, having held local office before ascension to the legislature. She was a member of the Arlington County Board from 1997-2011.
Four of the five legislators will again chair committees in 2025: Favola will helm the Senate Rehabilitation and Social Services Committee; Ebbin the Senate General Laws and Technology Committee; Hope the House Courts of Justice Committee; and Lopez the Agriculture, Chesapeake and Natural Resources Committee.
McClure, as a more junior member of the House of Delegates, is still working her way up the seniority ladder to a point where being a committee chair is a possibility.
Both the Senate and House of Delegates have narrow Democratic majorities. Any legislation passed by the bodies will have to win support of Gov. Glenn Youngkin (R). No Youngkin veto in his first three sessions was overridden by legislators.
While legislators convened in a pro-forma session on Jan. 8 as scheduled, leaders then postponed all formal business until next week due to water-pressure problems impacting buildings throughout Richmond.
Lawmakers expect to return to business on Monday (Jan. 13), when at 10 a.m. Youngkin will present his final State of the Commonwealth address.
Youngkin, who was elected in 2021, is in his last year in office. Unique among the 50 states, Virginia’s constitution does not permit governors to serve consecutive four-year terms.
A sampling of the measures introduced by those in the Arlington delegation (“SB” is Senate Bill, “HB” is House Bill):
Sen. Adam Ebbin (D-39):
- SB877: Requires that the Department of Corrections work with the Department of Workforce Development and Advancement to provide post-release job-search assistance services to assist individuals in finding employment upon release from incarceration, and refer such individuals to case-management services where eligible.
- SB879: Provides more paths licensure for those seeking to teach career and technical-education courses, removing the requirement for college degrees for those with industry-recognized credentials, and gives the applicant more time to complete other state requirements for a teaching license.
- SB880: Prohibits the carrying of certain semi-automatic center-fire rifles and shotguns on any public street, road, alley, sidewalk or public right-of-way or in any public park, or “any other place of whatever nature that is open to the public,” with certain exceptions.
Sen. Barbara Favola (D-40):
- SB773: Requires local departments of social services to develop housing plans for individuals leaving foster care due to age that includes a description of housing options being pursued, and to provide housing vouchers where appropriate to those leaving foster-care services.
- SB820: Establishes a school-improvement grant program to provide additional support to schools identified as “off track” or “needs intensive support” based on student-achievement levels. School districts would be required to file reports detailing how they plan to improve performance.
- SB825: Permits a law-enforcement officer investigating the financial exploitation of a vulnerable adult to seek a warrant from a judicial officer to seize money or other financial instruments for use in prosecution. Funds would be returned to the rightful owner following conclusion of an investigation/prosecution.
Del. Patrick Hope (D-1):
- HB1772: Changes the name of the Autism Advisory Council to the Autism Commission and reconstitutes it as a permanent, independently staffed agency under overseen by the General Assembly.
- HB1937: Requires the Commissioner of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services to include provisions for the protection of patient privacy and data security while administering the the state’s acute-psychiatric-bed registry, and creates an exemption from the Virginia Freedom of Information Act to accomplish it.
- HB2096: Creates an Intelligent Speed Assistance Program as an alternative to suspending a person’s driver’s license for those convicted of reckless driving and found to have been driving in excess of 100 miles per hour. The bill requires participants to install a “speed assistance” device in vehicles they drive.
Del. Adele McClure (D-2):
- HB1625: Eliminates the exemptions from Virginia’s minimum-wage requirements for those employed as farm laborers or farm employees and certain temporary foreign workers. A similar measure patroned by McClure last year was vetoed by Youngkin.
- HB1771: Establishes an Employee Child Care Assistance Pilot Program to provide matching funds to employers in order to incentivize employers to contribute to the child-care costs of their employees. Funding would be provided to employers on a first-come, first-served basis, with priority given to small businesses.
- HB1867: Amends the Virginia Residential Landlord and Tenant Act to require a Virginia landlord who owns more than four rental dwelling units, or more than a 10 percent interest in more than four rental dwelling units, to provide written notice to any tenant whose rental agreement the landlord has chosen not to renew.
Del. Alfonso Lopez (D-3):
- HB2306: Authorizes the Department of Conservation and Recreation to accept from the Conservation Fund approximately 1,240 acres of land and related buildings or structures at Oak Hill Farm in Loudoun County for incorporation into the state-park system.
- HB2313: Requires the state veterinarian or an assistant to annually conduct at least one unannounced drop-in inspection of each boarding establishment in the state, and provides that any locality may, by ordinance, require annual inspections of boarding establishments.
- HB2509: Establishes the Virginia Clean Energy Innovation Board to finance clean-energy projects, greenhouse-gas-emissions-reduction projects and other qualified projects through grants, loans, credits and other financing mechanisms.
The state government’s Virginia Legislative Information System website provides contact information for legislators and the status of bills and resolutions introduced during the session.
All 100 House of Delegates seat will be on the ballot in November. State senators will next face the electorate in 2027.
