Week 5: Tension is in the Air

Sunday, February 13, 2022

Dear Friend,

Standing committees worked diligently this past week to dispose of the many pieces of legislation that are part of the sausage making process. By the end of next Tuesday, all bills on the Senate calendar must be acted on so those that pass the Senate may travel over to the House. In General Assembly terms, February 15 is Crossover Day.

By and large the Senate standing committees defeated nearly all bills that were part of Governor Youngkin’s Day 1 agenda. A large part of the agenda was related to charter school bills and tax cut proposals. As well intentioned as the charter school bills may have been, there were no safeguards for accountability or transparency and local school boards would have been cut out of the process. For all the hype around parental involvement, Governor Youngkin’s charter school proposals did not require or facilitate the oversight that elected school boards bring to our public schools. Consequently, the many taxpayers who would be supporting charter schools would not be able to hold such schools accountable as they currently do through the election of school board members.

Wheeler Nomination is Defeated: For the moment, the Senate Democrats defeated the Wheeler nomination on a party-line vote. This was absolutely the right thing to do on many levels. Now, however, the nomination is before the House of Delegates and we are expecting that the Speaker will hold the nomination hostage so he will have leverage over other important appointments and issues. Although I harbor no ill will towards Mr. Wheeler, I truly believe that blocking his nomination is one of the top three most important accomplishments that the Senate Democrats could deliver for the Commonwealth.

Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI) - The Senate Agriculture and Natural Resources Committee, a committee which I serve on, defeated a bill that would have unraveled RGGI. To see these kinds of bills and to hear Governor Youngkin talk about removing Virginia from RGGI is incredibly disappointing and perplexing. Just last year, Virginia was able to sell carbon reduction emission credits and earn $228M that was targeted to flood mitigation strategies, among other environmental initiatives. How could this be a bad idea.

Education and Governor Youngkin’s Agenda - Let’s start with Sexually Explicit Literature - A Republican lawmaker from Henrico County, Senator Dunnavant, introduced legislation that would require the Board of Education to establish a model policy that each local school board would be required to adopt that would permit any parent to review instructional material and related academic activities that include sexually explicit content, upon request. This is the Toni Morrison bill, again, but this time it passed out of the Senate with two Democratic votes. It will most certainly pass the House. Senate Bill 656 weakens the ability of educators to teach a a full and robust curriculum, a curriculum that would expose students to Shakespeare and other literary giants because of “sexually explicit” material. Discussing such material within the context of an historical period or a broader theme gives our children the ability to better understand the world around them. 

February is Black History Month - This is a time when many public school teachers dive into discussions surrounding the history of slavery, Jim Crow laws, and the civil rights movement in this country. But let’s remember, Governor Youngkin’s Executive Order Number One, signed on his first day in office, seeks to end the use of “inherently divisive concepts, including critical race theory,” (which is not being taught in K-12 schools). That was followed by his launching of a tip line for “parents to keep an eye out for ‘critical race theory’ and ‘divisive practices’ within Virginia schools.” Both of these actions have public school teachers wondering how to navigate historical events in this new political climate.

The cumulative impact of Governor Youngkin’s education related Executive Orders coupled with legislative proposals that attempt to replace evidence- based teaching practices with policies that give parents veto authority over curricula are forcing teachers to leave the profession in droves.

School Health Services Committee - My bill to establish a committee that would advise lawmakers on various proposals aimed at requiring schools to implement health related services passed the powerful Senate Rules Committee. The committee would be comprised of lawmakers and experts. Many advocates from the schools community and child welfare groups spoke in favor of the bill. The uniform message from these groups was “schools need to be a safe place for children but providing health care services poses many challenges and a full vetting of proposed mandates is necessary.”

Sparks of Hope:

ESL Teacher to Student Ratio Reduced - Senator Hashmi passed a bill that is now over in the House (SB156) that significantly reduces the ratio of English Language learners to ESL teachers. Under her bill, there must be one ESL teacher for every 25 students at a level one proficiency, one ESL teacher for every 30 students at a level two proficiency, and one ESL teacher for every 40 students at a level three proficiency. This new standard of quality may not be adopted in the House but the conversation was very helpful.

Paid Sick Days for Home Care Workers - My bill would provide up to 5 days of paid sick leave to agency employed home care workers who enter the homes of our most vulnerable to provide assistance with day-to-day living activities. This bill mirrors a bill that we passed last year that requires Medicaid to provide up to 5 days of paid sick leave to home care workers who are directly hired by the individual, commonly referred to as consumer directed care. It is worth noting that most families turn to home care agencies when they are looking for a worker to care for a loved one. I hope we can include paid sick days as a requirement in the Medicaid contracts the state has with these agencies. The Senate Finance and Appropriations Committee passed this proposal, pending the appropriation of funds. One thing COVID-19 has shown us is how important it is to provide paid sick days to front-line workers if we want our loved ones and our communities to be safe.

More of My Health Care Bills Pass Senate:

Medical Debt Repayment Bill - After hours of negotiation with the Virginia Health and Hospital Association, consumer advocates, the Legal Aid Justice Center, and hospital staff at the University of Virginia and Virginia Commonwealth University, I was able to craft a medical debt repayment process that provides patients some protections and conforms to applicable federal requirements. Under my bill, each uninsured patient must be screened for eligibility for public assistance programs and for any charity care program operated by the hospitals. If a patient is deemed responsible for some medical debt, a payment plan must be offered that is reasonable and includes no more than the federally required 6 percent interest rate. The payment plan can be renegotiated at the patient’s request with no fees or charges applied. The bill does not go as far as I would like in terms of patient protections but it is a good start. It passed the Senate on a unanimous vote. 

Waivers of Hospital COPN Rules During Declared Emergencies - I was asked to carry this legislation by the Virginia Health and Hospital Association. As you might expect, the COPN process is cumbersome and not as nimble as it needs to be. During the COVID-19 emergency, hospitals needed permission from the Governor or Commissioner of Health to add beds without complying with the COPN process and in some cases, the request was actually debated! My bill clarifies in statute that hospitals may add beds in a declared emergency for the duration of the emergency and up to 30 days after the emergency declaration expires. Fortunately, everyone could see the benefit of this needed statutory change and the bill passed the Senate with strong bi-partisan support. 

Transfer of Custody - Several lawmakers, myself included, introduced legislation that would allow law enforcement or a magistrate to identify an alternative transportation provider to transport an individual under an Emergency Custody Order and to stay with the individual until he/she is released by a health care provider or the health care provider decides that a Temporary Detention Order (TDO) should be requested. My bill was more comprehensive than the other introduced proposals because I allowed for an alternative transportation option under the TDO process, as well, and gave authority to state mental health facilities to use an alternative transportation provider for every leg of the process including staying with an individual until a bed can be located if the state mental health facility is full. Senior colleagues in the Senate (Senators Emmett Hanger and Creigh Deeds) asked me to carry the omnibus bill with portions of their bills integrated into mine and to negotiate a final piece of legislation that would also pass the House. My omnibus bill has passed the Senate with strong bi-partisan support and I am working with the Virginia Sheriffs Association, mental health advocates and Governor Youngkin’s policy team to get this much needed bill through the House.

In Summary - I have received lots of positive feedback on my weekly newsletters. I am glad you are finding them helpful and informative. Your support and suggestions have been invaluable to me during these past few weeks. Thanks for your advocacy, you are definitively making a difference.

It is an honor to represent you in Richmond. Looking forward to connecting in person when the session concludes.

Sincerely,