February 19, 2024 Newsletter

Dear friends,

This past Tuesday was Crossover: the deadline for each Chamber to complete its work and send all of its successful legislation to the other side. Additionally, yesterday (Sunday) was the deadline for each Chamber to present its amendments to the Governor’s proposed budget bills: SB29/HB29 (Caboose Budget) and SB30/HB30. My staff and I delayed sending out our weekend newsletter so that we could capture some highlights from the Senate budget reports.

This week’s newsletter shares information about the budget, Crossover, legislative updates, and select meetings from this past week. Thank you for reading and staying informed.

Budget Sunday

Yesterday, members of the Senate Finance and Appropriations Committee and the House Appropriations Committee convened at the General Assembly Building to present their respective Committee’s budget proposal.

Critical Highlights from the Senate’s Proposed Budget:

The Senate’s budget proposals, captured in the amended SB30 that reported out of the Finance Committee, are focused on investing in the Commonwealth to keep Virginia moving forward. Here a just a few highlights:

Education: The 2024 Senate Budget underscores a deep commitment to education, from early childhood through higher education.

• An additional $1.6 billion GF over the biennium in direct aid to localities and $400 million from the Literary Fund to support school construction
• $402.0 million GF over the biennium to fund a three percent salary increase in October 2024 and an additional three percent salary increase in July 2025 for SOQ funded positions
• $400.7 million GF over the biennium to fully remove the cap on support positions.
• $243.1 million GF over the biennium to replace the grocery tax removed from the Governor’s introduced budget.
• $73.8 million GF over the biennium in undergraduate need-based aid

Infrastructure: The Senate’s budget prioritizes substantial investments in transportation, broadband, and water systems to meet the needs of a growing Virginia.

• $60 million GF over the biennium for the Virginia Telecommunication Initiative that, in conjunction with available federal funding, advances the goal of broadband accessibility throughout the Commonwealth
• $36 million GF over the biennium to the Virginia Innovative Partnership Authority to establish the VA Biotechnology, Life Science, and Pharmaceutical Manufacturing Network

Healthcare Accessibility: Expanding access to affordable healthcare remains a cornerstone of the Senate's vision, ensuring every Virginian can obtain the care they need without undue burden.

• $1.2 billion GF over the biennium to fund the Medicaid program
• $112.6 million GF over the biennium to phase in 3,440 developmental disability waiver slots on a quarterly basis
• Maintains the $46.9 million GF over the biennium to fund the children’s health insurance program
• $129.5 million GF for community-based behavioral health services

My Successful Budget Amendments

Here are a few of my budget amendments that are now in the proposed SB30:

Beginning in 2026, $12,375,295 has been allocated to establish the Cover All Kids program, as outlined in my bill SB231.

• From the Joint Commission on Health Care (JCHC), the Department of Medical Assistance Services (DMAS) will be directed to develop a plan to incorporate the Diabetes Prevention Program services into Medicaid and submit its plan to JCHC.
• Also from JCHC, DMAS will be directed to develop a comprehensive plan for eating disorder treatment services and submit its plan to JCHC and to the Chairs of the House Appropriations and Senate Finance and Appropriations Committees.
• For people living with brain injury, $775,000 each year from the general fund will be provided for workforce retention to ensure quality accessible services  under the Department of Aging and Rehabilitative Services.
• For English Language Learners in public schools, $26,733,927 is provided over the biennium to increase the ratio of teachers from 20 to 22 per 1,000 students.
• To support student learning, $5,000,000 over the biennium is provided to expand the 21st Century Community Learning Centers program at the Virginia Department of Education (VDOE). This program provides grants to community-based organizations partnering with school divisions to create 14 additional before- and after-school and summer learning programs for school-age children attending high-poverty, low-performing schools.
• To establish a Joint Subcommittee on Elementary and Secondary Education Funding, $500,000 is provided to support the on-going direction and oversight of the Standards of Quality funding cost policies and to make recommendations to transition school funding to a student-based formula.
• To support community deployment and tailored resources, including financing for housing development and rehabilitation projects, and community revitalization real estate projects, $4,000,000 is provided in FY 24-25 to develop the Community Development Financial Institutions Fund.

I am pleased to see these funds allocated in SB30, the Senate budget. The House has proposed its own budget, and during the next few weeks, we will be working to reconcile these two budgets and then sending one budget proposal to the Governor.

All Subcommittee reports from the Committees are located here.

Crossover

Last Tuesday, the Senate and the House concluded the first half of session, and all bills that passed their chamber of origin were sent to the opposite chamber. This past week, three more of my bills passed out of the Senate, bringing the total number of successful bills to 16. Of those 16 bills, 13 passed with bipartisan support. The three bills that passed the Senate this past week are the following:

• SB 272 passed the Senate unanimously (40-0). This legislation requires the Department of Education to develop and implement a data collection process related to English language learner expenditures and student English proficiency levels, identify other options to support English language learners, and provide a status report to the Joint Subcommittee on Elementary and Secondary Education Funding on its implementation and data collection efforts by September 1, 2024. With this data and report, we will be better able to serve our school districts that are educating large numbers of EL students.
• SB 237 successfully passed on February 12 on a party-line vote (21-19). Known as the Right to Contraception Act, the bill expands access to contraceptive care across Virginia in the wake of increased judicial and legislative actions that seek to restrict women's reproductive health care across the country since the fall of Roe v. Wade.
• SB 231, also known as Cover All Kids, passed the full Senate on February 13 on a party-line vote. This bill requires DMAS to create a program that offers healthcare coverage to all children in Virginia regardless of immigration status.

Since Crossover, some of my bills have already begun moving through the House Committee process:

• On Wednesday, SB 235 passed the full House Education Committee on a party-line vote (12-9). The legislation amends 22.1-16.8 of the Code of Virginia adopted in 2022, which directed the Department of Education and each school board to adopt model policies that ensure parental notification of materials that contain sexually explicit content. Some school divisions in Virginia have used the statute to censor and remove books from schools entirely despite an enactment clause stating that the language used in this section of the Virginia code could not be used to ban or censor books.
• Later on Wednesday, SB 236 passed out of the Courts of Justice Civil Subcommittee (6-2). The legislation allows full time faculty members of baccalaureate public institutions in higher education to request reports of aggregated, nonconfidential case data for the purposes of academic research. The bill then passed the full Courts of Justice Committee (13-9) on Friday, and will be heard on the floor of the House of Delegates this coming week.
• Thursday was a busy day, with three of my bills being heard in the House of Delegates. Two of my bills were before the full House General Laws Committee. SB 232 passed with bipartisan support (17-5). This legislation strengthens tenant protections for manufactured home park residents across the state. SB 239 passed out 21-1 and authorizes Virginia to become a signatory in the Interstate Social Work Licensure Compact. Later that afternoon, SB 250 passed the House Health and Human Services Health Subcommittee unanimously (7-0), and will be heard before the full Committee this Tuesday. This legislation instructs the Department of Medical Assistance Services to include a provision that allows payment, under specific conditions, for remote ultrasound procedures and remote fetal non-stress tests.

Upcoming Town Hall: Proposed Chesterfield Peaker Plant

On Sunday, February 25, I will host a community town hall with invited guest speakers from Dominion Energy and environmental organizations on the proposed natural gas peaker plant in Chesterfield County. We invite community members to participate in this important discussion. Register to join us.

Select Community Events and Meetings

This week, my team and I met with several groups and individuals who visited the General Assembly. Here are a few highlights:

Monday morning, my office welcomed visitors from Senior Connections, The Capital Area Agency on Aging , to learn about the critical services they provide to seniors throughout the Metro Richmond Area.

Wednesday was a busy day and began with meetings with the Planned Parenthood Advocates of Virginia as a part of its lobby day. Since the Dobbs decision by the Supreme Court, we have seen attacks on reproductive healthcare across the country. Democrats in the Virginia General Assembly have worked tirelessly to defend abortion rights, contraceptive access, and to defeat legislation that threatens reproductive health care. Virginia is the last state in the Southern region to defend abortion access.  

On Wednesday afternoon, members of my legislative staff attended the Chesapeake Bay Foundation’s annual oyster roast where six different Virginian oyster farmers shucked fresh oysters. The Chesapeake Bay Foundation has been a crucial voice in discussions surrounding the conservation of species and the protection of the health of our waterways.

Later that afternoon, I met with the Virginia Society of Clinical Social Workers and the Greater Washington Society of Clinical Social Work. Both groups have been involved in advocating for my legislation establishing Virginia as a founding member of the Interstate Social Work Compact, and I appreciate their voices in these discussions.

On Thursday morning, students from George Mason University spoke with my staff on the importance of funding institutions of higher education and providing scholarships. Students also spoke about the value of diversity on GMU’s campus and how adequate funding for higher education allows for students from all backgrounds to contribute to campus life.

Later on Thursday, I spoke at a press conference for my Right to Contraception legislation (SB237) along with House patron, Delegate Marcia ‘Cia’ Price (HB609). We were joined by representatives from Planned Parenthood and Birth in Color RVA. This bill codifies the right to contraceptive care in the Commonwealth and prohibits state actors from interfering with that right.

On Friday morning, I connected with students from the University of Virginia’s Students for Equity and Reform in Virginia (SERV). Their priorities this session include advocating for free meals for students in K-12 schools, support for English Language Learners, and healthcare coverage under Medicaid for all children.

On Friday afternoon, I was delighted to welcome Superintendent of Richmond Public Schools Jason Kamras, along with members of the RPS Interfaith Advisory Council.

On Saturday, members of the Virginia Asian American Pacific Islander Caucus (VAAPIC) held its Crossover Town Hall. During this discussion, we were able to highlight the various successful legislation that the eight members of our Caucus have been working on during this 2025 Session.

Connecting With My Office

My office can be reached at the following:

Email:  SenatorHashmi@senate.virginia.gov

Phone:  804.698.7515

If you were forwarded this email, you can sign up to receive my office’s weekly newsletter here.

— Ghazala

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