Weather Chaos in Richmond

Weather Outage Cause Delay in Richmond

In past sessions, the General Assembly has worked through presidential inaugurations, the pandemic, blizzards, MLK Day and Presidents’ Day without missing a beat. The City of Richmond has been dealing with issues related to a power outage affecting the city’s water reservoir. This session will be historic and it is all because of water pressure failure. On January 8th, we gaveled in the session and then recessed until Monday, January 13th to start our work. On Wednesday the 8th, the General Assembly Building’s emergency sprinkler system was not working and restrooms were not usable. Though not ‘in session,’ we continued to prepare budget amendments, finalize bills, and prepare for committee meetings.     


Democrats Keep Majorities in Senate and House

On Tuesday, January 7th, the results came back for three special elections. In Loudon County, the Senate District 32 race was won by Representative Kannan Srinivasan, maintaining a 21-19 Democratic majority in the Senate. The seat was vacated by Representative Suhas Subramanyam after his successful run to represent the 10th District in the US House of Representatives. JJ Singh was also successful in running for House District 26, maintaining our 51-49 Democratic majority in the House. Finally, Democrat Jack Trammel lost his race for the 10th District Senate seat to Republican Luther Cifers, III., but ran a good race. Thank you to all three candidates for running, and congrats to the Senator and Delegate elects! 


My 2025 Legislative Agenda

With the support of my two staffers and three interns from Virginia Commonwealth University and the University of Richmond, we are running full speed ahead with a full legislative agenda.

First is SB 249, a Constitutional Amendment protecting marriage equality. We are also seeking to amend the Virginia Human Rights Act, SB 1052, to ensure that companies regardless of size, do not discriminate in employment. Next is SB 881, which would ban ghost guns. SB 880 would ban carrying assault weapons in public. 

SB 1060 would allow for the confiscation of tobacco and vapes possessed by minors. We are also working on SB 1053 addressing deepfake fraud. SB 1042 would make it easier to become a Certified Public Accountant. SB 879 would help tradespeople get a Career and Technical Education teaching license. 

In SB 1043, we are working on more notice to tenants when their lease is not renewed by the landlord. SB 1054 requires the Virginia Cannabis Control Authority to draft regulations for retail cannabis sales. SB 1283 would ban privately run state prisons. We are also working on requiring data center operators to provide more information when applying for siting. 

SB 1056 and SB 1057 would increase unemployment benefits. SB 1058 would make it easier for schools to provide solar power to the grid. Providing post-release job placement services to returning citizens is the goal of SB 877. SB 1280 would promote the state’s gambling help line.

SB 1051 would allow for the annual inspections of animal boarding facilities. We are working on transparency regarding the use of deepfakes and technology. I am also working on increasing the penalty for hitting a vulnerable road user in a crosswalk. 


Thanks for the continued opportunity to serve.