Newsletter: General Assembly 2020 Session

Yesterday we finished voting on legislation introduced in the House as we crossover and begin voting on bills that were introduced in the Senate for the remainder of Session. I am excited to see the bills that we have passed in the House now go to the Senate.

Last week we passed landmark legislation in the House that prohibits discrimination for the LGBTQ community with HB1049 and HB1663. Delegate Danica Roem shared her incredibly moving perspective during discussion of HB1049 and I encourage you to watch it here.

The House passed HB395 that raises the minimum wage in Virginia to $15 in stages by 2025, starting with an increase to $10 this July. Our current minimum wage is woefully insufficient and this increase is vital to working families in our district. While I know that some businesses have concerns about this increase, this bill raises the minimum wage in a thoughtful and incremental way over the next few years.

A monumental piece of legislation for our region (HB1541) passed the House last week. This bill creates the Central Virginia Transportation Authority, which will give several counties, including Henrico, more authority and access to transportation dollars and decisions affecting our community. This will help fund critical needs in Henrico, such as sidewalks, highways, bridges, mobility services, and trails in the area. I was pleased to Chief Co-Patron this bill to advocate for Henrico County.

It has been a big week for advancing environmental protections. Most significantly, today we passed HB1526, the Clean Economy Act. This bill gets Virginia to 100% carbon free and creates 13,000 jobs a year between now and 2050. It addresses climate change in a comprehensive manner and moves our state from the back of the pack with a thoughtful, staged plan over the next 30 years. Over the last week, I supported a number of environmental protection measures in the Natural Resources subcommittee and the Agriculture, Chesapeake Bay, and Natural Resources committee. Those bills range from increasing the oversight of natural gas transmission pipelines and coal ash ponds to restricting the use of styrofoam food containers and plastic grocery bags. Each of those advanced to the House for a full vote and passed earlier today.

You can visit my YouTube channel to see my presentation of HB 232 and HB 376 on the House Floor last week. More videos of my bill presentations on the floor will be uploaded by the end of the week.

I am happy to share that several of my bills passed the House over the last week! The bill matrix below is updated to show the final status prior to crossover. The Senate does not have subcommittees, so all of my bills will be heard in the full Senate committees in the coming weeks with the first happening tomorrow for HB 967. You can continue to see a full list of my bills here, and I hope by next week some will have passed the Senate!

By The Numbers:

I have received over 1750 emails and phone calls from constituents in the 73rd district.

Valentine's Day is a popular holiday in the General Assembly office building as many offices decorate and use it as an opportunity to build community with staff from other Delegates’ offices. My team has made sure that my office is up to snuff! We have 22 decorative hearts adorning our space - not counting the multiple strands of heart garland!

We have distributed 900 pieces of candy to the many visitors that have traveled the halls of the Pocahontas building since Session began.

In the News:

I was honored to sit down with David Bailey at VPM last Friday for a taping of ‘This Week in Richmond’. We discussed what it has been like during my first Session and my legislative priorities this year. I encourage you to watch here.

Community News:

Over the past few weeks I have mentioned several opportunities that are still accepting applications for jobs:

The U.S. Census Bureau is hiring for temporary positions for the 2020 Census 2020census.gov/jobs

The 2020 Virginia Governor’s Fellows Program is accepting applications through March 9th.

Last week I mentioned a few events related to Black History Month and I wanted to keep the links here in case helpful for you:

A list of Black History Month events can be found here.

Information on the Black History Month Historical Marker contest can be found here.

Staying In Touch:

I enjoy hearing from my constituents and have a number of channels through which you can reach me:

Email: delrwillett@house.virginia.gov

Phone: 804-698-1073

Office: Pocahontas Building,900 East Main Street, Office E313, Richmond, VA 23218

Stay up to date throughout the Session by signing up for this newsletter or following me on Facebook and Twitter. Please forward this email to neighbors or friends in the 73rd, and encourage them to sign up as well.

You can view all bills that have been introduced by visiting Virginia's bill tracking system, lis.virginia.gov.

You can watch the livestream of Session at: https://virginiageneralassembly.gov/house/chamber/chamberstream.php

It is an honor to represent you in the Virginia House of Delegates and I look forward to hearing from you throughout Session.

Sincerely,

Rodney Willett