What a week it’s been. I ran on a promise to pass meaningful gun violence prevention measures in Virginia and, this week, the House of Delegates did. I was chief-co patron on three of these critical bills including Universal Background Checks, Extreme Risk Protective Orders, and a bill to allow the seizure of weapons from those who are the subjects of a protective order. These bills are now onto the Senate, where I hope they will pass.
In addition, my bill HB 1296, which ends some of the worst predatory lending practices in Virginia passed the House of Delegates as HB 789. And Virginia finally became the 38th state to ratify the Equal Rights Amendment.
Lastly, after three years living in Korea and representing a vibrant Korean-American community in our district, I was glad to be the chief co-patron of Hangul Day, which recognizes October 9th of every year as a day to celebrate Korean writing in Virginia.
I appreciate all of the well wishes and suggestions on legislation from so many of you. This is truly a citizen-legislature, and I look forward to staying in touch.
LOCAL HAPPENINGS
You may expect everyone to stay indoors watching Super Bowl plays (and ads) tomorrow, but life in the 40th District slows for nothing, not even football. Here is an offering of events to make this an even more fun-filled weekend.
Give while filling your board at Sweet Julia Grace Charity’s Not Your Typical BINGO! Stay in the giving spirit at Gainesville’s Random Acts of Kindness Week kickoff event and then find your furry forever friend at a Dog Adoption in Centreville.
Celebrate Super Bowl Sunday with the community at the Fairfax Station Railroad Museum and root for your favorite team by donating non-perishable foods to Clifton Presbyterian Church’s Super Bowl Food Challenge.
If none of this caught your fancy, learn about falconry in Gainesville on Sunday or teach your pup to sit and stay at the first in a series of Puppy Trainings in Haymarket on Monday. All weekend long you can also watch the bullseyes fly at the Virginia State Archery Championships in Centreville, and please your palate at the Chocolate Lover’s Festival in Fairfax.
ACTIVITIES AND MEETINGS
As always, it was good to see so many folks stop by the office. A few highlights from the week include a visit with advocates from Decoding Dyslexia, the Fairfax NAACP, and students from Thomas Jefferson High School who came to advocate for press freedoms for high school students. I try to drop everything to meet with constituents who stop in, so please come visit if you can.
FAVORITES OF THE 40TH
Amir Khalil has always loved coffee, and when the opportunity emerged to open a coffee shop in 2016, he jumped at the chance to fulfill his lifelong dream. Opening its doors to customers in 2017, 29th Parallel Coffee and Tea is a family-owned shop lying in the heart of downtown Fairfax Station. It’s the area’s first ‘specialty coffee’ locale, meaning it fulfills the guidelines set by the Specialty Coffee Association of America. Don’t worry—I had never heard of the SCA either until talking to Amir, but within minutes of our conversation it became clear how knowledgeable and passionate he is on the subject. I learned there are a number of factors that deem coffee ‘specialty.’ First there’s the ingredients—29th Parallel coffee beans come from direct trading with farmers, allowing for fair prices and more transparency; then there’s the presentation—baristas receive intensive training on how to steam, texture, and pour latte milk; and finally there’s drink authenticity—a 29th Parallel macchiato, for example, comes in just one standard size, returning to the drink’s original volumetric design.
All this makes 29th Parallel “countercultural,” in Amir’s words. While it does offer latte to-go, the shop’s true intention is slow consumption of high-quality coffee and tea. Great work, Amir. We can’t wait to stop by for a specialty coffee and a long chat about how we can better serve the 40th.
LEGISLATIVE UPDATES
It sure was a thrilling week in the office, with some of our own bills reaching major benchmarks. HB 913, which grants amnesty to students reporting sexual assault on college campuses, passed out of the Education subcommittee and passed the House on Friday huge bipartisan support.
Another of my bills, HB 1654, makes sure that nonprofit clinics that serve some of Virginia’s most needy citizens can provide their patients with insulin, birth control, and other critical drugs. This bill passed out of subcommittee, and I hope it will make it to the floor next week.
Finally, this week I was also excited to see HB 1619, which helps lift Virginia’s poorest veterans out of poverty, pass through subcommittee.
In addition to proposing my own pieces of legislation, I also had the honor of supporting other bills that appeared before me this week. Some bills I supported include, but are not limited to:
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Women’s rights and healthcare legislation beyond the Equal Rights Amendment including HB 980 which ends forced, unnecessary medical procedures for women who seek to terminate a pregnancy.
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Consumer protections such as HB 175, which require a radon gas disclosure in home sales.
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Environmental legislation such as HB 520, which directs the Department of Environmental Quality to convene a stakeholder advisory group for the purpose of studying the planting or preservation of trees as a land cover type and as a stormwater best management practice (BMP).
All of our bills can be found here. We’ve been busy meeting with constituents, stakeholders, and experts to refine our language and ensure that the legislation will not have any unintended consequences.
Thank you, as always, for staying engaged in the legislative process and joining me for this session. If you need anything at all or want to provide input on legislation, please don’t hesitate to reach out.
Warm Regards,
Dan