Category: Helmer Happenings

Today I was on the phone with a business colleague, and she told me about a woman she had met in the supermarket who had stopped and talked with her. Suddenly the woman broke into tears, “This is the last basket of food I can afford for my family right now,” she said. “I lost…

I hope you are staying healthy and staying home during these challenging times. This Wednesday, I returned to Richmond for our reconvened legislative session to vote on bills for which the Governor offered amendments or recommendations, including Virginia’s budget. Even in the midst of a pandemic such as this, it is important that we do…

It has been incredibly busy over the past couple weeks as we finished passing all of the legislation that will pass this year. We’ve also been following COVID-19 closely. Just today, Governor Northam announced a state of emergency in Virginia, and we received a briefing from the Virginia Department of Health on the disease. We…

We have considered some weighty matters this year in the General Assembly. Of course, some are a little lighter as well. For all who were concerned, subject to the Governor’s signature, it will now be illegal in Virginia to build a duck blind where it is already illegal to shoot ducks. Perhaps more importantly, as…

Perhaps nothing says more about a people than how we spend our money. This week we passed the House budget, and, as a result, we’ve set the potential for massive gains in Virginia while being prudent with the money that each of us has worked so hard to earn. The House Budget freezes tuition at…

What stands out about being a new delegate is the sheer speed at which our citizen legislature operates. Everyday, I’m reviewing nearly 100 bills as they make their way to the floor as we approach “cross-over,” the day next week when all of our bills need to be passed in order to go to the…

Tuesday was the last day for legislation to pass the House of Delegates to have a chance of becoming law this year. In a final push, we voted on over 160 bills in a single day. The results are historic and include: The Clean Economy Act (HB 1526), which I spoke to on the floor and puts…

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…

I ran for office because I wanted to serve a community, Commonwealth, and Country that I love. Yet the notion of service can be abstract. This past week has been a week in which it has been viscerally concrete. As armed groups descended on the Capitol, a group of students asked my friend Delegate Chris…