The 2019 regular session of the General Assembly is down to its final two weeks and I could not be more proud of the work that my colleagues and I have been able to accomplish. 

This session has been one of my busiest, having introduced 15 bills (this year's bill limit) and becoming the chief co-patron of a number of others.  This legislation covers a wide range of issues, but has all been designed with the purpose of moving Virginia forward and ensuring that we remain the best place to live, work, raise a family, and start a business.

Three of my bills have passed the House and are now awaiting a vote in the Senate:

House Bill 2126 provides transparency and reasonableness to the step therapy process by which an insurance company can override your doctor's prescribed treatment for serious diseases.  I've work for four years with patient groups representing those with cancer, MS, rheumatoid arthritis and other serious conditions to get this legislation out of committee and this year it's poised to pass both the House and Senate.

House Bill 2124 would give school districts the ability to be granted waivers to the 180 school day requirement, if needed, when the Governor declares an evacuation of an area.  I hope that circumstances in the future will not require the use of the terms in this legislation, but in the event our schools need the flexibility to adapt and recover, my legislation would provide just that.

House Bill 2127 puts into code that judges shall try to maximize the time with each parent that is allotted in custody cases.  This would help our first responders and others who work split-week shifts by helping to ensure that the allotted time to each parent is provided during periods which would maximize the time with that parent.

Additionally, four bills on which I was the chief co-patron (three of which I helped draft) have passed the House:

House Bill 2400 helps give families that qualify for free and reduced lunch clear and easy access to apply for such by directing school districts to prominently post an application for the program on their website as well as to continue providing a paper application.  I am pleased that this legislation received overwhelming support from both sides on the House floor and passed with 90 votes. 

House Bill 2440 helps solve a long-time frustration for small business owners.  Business owners will no longer have to track and pay property taxes on office items with a value under $25.00.  This will save businesses, especially small ones, not only in the cost of tax dollars, but also in the man-hours needed to track small de minimis items every year like staplers, tape holders, organizer trays, etc.

House Bill 2577 prevents health insurance companies from ending coverage for needed services for those with autism when they reach 10 years of age.  Just because someone with autism reaches 10 years of age does not mean that his or her needs no longer exist.  This legislation will require those services to continue being provided.

House Bill 2328 is a public procurement bill which ensures that an entity qualifying as a small business or micro-business for the purpose of getting contract awards does not share commonality of ownership with a business not meeting this definition.  In other words, it prevents abuse of the system by not allowing those having a business which doesn't qualify for these programs from starting a business which would qualify and then passing the work along.

A few of the other bills I proposed this session include:

House Bill 1855, which would have allowed charities that can hold bingo events to hold Texas Hold'em tournaments.  Charitable organizations do a lot for our communities, but bingo revenue is way down.  Many charitable organizations are interested in holding low-dollar Texas Hold'em tournaments to raise funds for their ongoing charitable endeavors.  My legislation would have permitted them to do so.

House Bill 2595, which would require mission-critical information needed by Virginians during a state of emergency be stored on a cloud server.  I began working on this legislation after a server crash during last year's hurricane prevented citizens from accessing a state website informing them whether or not they needed to evacuate based on their zone.  As was proven when the information was later moved onto a cloud based server platform that my business uses, this change would enable everyone in need of access to vital information during a state of emergency to have that access quickly and without risk of a server crash.  This would leave them better informed to keep themselves and their loved ones safe. 

House Bill 2125, which would allow students that opt to take a curriculum of advanced manufacturing, robotics, or computer science courses as opposed to a curriculum of foreign language courses to still qualify for an advance diploma.  Allowing advanced diplomas for career and technical education (CTE) programs would help make high school graduates better equipped for successful technical careers and remove the stigma that currently surrounds CTE students.  I was proud to address the Virginia Board of Education on this topic and will keep fighting to advance this important issue.

House Bill 2416, which would allow for the approval of charter schools in Virginia that provide privately-funded core services for students--including healthcare, dental care, and after-school support services.  This would not only ensure more families have the opportunity to send their children to quality schools, but would also help provide other core services to students across the Commonwealth which  greatly impact their ability to reach their full potential in school, but that many do not have access to.

House Bill 2163, which would create incentives for film and new media content providers to bring business to Virginia and help our Commonwealth become a national leader in the industry.  Virginia Beach native Pharrell Williams has expressed a desire to invest in his native state and help grow this industry, and several other industry leaders have committed to follow suit if Virginia paves a path for this tremendous opportunity.

Although the above five bills did not cross over to the Senate, I look forward to renewing the conversation on these and other important issues with my colleagues over the summer and re-introducing them in the next session.  As I learned with my step therapy legislation and my tax legislation last year that created over 400 new jobs and saved hundreds of others, sometimes it takes a few years to get enough support to create a much needed change in this Commonwealth.

Representing Virginia's 84th District in the Virginia House of Delegates has been an incredible honor.  I'm proud of the legislative advancements made this year and I hope to return next year so that I can continue to represent you.  If you have any questions regarding my bills, or about any other issues facing our Commonwealth, please do not hesitate to reach out to me.