This week, we came steps closer to the end of session. Many of the conference committees took place on several key pieces of legislation, many heated debates, and lots and lots of votes.
There's still so much more to be accomplished before this session officially ends, but take a look below to see what has taken place this week!
LEGISLATION THAT PASSED THE HOUSE/SENATE AND ARE HEADED TO THE GOVERNOR
SB 1157 - Moving all Local Elections to November (Spruill)
SB 1245 - Absentee voting- increases availability and accessibility (Deeds)
SB 1257 - Education Equity Bill (McClellan)
SB 1295 - Buy American preference- offshore wind projects (DeSteph)
SB 1310 - Domestic workers bill of rights (McClellan)
SB 1395 - Virginia Voting Rights Act (McClellan)
SJ 308 - Study of COVID impact on VA’s public schools, students, & employees (Lucas)
HB 1849 - Responsible bidder- apprenticeship study (Simonds)
HB 1862 - Employee protections- medicinal CBD oil (Helmer)
HB 1864 - Domestic worker protections- adding to Human Rights Act (Price)
HB 1888 - Absentee voting- increases availability and accessibility (VanValkenburg)
HB 1890 - Virginia Voting Rights Act (Price)
HB 1968 - Absentee voting- expands Sunday option to local registrars (Bagby)
HB 2029 - Firefighter cancer reduction bill prohibits use of OSB (Krizek)
HB 2032 - Domestic worker- Workers comp and other worker protections (Gooditis)
HB 2063 - Overtime wage protections (Mullin)
HB 2137 - Paid sick leave for home healthcare workers (Guzman)
HB 2202 - Licensing bill- elevator mechanics (Jones)
HB 2327 - Clarifies prevailing wage act applies to VDOT projects (Krizek)
HJ 522 - Study of correctional officer treatment and staffing (Tyler)
PASSED HOUSE/SENATE AND WENT TO CONFERENCE
SB 1375 - Workers’ comp presumption COVID 19 public safety (Saslaw)
HB 2207 - Workers’ comp presumption COVID 19 public safety (Jones) Retroactive to Sept. 1st
SJ 272 - Automatic Restoration of Voting Rights (Locke)
HJ 555 - Automatic Restoration of Voting Rights (Herring) Substantially the same as what passed both chambers
HB 2040 - Unemployment Insurance- worker protections (Hudson) Maintained sunset clause- expires July 2022
HB 2321 - Secretary of Labor (Simonds) Name changed back to Secretary of Labor
HB 2288 - Responsible contractor; pre-listing (Williams Graves) Left in conference- conference report not presented
BAD LEGISLATION THAT WAS DEFEATED
Voter Suppression
HB 2028 - Requires witness signature on absentee ballot (Runion)
HB 2205 - Pre-emptively repeals Same-Day Voter Registration (Gilbert)
HB 2209 - Voter suppression bill- Requires signature match (Gilbert)
SB 1459 - Bad voter ID bill (Norment)
SB 1455 - Bad absentee bill (Ruff)
SB 1118 - Voter Suppression bill- requires verification of SSN (Peake)
House Bills
HB 1794 - Anti- Collective Bargaining Bill (Davis)
HB 1954 - Excludes EMS/volunteer fire from minimum wage protections (Avoli)
HB 2237 - Anti-PLA Bill (McQuinn)
HB 2270 - Delays Minimum Wage Increase (Marshall)
HB 2296 - Worker misclassification- independent contractors (Robinson)
HB 2103 - Delayed Paid Sick Time (Reid)
Senate Bills
SB 1159 - Paid Sick Time- exempted collective bargaining agreements (Favola)
SB 1209 - Contractor liability (Petersen)
SB 1323 - Worker classification- independent contractors (Dunnavant)
SB 1419 - Anti-PLA Bill (Marsden)
SB 1467 - Restrictive menhaden bill (DeSteph)
As you can see, a lot has happened, and yet there's still more to come, not to mention, awaiting the signature of Governor Northam to officially put these bills into law. Be on the lookout for another update coming to you next week!
IN OTHER NEWS:
Don't forget, Protect the Right to Organize [PRO] Act - H.R. 842 still is in Congress awaiting it's hearing. Virginia's Democratic delegation has all signed on, except Senator Mark Warner.
It's time to kick it into over drive and urge him to protect the workers he represents.
Call Senator Warner TODAY!
(202) - 224 - 2023
Urge Him to Co-Sponsor the PRO Act
To help strengthen the PRO Act's chances of passing in the Senate, Senator Warner must sign on. Currently, he is the only Democratic Senator in the D.C., Maryland, and Virginia area not signed on to the bill -- Virginia cannot be left behind, working families everywhere cannot be left behind.
So far the Virginia's Congressional Representatives who have signed onto the bill and will be voting to pass this legislation are:
Congressman Bobby Scott (VA - 3)
Congressman Don Beyer (VA - 8)
Congressman Gerry Connolly (VA - 11)
Congressman Donald McEachin (VA - 4)
Congresswoman Elaine Luria (VA - 2)
Congresswoman Abigail Spanberger (VA - 7)
Congresswoman Jennifer Wexton (VA-10)
Senator Tim Kaine (VA)
Still, the work isn't done because we have a few legislators that need to hear from you!
Congressman Rob Wittman (VA - 1)
Congressman Bob Good (VA - 5)
Congressman Ben Cline (VA - 6)
Congressman Morgan Griffith (VA - 9)
Senator Mark Warner (VA)
Take some time and head over to our PASS THE PRO ACT Action Campaign send these legislators an email or make a phone call to them!
Access the PRO Act fact sheet HERE.
Access the PRO Act bill text HERE.
Again, together, we can make a difference. Passing the PRO Act in both chambers of Congress and getting President Biden's signature will increase worker power, rebuild our economy fairly and grow America’s labor movement. Lawmakers gave us their word that the PRO Act would be a top priority. Now it is time for action!
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Too, don't forget to check out the rest of our website for the latest updates, information, and more on all the action going down at the General Assembly!