Last Saturday was the first opportunity of Falls Church’s new State Senator Saddam Salim to report to his constituents here on what’s transpiring in the current legislative session in Richmond.

Salim was joined by now-veteran State Del. Marcus Simon at a town hall held in the Council chambers of City Hall here in The Little City.

The event came just three days ahead of Tuesday’s “Crossover” in the Virginia Legislature, marking the halfway point in the legislative session when bills passed by the House of Delegates are sent to the Senate, and vice-versa. If a bill introduced by either chamber fails to pass by Tuesday evening, it is dead for the remainder of the session.

Last November the entire Virginia legislature was on the ballot, and the result had led to Democrats now enjoying razor-thin single-seat majorities in both the House and Senate. The 2023 election was a particularly transformative one for the legislature, with a number of seasoned lawmakers retiring, and newly drawn districts across-the-board resulting in dual-incumbent contests — and even for those with a single incumbent, a great deal of uncharted constituent territory, with some incumbents facing majority-new districts. Thirty-seven of the 100 Delegates and 17 of the 40 Senators are new to their roles.

The narrow advantage Democrats now hold in both chambers has had major implications on the current session, though the future of any bills that pass both houses will remain uncertain, as they must be signed by Republican Governor Glenn Youngkin before becoming law. The Democratic majorities are not enough to override any veto issued by the governor.

The Virginia legislative session is quick, alternating between a short 30-day session in odd years and a longer 45-day session in even years (usually with 15-day extensions making them 45- and 60-day sessions, respectively). On even years, such as 2024, the session ends with the passage of a new biennial state budget.

Youngkin, elected in 2021, has until now enjoyed a Republican majority in the Virginia House, preventing many controversial bills from crossing his desk. This year is different, with Democrats able to advance bills that will force Youngkin to go on-record on a number of hot-button issues for the first time, at least officially.

Sen. Salim and Del. Simon began the town hall with an overview of the governor’s proposed budget, which includes cuts to public education (which Simon says is intentionally obfuscated in the Governor’s proposal) and a number of tax policy adjustments that they say are regressive, including an income tax reduction that favors higher-income Virginians, a sales and use tax increase from 4.3 to 5.2 percent (and expansion of sales tax application to digital and streaming services) that most burdens those living paycheck-to-paycheck, and yet another attempt by a Virginia Governor to eliminate the state’s car tax.

Overall the budget is smaller, in part due to predictions of a small recession in 2024, concerns that have largely dissipated as inflation has eased in recent months.

Issues that loom large in 2024 include retail cannabis, a proposed casino in Northern Virginia, a sports and entertainment complex in Alexandria, data centers, solar energy and impacts on agriculture, filling State Corporation Commission Judge vacancies, and enshrining reproductive choice and same-sex marriage protections in the Virginia Constitution.

Sen. Salim, whose upset primary ouster of long-time incumbent Chap Petersen in the Democratic primary last year paved the way for a November victory, entered his first legislative session with an aggressive agenda, introducing 21 bills, the maximum a senator can carry, this session.

Salim highlighted several of his bills during the town hall:

1. SB 55, which proposes a three-day minimum waiting period for firearm purchases, allowing time for licensed dealers to obtain criminal history records. Sen. Creigh Deeds (D-Charlottesville) introduced a similar bill, SB 551, which proposed a two-day minimum. Both bills were ultimately combined into SB 273, introduced by Suhas Subramanyam (D-Loudoun), which proposed a five-day waiting period. SB 273 passed the Senate, and was assigned to the House Committee on Public Safety at Crossover.
2. SB 304, which would require localities to allow Affordable Dwelling Units (ADUs), within certain parameters, beginning July 2025. The bill passed the Senate on a nearly party-line vote, with two Republicans joining Democrats to vote yes, and one Democrat voting against.
3. SB 305, which would allow localities to prohibit or regulate the use of gas-powered leaf blowers. A similar bill was introduced in the House, by Del. Rip Sullivan (D-Great Falls). Over 100 cities and towns across the country have banned the equipment, as well as the entire state of California, due to their environmental impact: one hour of leaf blowing produces emissions equivalent to driving 1,100 miles in a motor vehicle, which the California Air Resources Board has pointed out. Besides producing combined emissions to rival the total emissions of vehicle traffic in the country, leaf blowers are also quite loud, with many able to cause hearing damage in just one minute of use. Though the bills only allowed localities to consider restrictions, opposition was strong enough from Republicans in both chambers to kill both bills in their respective committees.
4. SB 306, which would require signage at retailers identifying invasive plants and notifying consumers of their sale. The bill passed the Senate on a bipartisan 37-3 vote.
5. SB 316, which would allow the Town of Vienna to require that new developments and subdivisions replace any tree canopy to the minimum specifications in 10 years instead of 20. The bills passed the Senate on a bipartisan 28-12 vote.
6. SB 335, which would direct the Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission (JLARC) to study “the social, physical, emotional, and economic effects of gun violence on communities across the Commonwealth.” The bill passed the Senate on a party-line 21-19 vote.
   Salim also introduced a number of budget amendments, including an expanded rebate for Virginia residents who purchase an electric vehicle and funding a number of programs with a 10 percent tax bracket on income in excess of $1 million (including a child care subsidy, a housing trust fund deposit, and additional public education funding).
   Del. Simon’s bills include HB 54, which would “remove the requirement in the City of Falls Church charter that board and commission members be qualified voters, replacing it with an age requirement of at least 18 years of age while leaving the city residence requirement,” allowing The Little City to expand civic participation to non-citizen residents. Other bills introduced by Simon include HB 81, which would abolish the categorization of suicide as a common-law crime, HB 173, which would prohibit the manufacturing, sale, and import of plastic “ghost guns,” HB 183, which would require firearms to be stored in a biometric safe in residences where minors are present, HB 265, which would limit the signature period for any attempt to recall or remove public officers to 90 days — and not allow failed attempts to be repeatedly introduced — to reduce abuse of the process, and HB 1539, which would prohibit the extradition from Virginia of any person charged by another state with crimes related to seeking or providing reproductive health services that are legal in the Commonwealth.

Both Simon and Salim discussed controversial data centers, which generate a great deal of revenue for the state and localities, but take up precious land that could otherwise be used for affordable housing, and use energy and water at alarming rates that could harm the environment and cause spikes in utility costs. Simon said his main concerns were ensuring that retail consumers don’t end up paying more for energy due to center usage, and Salim said he wanted to see incentivized alternative energy use, as well as water use requirements and stormwater protections.

Del. Simon explained that the Governor’s desire to approve a proposed sports complex in Alexandria, as well as the need to pass a budget, provides an opportunity for Democrats. “The Governor really wants the stadium,” Simon said, adding that Democrats plan on leveraging this to ensure that the complex, which he predicts will ultimately be built, is only approved alongside concessions, including restoring public education funding in the state budget and ensuring that sufficient transportation improvements are included (including Metro funding).

Simon continued that excess tax revenue added by the complex’s construction should be structured in a similar way to the City of Falls Church deal with the Paragon Theater currently under construction at Founders Row, with only the added revenue used for stadium funding. He says Democrats want to first use the added revenue to pay off any bonds required to fund the project, then ensure that revenue is used to further fund education, expand affordable housing, and add transportation improvements.

Under the current proposal, “we are being played by developers and billionaires,” Simon said.