Protecting rights to abortion care is the reason I am in the General Assembly today.

Last week, Governor Glenn Youngkin vetoed 26 popular bi-partisan bills that passed with the support of the conservative Republican led House of Delegates and the Democratic-controlled State Senate. He also amended 114 more bills, some in ways that suggest he’ll eventually veto them as well.

The General Assembly adjourned last week having failed to accomplish the most important task of our 60-day legislative session. We left Richmond without passing a biennial budget.

The 2022 General Assembly session reached the halfway point known as crossover earlier this week. While many of you were celebrating Valentine’s Day on Monday, the Virginia House of Delegates spent nearly 12 hours on the floor, reviewing over 300 bills and resolutions. Tuesday was the deadline for the House to finish its review of all the House bills and the Senate to finish theirs.

Last week I had the distinct honor of being sworn in for my 5th term representing greater Falls Church in the Virginia House of Delegates. The 60-day “long” session that has just begun will be my 9th session as a Delegate.

One of the quirky things about Virginia is that we don’t allow our Governor to run for re-election.

When I was first elected to the Virginia General Assembly in 2013, I was one of 32 Democrats serving with 68 Republicans. Our small caucus was loud and scrappy, but hardly mighty. We couldn’t even muster the votes to sustain a Governor’s veto.

If Spring is marked by the sprouting of cherry blossom and daffodils around our region, then Election Season is marked by the sprouting of wire frames and political signs in yards all over Falls Church, from the City School Board and Council, to the House of Delegates, to statewide races for Governor, Lt Governor, and Attorney General. Right now, we are probably at peak bloom.

“When I was sworn into the Virginia House of Delegates in January of 2014, I was one of 33 House Democrats – a super-minority incapable of even sustaining a veto by the recently elected Democratic Governor, Terry McAuliffe.”

Virginia will be a more just and prosperous state as a result of the important actions taken by the Virginia General Assembly and approved by the Governor during our Special Session last week.