This past week officially marked the halfway point for the 2022 Legislative Session, having passed day 30 of our 60 day Session. The Senate is now reviewing House bills and visa-versa. I am very happy to report that my office got 12 bills through to the House, as we anticipated last week. Because of the difference in bill limitations and the amount of members between the House and Senate, we are going to start seeing longer sessions and committee meetings as we vote on legislation passed through the House of Delegates.
One bill, that I co-patroned, has already passed through both the House and Senate, SB 739. I joined Governor Youngkin as he signed it into law on Wednesday. This new law requires schools to provide in-person education for all students as well as making it clear that parents, and only parents, get to decide what is best for their children when it comes to whether or not to wear a mask. I will always stand up for the rights of parents. That's why as far back as 2013 I got SB908 passed into law - codifying "that parents have a fundamental right to direct the upbringing, education, and care of their children."
A multitude of my bills, as I mentioned earlier, made their way through to the House of Delegates including SB 768, which makes it easier for military families who have lost their loved one in the armed forces to have access to higher education. Multiple of my charitable gaming bills, which will help to clean up corruption in our Commonwealth's charitable gaming system and bring our focus back to the charities themselves rather than the profits of large corporations, are awaiting House Committee assignments. SB 765, another bill I introduced that passed the Senate floor unanimously, would ease the process of allowing retired law-enforcement officers to purchase their own service weapon from their department.
We had a wealth of friendly faces stop by our office this week, including a delegation from the Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office. Our friends in Taiwan are the 10th biggest trading partner to the USA as a whole, and have helped Virginia's economy in a multitude of ways including the creation of 4,500 jobs in our Commonwealth. I also had a lovely time visiting with the Virginia Federation of Republican Women (VFRW) during their Legislative Day Breakfast. It was a pleasure chatting with activists from all over Virginia as they made their way to the Capitol to advocate for conservative. Our hallways were a sea of red on Wednesday, both from Valentine's Day decorations and the bright red apparel of the VFRW.
That's all I have for you folks this week. If you have not had a chance to stop by the Pocahontas building for Valentine's Day before, I highly recommend coming by next year. The staff in both the House and Senate put up festive decorations all through the halls. It truly is a sight to see, and our office was no exception with my Assistant Joy putting up all sorts of festive decorations for the enjoyment of members, staff, and visitors alike. Next week, the House and Senate will hash out their respective plans for our Commonwealth's biennial budget. I will be sure to update you all in my next column. Thank you again for taking the time to read this, and for being active citizens that pay attention to state-level politics.
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