During his campaign, Governor Youngkin pledged to promote school safety and give parents more of a voice in educational decisions. Working with the House and Senate, Governor Youngkin has kept these promises by signing the following bills into law:
- SB 656: Will require schools to notify parents when a school assignment includes sexually explicit content and will allow parents to review it and request an alternative assignment. A summary article is here. (A similar bill was previously vetoed by Governor McAuliffe, who later remarked in debate "I don't think parents should be telling schools what they should teach.")
- HB 4: Will require schools to report crimes like sexual battery and stalking to law enforcement. This law will reverse the worst parts of a bill that was passed over Republican objections in 2020 when Democrats were in the majority.
- HB741: This was my school safety bill, and will require each school to prepare a detailed floor plan for use by responders in the event of an emergency.
In addition to the above, Governor Youngkin has released his vetoes and proposed amendments for all the other bills that passed. The General Assembly will take these up at our "reconvene session," which is scheduled for April 27.
Sincerely,
Rob Bell
PS: On a different note, I was pleased that Governor Youngkin signed my House Bill 1350 and the other "beagle bills" that were passed to address violations by commercial breeders in Virginia. (If you are interested in adopting one of the beagles, you can call Senator Stanley's office at (540) 721-6028.)
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