The work of the General Assembly continues during this 46-day ‘short’ session, aptly named against the 60-day ‘long’ session that occurs during even numbered years. We are quickly approaching Crossover, the midpoint of the legislative session by which each chamber must complete work on its own bills so that they may ‘crossover’ to the other body for consideration. This year, Crossover lands on February 4th. As we approach it, our daily calendars will get longer so that we can complete our work.
In this week’s newsletter I will cover several of my bills that received hearings, as well as a few other bills of interest. If you have any questions about a bill being considered by the General Assembly, feel free to email me at DelMCherry@house.virginia.gov.
Legislation Update
Delegates are limited to sponsoring just 15 bills during this short legislative session. On top of that, the divided nature of state government–a Republican governor and Democrat controlled legislature–demands that any successful bill must have bipartisan support. That automatically rules out a number of overly partisan proposals and makes large-scale tax reform difficult.
Several bills that I am sponsoring received hearings this past week:
- HB 2227 expands the number of crimes that victims of human trafficking can petition the courts to vacate if they were committed under the duress of their trafficker(s). This will help victims of human trafficking move on with rebuilding their lives and break down barriers to housing and employment. In subcommittee, this bill was combined with a similar bill and is expected to be heard in full committee next week.
- HB 2599 will provide some additional flexibility for local courts in Chesterfield as the General Assembly considers funding two additional judges to keep up with the growing case demand. Because the Chesterfield courthouse is at capacity, the bill allows judges the option of holding some cases at the under capacity courthouse in Colonial Heights while the county explores expanding physical capacity at the Chesterfield courthouse.
- HB 1576 was defeated on a party line vote in subcommittee. The bill would have close loopholes that currently permit legislators to accept illegal campaign contributions without consequences.
- HB 2226 will protect certain personal information (such as home addresses) of foster parents from being shared with non-custodial parents. This bill received unanimous support in subcommittee and will head before the full Education Committee next week.
I am also carrying a budget amendment to kickstart the design phase for a new public safety building at Richard Bland College. As you know, RBC is the state’s only junior college and serves students across our region. Their public safety building actually is a converted hay barn from the 1930s that is woefully inadequate as it lacks This amendment, if included in the state budget, will allow the university to undergo the design and planning phase for a new, modern space for campus police to serve the community in. You can read more about this amendment here.
I also want to highlight House Bill 1910 from my colleague Delegate Hillary Pugh Kent. I received a fair amount of feedback in support of this bill. This bill would prohibit public elementary and secondary schools from serving school meals that contain certain food coloring additives. This bill will support healthy children and our Virginia farmers who provide produce to schools. It passed the House unanimously and is now headed to the Senate for further consideration.
Finally, my office has received many calls and emails from our district and across Virginia in opposition to Senate Bill 1031. This bill would significantly restrict the ability of parents to homeschool their children according to their deeply held religious beliefs. I am opposed to this bill and will vote against it should it come before the House for consideration.
2025 Session Survey
Thank you to everyone who took time to complete my 2025 session survey. I appreciate the feedback received both through this survey and the additional emails and calls about other bills before the General Assembly.
When I draft these surveys, I always try to include questions that dig deeper than the standard political issues. Everyone wants better schools, smoother roads, and lower taxes, right? These questions really help me to understand how our district thinks when it comes to complex policy decisions that
You can view the survey results by clicking here.
Visitors to the Capitol
The General Assembly was packed with visitors this week! So many visitors, in fact, that our elevators struggled to keep up. I enjoyed speaking and meeting with advocates from our district and across Virginia to discuss bills that impact our state. This week we chatted about speech and hearing disabilities, prisons, parks and conservation, the arts, real estate, veteran benefits, dental hygiene, and more!




If you happen to be in Richmond during the legislative session, feel free to drop by my office and say hello! You can call (804) 698-1074 if you wish to make an appointment.
In the News
Here’s a few news articles from the past week that you may find interesting:
- The Progress-Index: Lawmakers put in budget requests for new Richard Bland College police headquarters
- Richmond Times-Dispatch: Youngkin: I will veto proposal to remove religious homeschool exemption
- The Richmonder: State health officials say Richmond water crisis was ‘completely avoidable’
It remains an honor to represent our community in the House of Delegates. If I can assist you in any way, please let me know.
Sincerely,
Mike Cherry