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SPONSORED LEGISLATION
HB626 - Public schools; youth and community violence prevention, report.
Sam Rasoul, Nadarius E. Clark, Betsy B. Carr
Last updated 6 months ago
19 Co-Sponsors
Public schools; certain local school divisions; youth and community violence prevention; Community Builders Pilot Program established; report. Establishes the Community Builders Pilot Program for the purpose of reducing youth involvement in behaviors that lead to gun violence and increasing community engagement among public school students by providing to students who are entering the eighth grade and enrolled in Roanoke City Public Schools and Petersburg City Public Schools opportunities during the school year after regular school hours and during the summer months for community engagement, workforce development, postsecondary education exploration, and social-emotional education and development. The bill provides that the school boards of Roanoke City Public Schools and Petersburg City Public Schools shall be responsible for the administration of the Program and are directed to collect data and report to the Governor and relevant committees of the General Assembly by November 1 of each year on the progress of the Program. The bill has an expiration date of July 1, 2027.
STATUS
Passed
HB506 - Teachers for Tomorrow Grant Program; established.
Laura Jane Cohen, Shelly Anne Simonds, Atoosa R. Reaser
Last updated 9 months ago
3 Co-Sponsors
Teachers for Tomorrow Grant Program established. Requires the Department of Education, with such funds as may be appropriate for such purpose pursuant to the general appropriation act, to establish and administer the Teachers for Tomorrow Grant Program whereby any school board may apply for a grant in an amount up to $250,000, to be awarded on a competitive basis, with which to expose and attract high school students in the local school division to careers in teaching through curricula, courses, and hands-on experiential learning opportunities, which may include early opportunities to earn course credit at an institution of higher education or take and pass assessments required for licensure as a teacher in the Commonwealth.
STATUS
Introduced
HB224 - Public schools; mental health awareness training.
Rozia A. Henson, Alex Q. Askew, Elizabeth B. Bennett-Parker
Last updated 4 months ago
14 Co-Sponsors
Public schools; teachers and other relevant personnel; mental health awareness training. Requires each teacher and other relevant personnel, as determined by the applicable school board, employed on a full-time basis to complete mental health awareness training that addresses the needs of youth populations that are at a high risk of experiencing mental health challenges and disorders in accordance with evidence-based best practices developed by the American Psychological Association. Current law requires such teachers and personnel to complete mental health awareness training but does not contain any requirements relating to the specific topics such training must address. The bill prohibits any of its provisions or any policy adopted in accordance with its provisions from being construed to permit biased or discriminatory treatment of any youth population deemed to be at a high risk of experiencing mental health challenges and disorders. Public schools; teachers and other relevant personnel; mental health awareness training. Requires each teacher and other relevant personnel, as determined by the applicable school board, employed on a full-time basis to complete mental health awareness training that addresses the needs of youth populations that are at a high risk of experiencing mental health challenges and disorders in accordance with evidence-based best practices developed by the American Psychological Association. Current law requires such teachers and personnel to complete mental health awareness training but does not contain any requirements relating to the specific topics such training must address. The bill prohibits any of its provisions or any policy adopted in accordance with its provisions from being construed to permit biased or discriminatory treatment of any youth population deemed to be at a high risk of experiencing mental health challenges and disorders.
STATUS
Vetoed
HB158 - Firearm locking device; required for sale or transfer of firearm.
Adele Y. McClure, Michael J. Jones, Alfonso H. Lopez
Last updated 8 months ago
24 Co-Sponsors
Firearm locking device required for sale or transfer of firearm; warning against accessibility to children; penalty. Makes it a Class 3 misdemeanor for any licensed manufacturer, licensed importer, or licensed dealer to sell, deliver, or transfer any firearm to any person other than a licensed manufacturer, licensed importer, or licensed dealer unless the transferee is provided with a locking device for that firearm and the firearm is accompanied by a warning, in conspicuous and legible type in capital letters printed on a separate sheet of paper included within the packaging enclosing the firearm, that firearms should be locked and kept away from children and that there may be civil and criminal liability for failing to do so. The bill provides exceptions for law-enforcement and governmental agencies.
STATUS
Engrossed
HB22 - Auto sears and trigger activators; prohibition on manufacture, importation, sale, etc., penalty.
Michael J. Jones, Dan I. Helmer, Bonita Grace Anthony
Last updated 6 months ago
24 Co-Sponsors
Manufacture, importation, sale, etc., of auto sears; prohibition; penalty. Prohibits the manufacture, importation, sale or offer to sell, possession, transfer, or transportation of an auto sear, defined in the bill as a device, other than a trigger activator, for use in converting a semi-automatic firearm to shoot automatically more than one shot, without manual reloading, by a single function of the trigger. A violation is punishable as a Class 6 felony. The bill also provides for the forfeiture of any auto sear concealed, possessed, transported, or carried in violation of the prohibition.
STATUS
Passed
HB793 - Speed limits; expands authority of any locality to reduce limit to less than 25 miles per hour.
Rozia A. Henson, Nadarius E. Clark, Laura Jane Cohen
Last updated 9 months ago
4 Co-Sponsors
Reduction of speed limits; local authority. Expands the current authority of any locality to reduce the speed limit to less than 25 miles per hour, but not less than 15 miles per hour, on highways within its boundaries that are located in a business district or residence district to include highways within the state highway system, provided that such reduced speed limit is indicated by lawfully placed signs.
STATUS
Introduced
HB176 - Elections; form of ballot, party identification of candidates, constitutional offices.
Debra D. Gardner, Bonita Grace Anthony, Laura Jane Cohen
Last updated 9 months ago
10 Co-Sponsors
Elections; form of ballot; party identification of candidates; constitutional offices. Provides that any candidate for a constitutional office who is nominated by a political party or at a primary election shall be identified on the ballot by the name of his political party. Currently, only candidates for federal, statewide, and General Assembly offices are so identified. The constitutional offices are those of the treasurer, sheriff, attorney for the Commonwealth, clerk of court, and commissioner of the revenue.
STATUS
Introduced
HB893 - Attorneys appointed to represent parents or guardians; qualifications and performance.
Adele Y. McClure, Betsy B. Carr, Sam Rasoul
Last updated 6 months ago
35 Co-Sponsors
Standards for attorneys appointed to represent parents or guardians; child dependency cases; compensation; multidisciplinary law offices or programs; report. Requires the Judicial Council of Virginia, in conjunction with the Virginia State Bar, beginning July 1, 2026, to adopt standards for the qualification and performance of attorneys appointed to represent a parent or guardian of a child when such child is the subject of a child dependency case, as defined in the bill. The bill also requires the Judicial Council of Virginia, beginning July 1, 2026, to maintain a list of attorneys admitted to practice law in Virginia who are qualified to be appointed to represent indigent parents involved in a child dependency case. Prior to July 1, 2026, counsel must be appointed from the list of attorneys qualified to serve as guardians ad litem. The bill provides that beginning January 1, 2025, court-appointed counsel for a parent, guardian, or other adult in a child dependency case will be compensated in an amount no greater than $330, or in a case for the termination of residual parental rights, $680. Standards for attorneys appointed to represent parents or guardians; child dependency cases; compensation; multidisciplinary law offices or programs; report. Requires the Judicial Council of Virginia, in conjunction with the Virginia State Bar, beginning July 1, 2026, to adopt standards for the qualification and performance of attorneys appointed to represent a parent or guardian of a child when such child is the subject of a child dependency case, as defined in the bill. The bill also requires the Judicial Council of Virginia, beginning July 1, 2026, to maintain a list of attorneys admitted to practice law in Virginia who are qualified to be appointed to represent indigent parents involved in a child dependency case. Prior to July 1, 2026, counsel must be appointed from the list of attorneys qualified to serve as guardians ad litem. The bill provides that beginning January 1, 2025, court-appointed counsel for a parent, guardian, or other adult in a child dependency case will be compensated in an amount no greater than $330, or in a case for the termination of residual parental rights, $680. The bill authorizes the establishment of up to two multidisciplinary law offices or programs in localities, jurisdictions, or judicial districts that affirm they have met specified criteria for the purpose of representing parents in a child dependency court proceeding or in a child protective services assessment or investigation prior to such proceeding. During any calendar year that such an office or program is in effect for at least six months, the office or program must submit a report on program outcomes, expenses, recommendations, and other pertinent information to the Office of the Children's Ombudsman and the Chairmen of the House Committees for Courts of Justice and on Health and Human Services and Appropriations and the Senate Committees for Courts of Justice and on Education and Health and Finance and Appropriations by November 1.
STATUS
Passed
HB828 - Public schools; staffing ratios of teachers for English language learner students.
Rae C. Cousins, Elizabeth B. Bennett-Parker, Nadarius E. Clark
Last updated 9 months ago
6 Co-Sponsors
Public school staffing ratios; teachers; English language learner students. Requires state funding to be provided pursuant to the general appropriation act to support divisionwide ratios of English language learner students in average daily membership to full-time equivalent teaching positions as follows: (i) for each English language learner identified as proficiency level one, one position per 25 students; (ii) for each English language learner identified as proficiency level two, one position per 30 students; (iii) for each English language learner identified as proficiency level three, one position per 40 students; and (iv) for all other English language learners, one position per 50 students. Current law requires state funding to be provided pursuant to the general appropriation act to support one such teaching position per 50 English language learner students, regardless of the identified English proficiency level of such students.
STATUS
Introduced
HB558 - Constitutional amendment; property tax exemption for certain surviving spouses (voter referendum).
Phil M. Hernandez, Michael B. Feggans, Bonita Grace Anthony
Last updated 6 months ago
14 Co-Sponsors
Constitutional amendment (voter referendum); real property tax exemption; surviving spouses of soldiers who died in the line of duty. Provides for a referendum at the November 5, 2024, election to approve or reject an amendment to the Constitution of Virginia that would expand the real property tax exemption that is currently available to the surviving spouses of soldiers killed in action to be available to the surviving spouses of soldiers who died in the line of duty with a Line of Duty determination from the U.S. Department of Defense.
STATUS
Passed
BIOGRAPHY
INCUMBENT
Representative from Virginia district HD-015
COMMITTEES
Virginia House
BIRTH
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ABOUT
Laura Jane Cohen is running as a Democrat for North Carolina House District 38. Cohen served as a National Guard officer for 8 years. She was director of a Planned Parenthood health center in 2011. Cohen currently serves as chief operating officer for EqualityNC, an anti-discrimination advocacy organization for LBGTQ people. She has worked on college campuses to address sexual violence and ensure Title IX protections. Cohen supports healthcare expansions, LGBTQ and reproductive rights, public education, and environmental protections. She opposes Republican state policies on taxes, gun laws, and voter ID laws.read less
OFFICES HELD
Virginia House from Virginia
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