The 2023 Virginia General Assembly session has concluded, and this past Saturday, several Prince William County elected officials took the time to answer questions on some of the bills that were passed.

Taking place at the James J. McCoart Building, the town hall was led by Delegates Danica Roem (HD-13), Michelle Maldonado (HD-50), Elizabeth Guzman (HD-31), Briana Sewell (HD-51), Luke Torian (HD-24), and Senator Jeremy McPike (29th District). It was an opportunity for the local constituents to speak with their representatives.

“Between 2020 and 2021, we have a slate of gun violence prevention measures,” said Roem. “I personally believe that the most effective of those is the substantial risk orders bill, also called the ‘Red Flag laws’. For instance, the shooting we just saw in [Nashville] Tennessee was horrible, this is where some is able to legally purchase a gun that can fire a lot of rounds pretty quickly. Even though family members had severe concerns about that person’s mental health, they didn’t have a red flag law in place.”

“In Virginia, where we just had the anniversary of the Virginia Tech massacre, it’s one of those things where we have data that actually shows us here in the Prince William County Commonwealth Attorney’s office, for example, that we’ve had dozens of cases where we there’s been requests for substantial risk orders placed on people. In one case I remember, there was a guy who was choking his mother and he had a gun. When police showed up, he started waving it at them. That is one example where we use the often-used phrase ‘law-abiding citizen.’ Sometimes, that can be code speak, and this is a case if you’re not threatening yourself, or another person, you don’t have to worry about this. But, if you are an imminent threat to hurting yourself or someone else, then that is someone that in that crisis, they should not have the ability to hurt themselves or another person.”

“We’ve seen from the date that we’ve had a substantial return on investment. One of my constituents in Manassas told me recently that, ‘How would the due process work?’ The way we wrote the bill, there is a check and balance included. Among the dozen or so gun violence prevention bills that were passed, that was the main one that can prevent the most harm and suicides. But beyond that, you have issues of systemic poverty, for example, that can absolutely affect this as well.”

Delegate Sewell also commented on their efforts to reduce the rising crime rates in the county. “I would also add that last year through legislative efforts, our colleagues in the house and senate carried legislation that would establish a center for firearm violence prevention at the Department of Criminal Justice Services. Sadly, we were unable to fully fund it at the rate of $27 million dollars, and this is an effort that would empower communities like our very own, to take on these measures and be able to address them first-hand from the ground up. I think that is something that is missing from this conversation.”

Speaking of systemic poverty, one of the major goals of the delegates was to work on resolving economic problems many families have faced since pandemic of 2020. While the state budget resolution continues to be an issue.

“We’ve been working over the past couple of years to increase the reimbursement rates directly for state funds in key services. The budget is our value, so that’s a major focus for us,” said McPike.

“There’s been a lot of us who work in the affordable housing space that look into how to protect renters, and first-time home owners,” said Maldonado. “We’ve had some bills pass through that really addressed a number of things. What was allowed to go through to the Governor [Youngkin’s] desk made it. One of them was how to mitigate the eviction rates, by requiring landlords to provide more notice when they’re going to increase rent. There was one bill that I signed that passed forward. It takes a village of many to get it through.”

“Starting on July 1st, landlords will be required to provide 60 days prior written notice if they’re going to raise rent,” she continued. “There’s also some things that are happening in our LiTech program, which is unconceivable, landlords are able to increase the rent amount during the lease term. Some of us got together to re-write the code on it. I met with Virginia Housing this week, and carried joint legislation to change it. At the last moment, the administration said they didn’t want it, as it messes with contracts.”

“Everyone believes that the way to fight is not to take no for an answer, work with the advocacy groups. That’s what we’re doing until we get the majority back that can anchor it to completion. Can we provide incentives? For example, if in the LiTech space landlords use eco-friendly materials, they get a certain number of credits that positions them to get resources. They are receptive to that, and that saves on the renter’s side as well.”

Guzman, who has been instrumental in helping families with affordable housing, spoke on the collaborative efforts. “We worked together to get families the basic necessities during the pandemic. There are still 1 to 2 million Virginians who are still struggling because they have to go to work. We were able to get home care workers more money, which is going to be a priority for Democrats. As far as other pandemic recovery efforts, we’ve had the issue of retaining teachers, particularly in Prince William County. We were able to get a bill passed called the Teacher Retention Program. When they retire, they can re-enter the workforce on a part time basis, while receiving benefits. That bill is going to go through until July 2028. We are looking at the data to see if we need more resources.”

“One thing the pandemic showed that the areas hit hardest were communities of color. Even though we worked throughout the year for legislation across the aisle to help provide resources to English-language learners, the bill is still in the senate. It is something we will continue to work on.”