By: Zayd Hamid, Contributing Writer for the PW Perspective

Reflecting on Virginia’s recent General Assembly session, Delegate Michelle Maldonado (D-20) spoke with the PW Perspective’s Zayd Hamid on the work that has been accomplished and what happens next—both in Richmond and her district. Maldonado is running for re-election and will be on this year’s ballot for delegate, seeking to build upon her legislative successes.

She is proud of several accomplishments in the General Assembly this year, noting the importance of her collaboration with partners in healthcare, domestic violence prevention, law enforcement, and other groups for creating and passing meaningful legislation. A particular bill that Maldonado is excited about will make Virginia just one of three states in the country to identify toxic chemicals and metals in baby food. The governor has provided recommendations for amending that bill, which the General Assembly is unlikely to overrule.

Another vulnerable community that Maldonado championed legislation for is Virginia’s elders. Her bill, related to Medigap supplemental insurance plans, rectifies a significant enrollment accessibility issue. “There’s only one open-season window and there’s no other one unless you go through a cumbersome process called underwriting, which could result in higher premiums or exclusion of pre-existing conditions.” Maldonado’s aptly named birthday bill changes enrollment to, as the bill’s summary states, provide an “annual open enrollment period commencing on the day of the individual’s birthday and remaining open for at least 60 days thereafter, during which time the individual may purchase any Medicare supplement policy made available by any insurer in the Commonwealth that offers the same benefits as those provided by the current coverage.” This bill was approved as-is by the governor, much to Maldonado’s delight.

And, although not all of Maldonado’s bills were successful, even her bills vetoed by the governor—such as her bill to mitigate algorithmic discrimination in artificial intelligence (AI) systems—offered valuable opportunities to build community and inspire others. “Whether it gets signed or not, people are already taking our legislation and are using it in other states across the nation as a model.” Maldonado is a steering committee member of the Multistate AI Policymaker Working Group (MAP-WG,) a bipartisan coalition of over 200 state lawmakers, to advance interstate collaboration on legislation regulating data privacy and AI. Her leadership in the technology policy space will continue into the next session of the Virginia General Assembly.

Another vetoed bill, centered around fair pay for Virginia’s teachers, concerned another area, education, that Maldonado will continue working in. “In the public school system, our teachers get a lunch period, and they get a planning period. If you start to stack up their calendar so they lose those periods, you’re supposed to compensate them for a certain percentage of their salary,” Maldonado explained. “There was a school system in Virginia that did that with a number of math teachers and refused to compensate them for their earned wages. So, they went to court and the judge said that the code was ambiguous. So, this year, I partnered with the Virginia Education Association to make sure that the code was clear so that our teachers had access and legal standing to make sure they got their earned wages.” Maldonado clarified that her bill wasn’t just supporting teacher’s rights but applied to all government employees—showing that a rising tide can lift all boats when laws are designed to serve broader community needs.

Maldonado shares her community’s anxiety about mass layoffs in the federal government.  “I’m very concerned and that is echoed by the conversations I have had across the district. I recently attended a community event with the Northern Virginia Black Chamber of Commerce where people told their stories. This doesn’t just hurt the people who are government employees, it cascades down and hurts contractors and the surrounding businesses in the ecosystem. It will also impact housing because people are eventually going to have challenges paying mortgages and rent. It impacts education for a number of reasons. At the individual level, will people have money to send their kids to college? We’re hearing all those things and it’s critical.”

Recognizing the severity of those layoffs to her community, she applauded Speaker Don Scott’s action to create an emergency committee on federal employee workforce and funding reduction. “We’re looking at all of the fallout of this to buttress our roof to make sure that all the stuff that’s falling above us doesn’t come crashing down to Virginia,” Maldonado said. “This is a critical time for our commonwealth and people are scared. They’re already wondering how they will make ends meet when, overnight it feels like, their businesses have dried up and their businesses and jobs are gone. We’re focused on doing the best we can at the state level.”

“Despite all the things that people are very worried about, people are very fired up and very motivated,” Maldonado said in response to a question on what’s keeping her optimistic. “We are at a moment where we can create incredible change. It’s a moment to reimagine the Democratic Party at all levels, particularly state and local. We’re seeing people have conversations about what we can do differently and how we can connect to people more powerfully and authentically. That is good news for us and good news for the political system when people are energized to create the change necessary for the moment and be personally invested.”

“Get out in the community, volunteer with a campaign, write things, talk to your legislators, and see how you can help,” she advised. “Making sure you’re bringing people with you in those conversations and to vote is so important. And the time is now.”