Dear Friend,
The 2024 Legislative Session has begun. The 140 citizen-members of our Commonwealth’s historic legislative body gaveled in Wednesday, January 10, to begin this year’s 60 day lawmaking Session. I will provide weekly updates during Session. Below is the first.
2024 Legislative Session
Following redistricting, retirements, and elections, the General Assembly is welcoming many new faces. The Senate has 17 new members, some who came from the House, others who are new to the General Assembly. The House has 34 new members, two of whom served previously.
History was made on day one. The General Assembly elected Delegate Don Scott as the new Speaker of the House. He is the first Black Speaker in the legislature’s 405 year history. You can watch the nomination for the election of Delegate Scott, by Delegates Torian and Austin here. You can watch Speaker Scott’s swearing in and first speech at this link.
Following Speaker Scott’s swearing in, the House elected to return G. Paul Nardo as Clerk of the House. Paul Nardo has 12 years experience, including serving as Clerk the prior two years under Speaker Todd Gilbert. You can watch his nomination and election here.
Committee assignments were made following the establishment of leadership. I will serve on the Appropriations, General Laws, Transportation and Rules Committees. I will serve as Vice Chair for General Laws. In Appropriations, I serve on 4 of the 5 subcommittees, and chair the Higher Education Subcommittee. Additional appointments to subcommittees in other committees are still pending. You can find full committee information here.
The State of the Commonwealth was held at Joint Assembly of the House & Senate at the end of the first day. You can watch Governor Youngkin’s remarks here, or read a transcript here.
I had the honor, with Senator L. Louise Lucas, President Pro Tempore, of delivering the Democratic response to the Governor’s remarks. You can watch the response at this link.
My bills have been filed and introduced. I am carrying bills to promote affordable housing, pedestrian and roadway safety, education for prisoners, environmental education and protection, as well as legislation to support small business and economic development. You can find information on all my bills at this link.
During the first week of Session, I met with several individuals or groups representing:
Virginia Community College Systems
Virginia Commonwealth University
CodeRVA Regional High School
Child Advocacy Centers of Virginia
Virginia Poverty Law Center
College of William & Mary
Justice Forward Virginia
Virginia Banker’s Association
Moms Demand Action
Virginia Humanities
Volkswagen
If you have legislative priorities, questions or concerns to share with me, email me at delegate.carr@betsycarr.org or call my office at 804-698-1078.
Changes to FAFSA
The Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) has been updated and is now available to college applicants for the 2024-2025 school year. The FAFSA is the main application families use to determine their eligibility for federal student aid, and it has been notorious for difficult questions and length. It is ordinarily available to students beginning in October, however it has been delayed as the Department of Education was working to streamline and make a more user friendly application.
The new application is available. To learn more about the changes to the FAFSA and federal aid process, visit this article from The Richmond Times-Dispatch.
Thank You
It is an honor to serve in the House of Delegates. Please never hesitate to contact me at delegate.carr@betsycarr.org or 804-698-1078 if I can be helpful to you.
Sincerely,
Betsy