NEWLY SWORN IN, DELEGATE NADARIUS CLARK ANNOUNCES FIRST LEGISLATIVE PACKAGE.

Richmond, VA: After being sworn into office with the 2022 Freshman delegation, Delegate Nadarius Clark, representing Portsmouth, Norfolk, and Chesapeake, announced the pre-filing of six bills as part of his first legislative package. These bills cover a series of necessary reforms to the Virginia State Code, and are geared towards equitable reforms in healthcare, education, and economic mobility.

​

HB 535: Raise teacher pay. Average teacher pay in Virginia is currently ranked 50th in the country out of all 50 states. This new bill requires that the state appropriations committee raise teacher pay to the national average.

​

HB 538: Implicit bias training for perinatal care providers. Mandates that hospitals must develop, implement, and complete in-person and interactive training on implicit bias for perinatal care providers.

​

HB 573: Consumer protections relating to medical debt. Reduces the statute of limitations for medical debt to 3 years for life sustaining treatment and 5-7 years for all other medical debts.

​

HB 569: Protections against elder abuse. Removes liability protections from senior care centers, assisted living facilities, and other private providers in the case of elder abuse or willful neglect.

​

HB 596: The "Freedom for Renters" Act. Repeals a ban on a locality's ability to implement rent stabilization and requires that landlords meet new requirements before raising rent.

​

HB 592: Incentivize Employee Ownership. Provides a $5,000 tax credit to a business that transfers its ownership to its employees in the form of a workers' cooperative.

​

Nadarius Clark released the following statement regarding his legislative priorities for the beginning of session:

​

"When I won my election in November of last year I made a promise to the friends and neighbors of my district, to the children in our schools, and to everyone hoping to make a better life for themselves in Hampton Roads. I promised I would take our shared story to the General Assembly and use it to advocate for real change. We have an uphill battle this year but I am ready for it."

​

The text for all of these bills can be found online at lis.virginia.gov

###

​

​