2024 Legislative Highlights
During the 2024 legislative session, Michelle passed the highest number of bills in the House Democratic Caucus and the highest number of bills unanimously in the entire House of Delegates reflecting her strong ability to bring people together across party lines and a wide array of issues.
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Legislative Highlights
Became Law
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HB1247 Funding Formula Revision & Increased Funding for English Language Learners
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HB1243 Protects Homeowners from Being Scammed Out of Their Homes
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HB987 Clarifies Coverage Eligibility of Proton Radiation Treatment for Cancer Patients
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HB744 Imposes New Notification Requirements To Prohibit Surprise Contract Renewals
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HB707 Virginia's First Online Child Data Privacy Protection Act
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HB699 Opioid Prescription Disclosure and Treatment Alternative Law
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HB692 "Larry's Law" - Protects Against Financial Exploitation of Seniors & Vulnerable Adults
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Key Legislation Carried Over and to Be Brought Back in 2025
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HB747 AI Algorithmic Discrimination Requirements for Developers and Deployers
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HB697 Restrictions and Penalties on Illegal Use of Synthetic Media ("Deep Fakes")​
To see the full list of Michelle's most recent legislative record, click here.
To download a pdf of Michelle's 2024 Legislative Highlights, click here.
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House Committees Assignments
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Chair, Judicial Subcommittee
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Chair, Insurance & Financial Institutions Subcommittee
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Election Administration Subcommittee
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Constitutional Amendments Subcommittee
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Communications, Technology & Innovation
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Communications Subcommittee
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House Caucus Memberships
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House Democractic Caucus (Affordable Housing Policy Lead)
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Virginia Legislative Black Caucus (Digital Equity Policy Lead)
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Latino Caucus
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Maternal Health Caucus
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Gun Violence Prevention Caucus (Secretary)
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Technology & Innovation Caucus (Founding Chair)
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Boards, Commissions & Task Force Appointments
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Virginia Growth and Opportunity Board (GO Virginia)
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Joint Commission on Science and Technology (JCOTS)
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AI Subcommittee
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​Health Insurance Reform Commission (HIRC)
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Virginia Coal & Energy Commission (Virginia)
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Southern Regional Education Board AI in Education Commission (SREB)
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Task Force on Artificial Intelligence, Cybersecurity and Privacy (NCSL)
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Multi-State AI Policymaker Working Group, Steering Committee (Future of Privacy Forum)
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Data Centers Work Group (NCSL)
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Multi-State Broadband Work Group (State Connections)
Michelle's Priorities
A Strong Economy for All
Real change happens in the details – making an economy that works for everyone means ensuring that our seniors are not scammed out of their hard earned savings; it means making sure mom and pop stores don’t get stuck with expensive bills from big corporations; it means making sure big real estate companies can’t control what you do with your homes. That's why I passed HB 692 (the VA Senior Safe Act to keep our seniors and vulnerable adults safe), HB 744 (to protect Virginia residents and businesses against surprise contract auto renewals), and HB 1243 (to keep Virginia home owners safe from unscrupulous real estate brokerage firms taking homes away from families). Virginians deserve an economy that works for everyone. As your representative, Michelle will focus on keeping Virginia a best place for business and farming as well as a best place to live and work. Michelle is a small business owner. She understands how to support employees and businesses so they can provide you and your family with the important opportunities and resources you need to work well and live well. She fights to increase opportunities for people living and working with different abilities, and access to capital and resources for small business owners, and innovation. As a member of the GO Virginia Board, Michelle knows what creates a healthy, viable Virginia: a strong economy and jobs market; affordable living with attainable housing; tax incentives across the economic spectrum; strategic workforce development to address gaps in readiness and preparedness and to upskill employees, and prepare new and emerging leaders along with transitioning veterans; support for new and young farmers to help sustain our farming industry; and a world-class public school system. She works hard toward each of these priorities to ensure that Virginia remains a gem of the South.
AI/New & Emerging Technology
Drawing on years of experience as both a technology lawyer working on back-end, technology platforms and technology business leader, Michelle founded and chairs the Virginia General Assembly's Technology & Innovation Caucus and its AI work group subcommittee, while also serving on a national steering committee of an AI Work Group composed of state legislators from around the country. Michelle passed Virginia's very first online child data privacy protection act and put forward legislation on algorithmic discrimination for developers and deployers, synthetic media, and more. She understands the potential benefits of innovation, and is also keenly aware of the mental health, privacy, and security issues presented by AI, Large Language Models (LLMs), and other new and emerging technologies. She is a champion for safe, trustworthy and ethical AI as she balances Virginia's need for innovation and competitiveness with protecting its people. Michelle serves on the Joint Commission on Technology and Science (JCOTS) and its subcommittee on Artificial Intelligence as well as the SREB Commission and its AI in Education Committee.
World Class Education
Virginia is home to a rich diversity of cultures, religions, and languages across our schools and in our communities. As someone who grew up speaking another language at home, Michelle knows how important funding is for our public schools to help bridge the language and learning gaps. That's why Michelle brought and passed HB 1247 to secure meaningful and needed funding for English Language Learners in Virginia public schools. Virginia public schools are among the best in the nation, but there is still work to do. Michelle is the daughter and granddaughter of educators, with a special focus on k12 and higher education as a former member of the Education Committee in the Virginia House of Delegates. She works to secure and expand funding for school facilities, teacher and staff recruitment, retention, pay, and development, and ways to make education more accessible and affordable. As a parent, Michelle believes in the power of the parent-teacher-student partnership that has long been the model in Virginia to strengthen public schools for our children and their families. She dedicates her time to make sure that students—regardless of identity, sexual orientation, religion, ability, background, or means—feel safe in school, and have the support, opportunities, and resources they need. Because students deserve access to a world-class education regardless of where they live, Michelle also supports learning success and outcomes by increasing access to resources in our rural, urban, and suburban communities for students who need additional in-classroom instruction, including resources for our English Language Learners, as well as look to boot camp and apprenticeship experiences with ongoing supports to prepare students and learners of all ages to help maximize their success and the success of their organizations.
Healthcare, Mental Health, Maternal Health
As Chair of the Insurance and Financial Institutions Subcommittee, Michelle knows more than anyone what it means and takes to hold insurance companies accountable and to partner for accessible and affordable healthcare. An economy that works for everyone is one where healthcare is affordable, accessible, and available to everyone. Virginians need access to affordable and holistic healthcare. Michelle works to keep you and your family healthy across their full range of needs—from childcare to elder care, from mental health to behavioral health, from maternal health to reproductive health, and from care for veterans to law enforcement and first responders. Michelle also cares about the mental health of children in our schools and in our communities. To keep Virginia families healthy and supported, she focuses on funding, programs, and wrap-around services that address depression, abuse, and addiction across our communities. She will advocate for your privacy and bodily autonomy, and work hard to keep prescription drugs, homeopathic care, and veterans coverage benefits both accessible and affordable.
Protecting Our Planet
Virginia has been a forward-thinking Commonwealth on environmental issues. We know that by protecting our environment we invest in the future of our Commonwealth, nation, and the world. Michelle understands that everyone can help address climate change and today’s environmental crises. She advocates for cleaning our streets and highways; converting to electric vehicles, with a clear manufacturing, reuse, repurpose, and disposal strategy for car batteries; creating more bicycle lanes; utilizing recycled materials in innovative designs; and promoting alternative energy sources. As your state representative, Michelle also focuses on protecting our environment as we explore energy efficiency, grid expansion, and flexibility. She believes in a creative, comprehensive approach, and building forward from the Virginia Clean Economy Act to explore new solutions. A collaborative approach with our farming, business, and residential communities could integrate green mobility options, impact our carbon footprint, and address smart local land development and use—all while addressing environmental justice issues and data center placement, proliferation, and impact.
Public & Community Safety
Nothing is truer than the maxim that the personal is political. When Roe v. Wade was overturned, nothing made it more clear how important it is to have judges that respect precedence, protect our rights, and reflect our values. As Chair of the Courts of Justice's Judicial Committee, Michelle oversaw some of the most diverse and progressive appointments to judgeships throughout Virginia. Judge appointments aren’t a sexy topic, but it's appointing the right judges that will protect all of our rights. We need to root out the worst impulses of our criminal justice system wherever it is and sometimes that takes someone who knows the policy inside and out. That’s why Michelle closed the ticket quota loophole this past session to make sure we reduce the number of interactions between everyday working people and the criminal justice system. It is important for all families in Virginia to re-imagine public safety, community policing, and criminal justice. Michelle believes we can create better systems and policies for our families and communities. Whether we eliminate the school-to-prison pipeline, establish co-responder and community policing programs, provide mental health and suicide prevention resources for both both residents and law enforcement professionals, or offer restorative programs for our youth, we have many opportunities to effect change. Michelle has worked with both community members and law enforcement to ensure that our residents and law enforcement professionals are healthy, trustworthy, and safe. She brings experience, compassion, a collaborative approach, and accountability to the House of Delegates to improve public safety for all Virginians. Michelle also focuses on firearms and community safety, safe gun storage laws, and gun violence prevention because she knows that no one is truly safe unless we all are.
Good Government
Michelle has dedicated much of her career to bridging across conflict, treating people with dignity and respect, and seeing the humanity in others. She moves people toward solutions with civility, accountability, and compassion. Michelle brings her deep ability to skillfully navigate conflict and polarization to the General Assembly. She works with fellow legislators to keep our government moving forward, as we restore confidence in our representatives, transparency in the process, accountability for decision-making, and professionalism in our discourse. As Michelle works to ensure good government, she is steadfast in her protection of voting rights, and will also ensure that voting in the Commonwealth is made more accessible to people with different abilities and for returning citizens.