Weekly Newsletter, 8.12.25
August recess provides an opportunity to travel throughout the district to provide legislative updates and see first hand how work on the Hill impacts local communities. Last week, I traveled to Surry to discuss the Big Ugly Law and the Trump Administration’s actions with faith leaders and the owners of the county’s only grocery store. I also met with food bank officers, farmers market managers and school nutrition coordinators to discuss how SNAP and other federal funding cuts hinder their ability to feed children, seniors, low-income and rural communities.
Read for more of what you may have missed.
AFTER 60 YEARS, THE VOTING RIGHTS ACT NEEDS STRENGTHENING
Nearly 250 years ago, the United States was founded on the revolutionary idea that the power of government derives from the people. In 1789, our constitution created a government by, of and for the people. Yet only a select few were granted the right to participate by voting. Since then, the country struggled to expand the right to vote beyond white, land-owning men. A few years ago, I documented this struggle in an article for the University of Richmond Public Interest Law Review.
While the the 15th Amendment banned voter discrimination on the basis of race in 1870, and the 19th Amendment did the same on the basis of sex in 1920, states across the South engaged in voter discrimination, intimidation and suppression through such tactics as poll taxes, literacy tests and felony disenfranchisement. As I have shared previously, my own parents, grandparents and great grandparents faced these efforts to suppress their right to vote, and I took my oath of office on the Bible in which my father kept his poll tax receipt.
Nearly a century after ratification of the 15th Amendment, the Voting Rights Act of 1965 (“VRA”) outlawed these voter discrimination and intimidation tactics and expanded voter access. However, in 2013, the U.S. Supreme Court gutted the VRA in Shelby v. Holder by striking down Section 5, which required states with a history of voter discrimination obtain pre-approval from the Justice Department before making any changes to its voting laws. The Court ordered Congress to revisit the record of voter suppression rather than justify a state to be covered by this “preclearance” requirement. To this day, Congress has failed to do so. As a result, for over a decade states have put more restrictions on voting rights.
On the 60th anniversary of the VRA, I spoke with Zerlina Maxwell on the importance of the VRA and how I am working to strengthen and modernize it through the Deceptive Practices and Voter Intimidation Prevention Act.
This bill addresses the rise of voter misinformation and intimidation by:
- Creating criminal penalties for deceptive practices and intimidation;
- Requiring authorities to take corrective actions when disinformation is reported;
- Mandating reporting by the DOJ after each general election on deceptive practices complaints received; and
- Addressing challenges created by new artificial intelligence-generated disinformation
You can read the text of the bill here and coverage of the bill in Virginia Mercury.
THE BIG UGLY LAW’S SNAP CUTS WILL INCREASE FOOD INSECURITY AS GROCERY PRICES SOAR
For weeks, you have heard me sound the alarm on the largest cuts to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (“SNAP”) in history under the Big Ugly Law: nearly $200 billion, or around 20% of the program. The Congressional Budget Office estimates these cuts will slash food assistance from 42 million Americans depending on SNAP to help put food on their tables, including 16 million children, 8 million seniors (aged 60+), 4 million people with disabilities (below 60) and 1.2 million veterans. In Virginia alone, SNAP helped over 800,000 people — 1 out of every 11 Virginians — in the 2024 fiscal year. Of this number, more than 67% of SNAP participants are families with children. These cuts should not be viewed in a vacuum, particularly as President Trump’s tariff policies raise prices even more and other Trump Administration funding cuts worsen food insecurity.
The Big Ugly Law doesn’t just hurt SNAP recipients, but threatens the entire food economy, from the farmers who grow the food, manufacturers that package it, truckers who distribute it and retailers in our communities that sell it. In 2024, SNAP created nearly 139,000 new jobs in these supporting industries, with direct wages totaling $9.8 billion. More than $20 billion in direct wages derived from the 388,700 grocery and supporting industry jobs supported by SNAP, resulting in over $4.5 billion in state and federal tax revenue per year.
Last week, I met with some of the people in these supporting industries who would be impacted by these cuts to hear firsthand their concerns over how these cuts will impact their ability to feed our communities.
I visited the only grocery store in Surry County, which has been designated a food desert for more than 20 years. Opened in September 2024 — nearly 25 years after the last grocery store in the county closed — Surry Marketplace became eligible to receive SNAP benefits after my staff helped them navigate a backlog in the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Owner Andy White and Manager Michelle Brown McDade explained how SNAP benefits help keep their doors open and able to provide fresh produce and meat to the local community.
The Big Ugly Law puts rural grocers like Surry Marketplace — and those who rely on the only grocery store for over 30 miles — at risk.
During National Farmers Market Week, I also attended a roundtable with farmers market managers, food bank officials and school nutrition coordinators to discuss how the Big Ugly Law impacts their work.
Many of the food providers and farms in Virginia’s Fourth and across the nation receive subsidies from SNAP. Without these subsidies, they cannot purchase adequate amounts of fresh produce and meat, harming both those who can’t purchase the food and those growing and selling the food. We also discussed SNAP-Ed, a nutrition education program focusing on improving access to healthy foods and physical activities for people with low income. This vital program helps improve public health by teaching SNAP beneficiaries how to cook healthy meals, lead physically active lifestyles and stretch SNAP dollars. The Big Ugly Law defunds this program.
Moreover, by reducing the number of people eligible for SNAP benefits, the Big Ugly Law puts school nutrition programs at risk, leading to more hungry students who cannot learn. Reducing the number of students certified for SNAP benefits also reduces the number of students eligible for free or reduced-price school meals. This in turn hinders schools’ ability to offer universal free meals through the Community Eligibility Provision (CEP), which allows schools in high-poverty areas. During the 2023–2024 school year, 1,189 Virginia schools adopted CEP, reaching 638,489 children each school day.
Though the Trump Administration claims they want to “Make America Healthy Again,” their actions do the exact opposite — gutting the food assistance programs that actually help encourage healthy lifestyles.
MY BRIGHT SPOT: JOINING A COMMUNITY CONVERSATION
Earlier this month, I participated in a community conversation with Becky Lakin that was recorded for the Many Hands Live podcast, which was released last week. While we talked about the impacts of the Big Ugly Law on health care and SNAP, the conversation was also an opportunity to share my commitment to finding and holding on to joy — even in the midst of chaos. At the top of the podcast, Becky shared how our conversation moved her and the audience.
You can listen to the full episode on Spotify and Apple. I hope it brings you some joy and gratitude as well!
REMINDERS
Did you miss my senior-focused town hall in Chesterfield? If you live in the Richmond area, you can attend another senior-focused town hall at the South Richmond Adult Day Care Center on Tuesday, August 26 from 9:30 to 11 AM! Come grab coffee, share your stories, and ask questions about what’s happening in Washington.
Student innovators: get your apps ready! The Congressional App Challenge is open for submissions. The deadline is October 30, 2025.
I’m looking forward to the rest of this month traveling across the district and seeing many of you!
If you see me around, don’t be a stranger! Keep the faith, friends.