Summary
Current Position: State Delegate of District 38 since 2010
Affiliation: Democrat
Delegate Kaye Kory was elected as the State Delegate for the 38th District in November 2009 and was sworn in on January 6, 2010. She represents parts of Fairfax County. She currently serves as Chair of the Counties, Cities and Towns committee, and the committees on Finance and Public Safety
Though Delegate Kory has achieved prominence in Education, her “activist” roots run broad and deep. Kaye has served on numerous boards and committees in her 30 years in Fairfax County.
OnAir Post: Kaye Kory
News
Last week, Delegate Kaye Kory acted as chief co-patron of two important bills up for vote in the Virginia House of Delegates. The first is meant to assist Virginia workers through the creation of the office of the Secretary of Labor. The purpose of the second is to create a rebate program associated with the purchase or lease of electronic vehicles.
Both pieces of legislation passed in the House and will now require a Senate vote and the governor’s approval to become laws.
Regarding the bill for Virginia workers, Kory said, ““The passage of this bill will help the Commonwealth’s workers by cutting bureaucratic red tape that will streamline services to the workers who need help amid a historic pandemic.”
The Humane Cosmetics Act (SB 1379/HB 2250) introduced by Sen. Jennifer Boysko (D-Herndon) and Del. Kaye Kory (D-Falls Church) prohibits the testing of cosmetics on animals in Virginia and prohibits the sale of any cosmetic in Virginia that was developed or manufactured using animal testing.
There are many alternatives to testing new ingredients that do not involve animals. Rabbits, guinea pigs, mice, and rats are often the subjects used for cosmetic testing. When laboratory experiments end, the outcome for the lab animals is most often euthanasia.
Currently, Virginia is only one of four states that requires manufacturers to use alternative non-animal testing methods when available. The bills in the Senate and House are identical, and both passed with significant support, so they now cross over to the opposite chamber.
HB 2230 seeks to direct Virginia’s Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services to develop a program to educate people with intellectual and developmental disabilities, their families and others about supported decision-making agreements.
HB 2230 is the result of a bill introduced last session by Del. Kaye Kory, D-Falls Church, which led to a work group study that recommended the language of the bill. Kory, a co-patron of the bill, also spoke before the vote, highlighting the long road the legislation has taken.
“Six years ago, when I was a member of the joint health care commission, I asked for a study on supported decision-making and it took until this year for us to finally put this language in code,” she said.
About
Source: Campaign page
Kaye and her husband Ross have lived in Fairfax County for over 35 years. Kaye has her B.A. degree in English from the Miami University of Ohio and has done graduate work in public policy at the University of Iowa and George Mason University. She gravitated to the educational arena when seeking pre-K options when her three children were young. Kaye was a frequent and vocal critic of many Fairfax County School Board and school administration policies. She won a special election for the Mason District seat on the School Board in June of 1999. After that first special election, Kaye won three regular elections by some of the largest margins for Democrats in the Mason District and across the County. Kaye routinely turned out crowds to observe and testify at School Board meetings and work sessions. Though Kaye has achieved prominence in Education, her activist roots run broad and deep.
Kaye served as a counselor for troubled youth at “Runaway House” in our 38th District. She also worked with the Grey Panthers in Woonsocket Rhode Island, under the auspices of the activist Catholic Diocese there. As well, Kaye was the Program Manager for a Community Agency on Aging and the Executive Director for Saunders B. Moon Senior Citizens Center in the Gum Springs neighborhood of Fairfax. As Program Analyst for the Fairfax County Department of Community Action, Kaye did program assessment and grant writing for such programs as Head Start and the Medical Care for Children Program (nationally recognized by the Kennedy School at Harvard for public sector innovation). Kaye has been an active leader in a diverse range of community organizations including: the Annandale Chamber of Commerce; the Virginia League of Conservation Voters; and, the NAACP. She has been a sustaining member of the Fairfax County Democratic Committee since 2001. She has served on numerous Fairfax boards and committees including the Fairfax County Community Action Advisory Board, the Board (member and President) of the Montessori School of Northern Virginia, the Fairfax County Partnership for Youth, the Fairfax County Association for the Gifted; the J.E.B. Stuart Educational Foundation (founding President; renamed Justice High School Fund); the Fairfax County Boys and Girls club; and, the Hampton Court Homeowner’s Association.
Kaye gravitated to the educational arena when seeking pre-K options when her children were young. She soon emerged as a leader of the Montessori School of Northern Virginia (MSNV), one of the oldest in the region. She transitioned into PTA leadership positions following her children’s transition to the public schools.
Kaye won a special election for the Mason District seat on the Fairfax County School Board in June of 1999, following the resignation for health reasons of former member Fred Ward. Fred supported Kaye in that election, even though Kaye was a frequent and vocal critic of many School Board and school administration policies. Fred knew Kaye as a PTA activist at Sleepy Hollow Elementary, Glasgow Middle School and J.E.B. Stuart High School, a mother of three and a passionate and effective community builder. Kaye routinely turned out crowds to observe and testify at School Board meetings and work sessions.
Following that first special election, Kaye won three regular elections by some of the largest margins for Democrats in Mason District and across the County.
Professional
Though Kaye has achieved prominence in Education, her “activist” roots run broad and deep:
She served as a counselor for troubled youth at “Runaway House” in the District. Kaye worked with the Grey Panthers in Woonsocket Rhode Island, under the auspices of the activist Catholic Diocese there.
As Program Manager for a Community Agency on Aging and Executive Director for Saunders B. Moon Senior Citizens Center in the Gum Springs neighborhood of Fairfax County, Kaye developed expertise in a wide range of programs affecting the elderly. She established a free transportation program for the elderly and handicapped in the Mount Vernon District of the County that was a predecessor to the County’s FastTran program.
As Program Analyst for the Fairfax County Department of Community Action, Kaye did program assessment and grant writing for such programs as Head Start and the Medical Care for Children Program (nationally recognized by the Kennedy School at Harvard for public sector innovation);
Community
Kaye has served on numerous boards and committees in her 30 years in Fairfax County including the Fairfax County Community Action Advisory Board, the Board (member and President) of the Montessori School of Northern Virginia, the Fairfax County Partnership for Youth, the Fairfax County Association for the Gifted; the J.E.B. Stuart Educational Foundation (founding President); the Fairfax County Boys and Girls club; and the Hampton Court Homeowner’s Association.
Kaye and Ross served two years as VISTA volunteers (predecessor to AmeriCorps), working on housing and anti-poverty issues;
As a volunteer, while she had young children at home, Kaye developed and led a “Great Books” program for seniors working through Fairfax County Adult and Community Education and secured funding for Fairfax County Association for the Gifted Literary Magazine
Experience
Work Experience
- Project Manager
2019 to present(retired)
Education
- B.A
Miami University, OH
2019 to 1969
Awards
- The Montessori School of Northern Virginia, Woman of the Year (2019)
- Fairfax County Police, Certificate of Appreciation (2019)
- J.E.B. Stuart Educational Foundation, Kaye Kory Scholarship (2019)
- Virginia League of Conservation Voters, 100% Legislative Hero Award (2019)
- Virginia Education Association, Rookie Award, Solid as a Rock Award (2019)
- Interfaith Council on Public Policy, Legislator of the Year (2019)
- Sierra Club, Leadership Award (2019)
- Drive Smart Virginia (2019)
- Association for College Admission Counseling, Leadership Award (2019)
Personal
Birth Year: 1947
Place of Birth: Chicago, IL
Gender: Female
Race(s): Caucasian
Spouse: Ross C. Kory, Jr.
Children: Matthew, Alexander, and Caroline
Membership & Affiliation: NAACP League of Women Voters
Virginia League of Conservation Voters
EMILY’s List
Sleepy Hollow Elementary School PTA
Glasgow Middle School PTA
J.E.B. Stuart High School PTA (president, treasurer)
The Montessori School of Northern Virginia (president)
J.E.B. Stuart Educational Foundation (founding president)
Fairfax County Boys & Girls Club (board member)
Annandale Chamber of Commerce
Virginia Democratic Women’s Caucus
ProgressVA
Contact
Legislative Assistant: Nancy Hedeen
Legislative Director:: Anika Rahman
Email:
- Government – DelKKory@house.virginia.gov
Offices
Capitol Office
Pocahontas Building
900 E. Main St,
Richmond, Virginia 23219
Phone: (804) 698-1038
District Office
6505 Waterway Drive
Falls Church, VA 22044
Phone: (703) 354-6024
Web
Government Page, Campaign Site, Twitter, Facebook
Politics
Source: Wikipedia
For two years, Kory was a VISTA volunteer working on housing and anti-poverty issues. As a program adviser to a Community Agency on Aging and Executive Director at the Saunders B. Moon Senior Citizens Center in the Gum Springs neighborhood of Fairfax County, Kory established a free transportation for the elderly.
Kory became involved with the parent-teacher associations at her children’s schools, and was elected president and treasurer of the J.E.B. Stuart High School PTA.
Recent Elections
2019
| Kaye Kory (D) | 13,934 | 93.26% |
| Write in (Write-in) | 1,007 | 6.74% |
| TOTAL | 14,941 |
2017
| Kaye Kory (D) | 16,023 | 73.5% |
| Paul Byrne Haring (R) | 5,723 | 26.3% |
| Write In (Write-in) | 51 | 0.2% |
| TOTAL | 21,797 |
2015
| Kaye Kory (D) | 7,819 | 73.8% |
| James Lewis Leslie (G) | 2,655 | 25.1% |
| Write In (Write-in) | 115 | 1.1% |
| TOTAL | 10,589 |
2013
| Kaye Kory (D) | 12,534 | 74.7% |
| James Lewis Leslie (G) | 4,087 | 24.3% |
| Write In (Write-in) | 166 | 4% |
| TOTAL | 16,787 |
2011
| Kaye Kory (D) | 8,106 | 76.4% |
| James Lewis Leslie (G) | 2,402 | 22.6% |
| Write In (Write-in) | 97 | 0.9% |
| TOTAL | 10,605 |
2009
| Kaye Kory (D) | 9,621 | 59.5% |
| Danny R. Smith (R) | 6,505 | 40.2% |
| Write In (Write-in) | 42 | 0.3% |
| TOTAL | 16,168 |
Finances
KORY, L KAYE has run in 6 races for public office, winning 6 of them. The candidate has raised a total of$396,913.
Source: Follow the Money
Committees
Committees
Militia, Police and Public Safety
Commerce and Labor
Finance
Subcommittees
Finance – Subcommittee #3
Commerce and Labor – Subcommittee #3
Militia, Police and Public Safety – Subcommittee #2
Appointments
Civic Education, Commission on
Health Care, Joint Commission on
House Commerce and Labor
House Finance
House Militia Police and Public Safety
Wireless Communications Infrastructure Group – Joint Subcommittees of House Commerce & Labor, Senate Commerce & Labor, and Senate General Laws & Technology
Voting Record
See: Vote Smart
New Legislation
Source: Virginia Legislative Information System
Issues
Civil Rights
Fighting for women’s rights is at the forefront of my career.
As a legislator and a community activist, I have worked to establish women’s reproductive rights and reproductive justice, as well as to bring a high profile to these issues. Whether a patron of a reproductive rights bill, an anti-discrimination bill or a menstrual equity bill and an advocate for passage, and working to ensure implementation, I actively seek broader social justice goals in our education system and in our criminal justice system. I have organized community action in Iowa, Rhode Island and Virginia to support these goals. I became an elected School Board Member and Delegate to pursue equity and create leadership opportunities for women and girls, and strengthen our pro-choice support.
Through founding and chairing the Women’s Reproductive Health Care Caucus in the Virginia General Assembly, I have built a strong base to support reproductive justice and push for change. I have attended and spoken at rallies and marches at the Capitol and traveled with the ERA bus. My successful bill, HB83 (2018), requiring prisons and jails to provide menstrual supplies at no charge and upon request — instead of an allotted amount — for incarcerated women was the first in the nation. I have gone into jails and prisons to learn firsthand the specifics of health care offered to women. I have also organized a public panel of formerly incarcerated women to publicize the travesties and inequities in our criminal justice system and hope to schedule more in the future.
Establishing civil equality and the right to choose reproductive health care should not be the century-long fight that it has become. Unfortunately, equality looks like a threat to the privileged. This has been borne out again and again. Not one more generation of women should have to fight this fight. Our Constitution must establish legal equality for women. Until that time, I will fight against gender inequity everywhere I find it.
Education
Standing Strong for our Families
I am fighting for our fair share of state funds for education and transportation; I am also protecting teachers’ salaries and retirement plans. I refuse to support cuts in programs for children with special needs and in core community services.
increase in public education funds and a 5% raise for teachers and instructors during the 2019 reconvened legislative session. Moreover, these significant achievements for public education were agreed to in a Republican-controlled General Assembly. Imagine what we could do with a Democratic majority in 2020 and beyond!
Educators endorse my re-election!
I am excited and honored that our teachers have endorsed my re-election in recognition of my push for state investment in pre-K-12 education. The FEA and VEA join me in striving to offer our children the excellent education they deserve.
Equitable education access for students of diverse backgrounds.
One important issue facing our public schools that is not discussed often enough is Virginia’s outdated funding formula identifying ratios for full-time instructional positions to students with limited English proficiency — also called ESL (English as Second Language) students and ELLs (English Language Learners). Our ESL students deserve the same quality education as their peers. That’s why we need to update the current ratio so our ESL students are able to spend more time with specialized instructors to have greater opportunities to catch up. I patroned HB362 and HB694 in previous legislative sessions at the General Assembly. I unfortunately received no support from the GOP-controlled House of Delegates and both bills were tabled on party-line votes in Subcommittee. I look forward to having a Democratic majority in 2020 so we can finally address this issue.
Virginia’s public schools: the foundation of our Commonwealth’s future.
Anyone who knows me knows my longstanding career spanning over 20 years supporting Fairfax County Public Schools (FCPS). I have stood with partner organizations like the Fairfax Education Association (FEA) and Virginia Education Association (VEA) to help lead the charge in our push for investment in pre-K-12 education. Investing in public education in our Commonwealth shows our students that we are working hard to support their learning and growth, as they are the foundation all of our futures. That’s why I am pleased to announce that after working hard and advocating for public education in Richmond at the General Assembly, we were able to pass a $378 million
Environment
Working to Protect our Environment
I am fighting for our right to clean air and water. I will always vote to prevent pollution and bring green energy business to Virginia. This includes utilizing my membership of the Special Energy Subcommittee of the House Committee on Commerce and Labor, where all energy-related legislation in the House must go before we determine whether a bill can advance to full Committee. I have also been appointed the Virginia State Lead for the National Caucus of Environmental Legislators since 2017.
Electric power restructuring, modernization, and consumer rate reform.
Over-charging directly resulted from a rate freeze enacted in 2015 to provide funding for the mandatory greenhouse gas reduction proposed for Virginia as part of the federal Clean Power Act. Due to steps Virginia had already taken to reduce emissions, the percentage reduction requirements we faced was going to be more costly to achieve than our neighboring states who had yet to put in place some of the lower cost measures that we had. However, with the election of President Trump, the proposed regulations were reversed and we no longer faced a mandate. The accumulated money, therefore, became an over-charge on consumer electric rates since the stated need for it did not materialize. Under the legislation passed in the General Assembly in 2018, there was a $200 million rebate through a reduction in consumer bills in spring 2018 and another $150 million rebate in summer 2018 after a full determination was made of the effect of the December federal tax reduction act.
Although the Clean Power Act was reversed, it spoke to the serious crisis of climate change accelerated by over-dependence on fossil fuels. With or without federal mandates, I have a long-standing commitment to developing green energy and reducing consumption. I do not believe that Dominion has done enough. As such, I fully supported provisions in the legislation to:
- Bring on-line 5,000 megawatts of wind and solar, which is 10 times the current commitment and is enough to serve 1.25 million homes;
- Spend $1 billion for energy efficiency in the next decade, which includes $13 million per year from the company-funded Energy Share Weatherization program that is not in the rate base and is focused on low income households; and
- Carry out State Corporation Commission (SCC) approved grid transformation to promote non-peak energy use and provide for net metering to allow relatively small-scale solar generation to be sold back and used throughout the grid.
I not only advocated provisions directing the SCC to consider funding robust investments in green energy, I also supported provisions for modernizing the grid to promote conservation, guard against cyber-security breaches, and improve dependability —- particularly by undergrounding wires in neighborhoods with a high rate of power outages. As we saw in the March 2018 Nor’easter, strategic undergrounding in the most vulnerable areas needs to be systematically carried out. Not only is it important to have the ability to centrally pinpoint outages, but sophisticated equipment is affected by peak power demand brown-outs and the grid needs to be able to respond.
These considerations depend on robust professional financial review by the SCC in assuring that rates properly cover:
- the service currently provided;
- expenditures to maintain, improve, and maximize service; and
- investments to achieve the most cost-effective, reliable service into the future.
Success in the 2018 General Assembly Legislative Session.
- The General Assembly ended rate freezes as of January 1, 2018.
- The General Assembly returned to regular rate reviews every 3 years.
- The SCC can order refunds and rate cuts after just one — not two — consecutive periods of over-earnings and can do so in between aforementioned triennial reviews.
- The General Assembly put an end to “double-dipping” that had included the value of investments already paid for in full by ratepayers in calculating a rate of return on those investments that was to be covered in setting future rates.
- The General Assembly required the SCC to report back after each triennial review regarding solar, wind, and grid transformation, as a way to underscore the SCC’s responsibility to hold energy utilities accountable for achieving the goals that have been set and to establish an historic base for the SCC to enforce the provision that requires $50 million dollars a year in base rate reductions if investments in renewable energy and grid transformation are not made.
Health Care
Fighting to Keep Medicaid Expansion
I will continue to fight against threats to cut funding to Medicaid expansion and work to ensure that all Virginians can receive affordable and quality health care.
An historic moment: Medicaid expansion in Virginia.
I fought alongside my Democratic colleagues for nearly a decade to expand Medicaid in Virginia. When Congress passed the Affordable Care Act, they included money for states to expand Medicaid coverage. But General Assembly Republicans refused that money and stranded 400,000 working Virginians without healthcare.
With the help of grassroots advocates, and my colleagues in both the House of Delegates and Senate, we were finally able to pass Medicaid Expansion for those 400,000 uninsured working Virginians.
The passage of Medicaid expansion in the 2018 Legislative Session freed up hundreds of thousands of dollars in our state budget, which allowed us to fund additional critical needs such as education, mental health, and transportation across the Commonwealth. Governor Northam’s Medicaid Expansion bill-signing ceremony on the Capitol steps in Richmond in summer 2018 was an historic moment and I was proud to be a part of it. The passage of Medicaid expansion in Virginia was made possible by the pressure exerted by the unprecedented number of Democratic office holders elected in the 2018 Blue Wave. There is strength in numbers, which enabled us to finally pass Medicaid expansion legislation and offer healthcare to for some 400,000 working, yet uninsured, Virginians.
Infrastructure
Budget and Transportation
Too many Republicans and Democrats in Richmond believe that a “one size fits all” model can apply to creating the budget and fixing transportation. These advocates of the Dillon rule could not be farther from the truth. The fact of the matter is a decision made without concern over a specific locality is a decision doomed for failure. As your delegate, I promise to conduct my work on the budget and transportation issue in a way that reflects the needs of the 38th District.Working along side with local officials and community leaders Short-term Fixes and Long-term Solutions for Our Transportation Problems
