Schuyler Thomas VanValkenburg (born 1982) is an American teacher and politician. He was elected to the

Virginia House of Delegates The Virginia House of Delegates is one of the two parts of the Virginia General Assembly, the other being the Senate of Virginia. It has 100 members elected for terms of two years; unlike most states, these elections take place during odd-numbe ...

representing the 72nd District on November 7, 2017, to replace retiring delegate

Jimmie Massie James Pleasants Massie III (May 3, 1958 – January 25, 2023) was an American politician of the Republican Party. From 2008 to 2018, he was a member of the Virginia House of Delegates. He represented the 72nd district in Henrico County ...

. He defeated Republicans Eddie Whitlock and GayDonna Vandergriff in the

2017 File:2017 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The War Against ISIS at the Battle of Mosul (2016-2017); aftermath of the Manchester Arena bombing; The Solar eclipse of August 21, 2017 ("Great American Eclipse"); North Korea tests a ser ...

and

2019 File:2019 collage v1.png, From top left, clockwise: Hong Kong protests turn to widespread riots and civil disobedience; House of Representatives votes to adopt articles of impeachment against Donald Trump; CRISPR gene editing first used to experim ...

elections, respectively. In the 2023 state elections, VanValkenburg was elected over incumbent

Siobhan Dunnavant Siobhan Stolle Dunnavant is an American physician and politician serving as a member of the Senate of Virginia. She is the sister of former Delegate Chris Stolle, Virginia Beach Sheriff Ken Stolle, and Virginia Beach Commonwealth Attorney Col ...

in the newly redrawn 16th District. The race was considered highly competitive for control of the State Senate.

Career

VanValkenburg taught at Short Pump Middle School and continues to teach at

Glen Allen High School Glen Allen High School, established in 2010, is a public school located in Henrico County, Virginia. The mascot of GAHS is the Jaguar, and the school's current principal is Reginald Davenport. Glen Allen is the 16th best high school in Virginia, t ...

after his election to the House of Delegates, working as a part-time legislator. A Democrat, he defeated Republican lawyer Edward Whitlock III in 2017 as part of a Democratic wave in Virginia. VanValkenburg has introduced twelve education-related bills since taking office.

Committee assignments

*Education *Privileges & Elections

Political positions

Labor relations

VanValkenburg opposes the use of covenants not to compete (also known as non-compete agreements) in certain cases, such as for relatively low-wage workers or workers who do not have access to sensitive

trade secrets Trade secrets are a type of intellectual property that includes formulas, practices, processes, designs, instruments, patterns, or compilations of information that have inherent economic value because they are not generally known or readily as ...

, such as sandwich-makers, baristas or gym trainers. He filed a bill in 2019 which would prohibit employers from enforcing non-compete agreements when no trade secrets were involved. VanValkenburg's bill would apply only to workers whose average weekly earnings were less than the state's average weekly wage.

Civil liberties

In 2019, VanValkenburg announced a bill to reform Virginia's anti-

strategic lawsuit against public participation Strategic lawsuits against public participation (also known as SLAPP suits or intimidation lawsuits), or strategic litigation against public participation, are lawsuits intended to censor, intimidate, and silence critics by burdening them with t ...

(SLAPP) laws. VanValkenburg's proposed bill came after Virginia's anti-SLAPP laws, which were intended to protect people from being intimidated or silenced by frivolous lawsuits, were criticized for being overly lax, allowing plaintiffs such as actor

Johnny Depp John Christopher Depp II (born June 9, 1963) is an American actor and musician. He is the recipient of multiple accolades, including a Golden Globe Award and a Screen Actors Guild Award, in addition to nominations for three Academy Award ...

and California Congressman Devin Nunes to file lawsuits in Virginia that may have been dismissed under California's more stringent laws. VanValkenburg's bill, modeled after

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

's, would allow defendants in

defamation Defamation is the act of communicating to a third party false statements about a person, place or thing that results in damage to its reputation. It can be spoken (slander) or written (libel). It constitutes a tort or a crime. The legal defini ...

cases to file motions to dismiss potentially-frivolous defamation suits earlier in the process. If successful, they would be able to recover

attorney fees Attorney's fee is a chiefly United States term for compensation for legal services performed by an attorney (lawyer or law firm) for a client, in or out of court. It may be an hourly, flat-rate or contingent fee. Recent studies suggest that when l ...

College Sports Betting

In 2024, VanValkenburg filed a bill to update Virginia's sports betting laws. The measure, Senate Bill 124, would amend the in-state college sports betting prohibition. Sen. VanValkenburg told the

Richmond Times-Dispatch The ''Richmond Times-Dispatch'' (''RTD'' or ''TD'' for short) is the primary daily newspaper in Richmond, Virginia, Richmond, the capital of Virginia, and the primary newspaper of record for the state of Virginia. Circulation The ''Times-Dispatc ...

that college sports betting happens whether regulated or not. This bill would remove any potential conflicting bets and the idea that those living outside Virginia can bet on Virginia college games for locals.

Electoral history

References

External links

Schuyler VanValkenburg - Delegate for Virginia's 72nd District in Henrico County
, - {{DEFAULTSORT:VanValkenburg, Schuyler 1984 births Living people Schoolteachers from Virginia Democratic Party members of the Virginia House of Delegates Democratic Party Virginia state senators Virginia Commonwealth University alumni University of Richmond alumni 21st-century American legislators