Del. Shawn Fluharty, D-Ohio, chided House members in the final minutes of the session for delaying discussion of Raylee’s bill until the final hour of the session. (Photo by Perry Bennett/West Virginia Legislative Photography)
In a flurry of chaos and heated debate, the House of Representatives passed a version of Raylee’s Law at 11:59 p.m. Saturday evening, leaving the Senate without time to agree on it until the midnight deadline of the session.
The bill does not reach the governor’s desk.
“I can’t believe we have so many members of the Legislature standing up and defending child abusers. It’s disheartening, disturbing and heartbreaking,” Senate Education Chairwoman Amy Grady, R-Mason, who sponsored a version of Raylee’s bill in the Senate, said Saturday evening.
The Raylee Law is intended to prevent child abuse by suspending a parent’s request to homeschool their child if there is an vigorous investigation of abuse and neglect at home.
Del. Shawn Fluharty, D-Ohio, who has advocated for Raylee’s law for years, chided House members in the final minutes of the session as the clock ticked down. They had to think about the bill all day, he argued.
“This is disgusting behavior. A disgusting government,” Fluharty said. “Why are we defending child molesters here? This is crazy.”
The measure is named after Raylee Browning, an eight-year-old girl who died of abuse and neglect in 2018 after her teachers notified CPS of possible abuse, which prompted her to do so their perpetrators to encourage them to homeschool.
As lawmakers debated the bill outside the House chamber, a huge, poster-sized photo of Raylee was on display.
“If you reject them tonight, go out and at least have the courage to look at them,” he told House members.
The bill was in the hands of the House when it was received Saturday morning, but it did not take it up until 11:15 p.m
Del. Elliott Pritt, R-Fayette, a public school teacher, implored House members to bring it to a vote as soon as possible after several Republicans introduced amendments to the system that needed to be reviewed by midnight.
“We have an opportunity here to do something to protect children who are at risk. That is a fact. I am very sorry if this fact makes some of you very uncomfortable,” he said. “I ask you to reject these amendments as quickly as possible.”
Raylee’s bill became one of the most high-profile measures of this session as both Republican and Democratic lawmakers made numerous and sometimes dramatic attempts to get the bill to a vote on time this year.
A bipartisan group of senators, led by Sen. Ryan Weld, R-Brooke, amended Raylee’s Law to House Bill 5537 behind schedule Friday evening after an annulment of a decision by Senate President Randy Smith – a very occasional move – to hold a vote on it. The measure was passed with a Vote with 24 votes to 7 and three senators absent.
Weld said what happened in the House last night was “absolutely disgraceful.”
“They had the bill for eight, nine, 10 hours. They received it before 11 this morning and did nothing,” he said. “Given some of the things I have seen and heard in this debate, I have never seen a fight to protect child abusers.”
The Raylee Law faced robust opposition from homeschooling advocates and parents who argued it was a violation of parental rights and could potentially force their child to remain in an unsafe public school.
During the House debate, Del. Adam Burkhammer, R-Lewis, said the bill in its current form would not solve the problem its supporters were trying to address because it does not provide for a CPS investigation. He said the House needs to “focus on protecting children and not making it a political ploy (and) not trying to attack homeschoolers.”
“I’m really a little frustrated with the way we’ve politicized this thing, but it’s flawed,” Burkhammer said.
The House has passed versions of Raylee’s bill 2024 And 2025.
In 2024, a Boone County girl, Kyneddi Miller, died of starvation while I was homeschooledsparking renewed interest in the bill.
“They voted on it. They already passed it. And now all these amendments are popping up and we know damn well why that is,” Fluharty said. “We know this bill is good. We know who drafted it. We know what it stands for. It’s not about homeschoolers. It’s not about attacking homeschoolers. We’re targeting those who are pretending to be them and are actually mistreating them. That’s what you should want to do.”
Weld said he plans to consider the measure in 2027.
“From what I saw here yesterday and there today, I’m 100% convinced. It’s coming again next year, so they better be prepared,” Weld said.
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