Del. Elliott Pritt, R-Fayette, wept at this desk as lawmakers failed to get Raylee’s bill, a child abuse prevention measure, to the Senate floor by the March 14, 2026 session deadline. (Photo by Perry Bennett/West Virginia Legislative Photography)
At 11:57 p.m. Saturday, House members had to push their button to vote on Raylee’s Law, a high-profile measure this session aimed at preventing child abuse in West Virginia.
The House of Representatives began debating it The invoice around 11pm after they had arrived that morning and the bill was in their possession. When she finally passed the legislation that night, time was up to get it to the governor’s desk.
House Communications Director Ann Ali said House Speaker Roger Hanshaw was not available for comment Monday to explain why the House waited until the final hour of the session to consider the bill.
Del. Elliott Pritt, R-Fayette, attempted to bring the motion to an early vote around 10:30 p.m., but his motion narrowly failed Vote with 47 votes to 49 with Hanshaw supporting him. As the clock struck midnight and lawmakers adjourned the session indefinitely, Pritt saw colleagues around him high-fiving and laughing. He sat at his desk and cried.
I cannot support such sullied politics.
– Be. Jordan Bridges, R-Logan
“If they had to watch a kid come into their classroom with bruises and complete fear, they would understand what it’s about, and they don’t. I don’t know how you teach someone empathy,” said Pritt, a public school teacher. “I was willing to risk every title for this, everything I had, it’s so important… I lost a lot of respect for a lot of people on Saturday night.”
The measure would suspend a parent’s request to remove their child from public school and home schooling if there is an lively investigation of abuse and neglect at home. Child Protective Services would have to complete the investigation within 10 days.
The law is named after Raylee Browning, an 8-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. Pritt noted that Raylee died in his city, which motivated him to support the bill.
“We know for certain that the bill was in the hands of the House of Representatives at 10 a.m. on Saturday. Instead of passing the bipartisan bill that was given to us by the Senate and that the House had already passed twice, House leadership decided to stall the bill all day,” said Del. Shawn Fluharty of Ohio, who has supported Raylee’s bill for years. “They waited until the last hour to pass it, knowing it had no chance of passing.” Honestly, there is no excuse for this behavior. As I said that night, it is a ‘disgusting government’ and I fully support that statement.”
The House of Representatives passed versions of Raylee’s bill in 2024 and 2025.
Del. Andy Shamblin, R-Kanawha, a public school teacher, tried to lend a hand Pritt bring this year’s version of Raylee’s bill to the vote.
“I was very, very disappointed with the outcome. I feel like the system failed Raylee, CPS failed Raylee and we failed,” Shamblin said.
He continued: “As a teacher, I have seen abuse, suspected abuse… and seen children fall through the cracks of the system. We must do better. We must do better with CPS, and we must always have as many eyes as possible on children living in these circumstances.”
In a news release Monday, the West Virginia Democratic Party said, “Republican leadership in the West Virginia House of Delegates allowed the debate to move slowly and ran out of time to prevent passage of the bill.”
“I’m watching Republican delegates slow down their own legislation to kill Raylees The law — and the procedural protections for child abusers — was frustrating to say the least, but it was an incredible testament to who they really are,” said state Democratic Party Chairman Mike Puschkin, who is also a member of the House of Representatives.
“Aggravating and disheartening” – a disordered final hour in the House of Representatives
The Senate passed Raylee’s bill tardy Friday evening. Superior Senate President Randy Smith to do this. Jacque Bland, Senate communications director, told West Virginia Watch that she confirmed to the Secretary of the Senate that the bill had been sent to the House for consideration by Saturday morning.
“I supported the Senate version of the Raylee bill because I believe we have a duty to close loopholes that allow child abusers to hide abuse. Our priority should be simple: children should remain visible and protected, and we should never allow loopholes in the law that leave abuse undetected,” Del said. Bill Flanigan, R-Ohio.
On Saturday evening, efforts began in the House to delay a vote on Raylee’s bill, Del noted. Jordan Bridges, R-Logan. Bridges serves as deputy majority whip.
“I can’t say that happened because I’m not in their heads, I’m in my brain, when I look at everyone else I think, ‘Why do you all keep asking these stupid questions?’ said Bridges, who voted with Pritt to bring the bill to an early vote. “I cannot support such dirty politics.”
“I think whether you want to homeschool, whether you want to do the Hope Scholarship, whether you want to go to private school, it doesn’t matter to me. But I think as long as there are safeguards in place,” he continued. “A lot happened that night. To be honest…it was just very upsetting and disheartening.”
Then, when the House of Representatives passed the bill, the time had come numerous changes to be considered by Del. Chris Anders, R-Berkeley; Del. Adam Burkhammer, R-Lewis; Del. Henry Dillon, R-Wayne; Del. Laura Kimble, R-Harrison; and Del. Joe Ellington, R-Mercer.
Pritt described it as “Christmas treeing the bill” coupled with filibustering to ponderous down the voting process.
It started a disordered hour full of motions, speeches and questions from members wanting to find out what was going on.
Burkhammer rejected the language in Raylee’s law, arguing that as written it would “not save a single child.”
“They’re trying to attack homeschoolers,” Burkhammer said. “I don’t care what time it is. Our job is to write good laws.”
Be the change would have allowed school leaders to report suspected abuse directly to CPS and required that reports not be screened out. It also required the CPS to investigate the report of alleged abuse and neglect within 24 hours.
Del. Jonathan Pinson, R-Mason, supported Burkhammer’s amendment and voted with Pritt to bring the bill to a vote earlier in the evening.
“I was hopeful that this serious need would be addressed this year. An amendment was proposed that would have strengthened our ability to protect children,” Pinson said. “By creating a clear path for regulators to report suspected abuse without the risk that the report will be hidden or overlooked, we would add an important layer of protection to vulnerable children – one that could potentially save a child’s life.”
The legislature passed the bill with Burkhammer’s amendment with one Vote 94-1 at the end of the night.
Pritt said if the House had considered Burkhammer’s amendment Saturday, “I think the bill would be on the governor’s desk right now.”
Del. John Williams, D-Monongalia, pointed out that the House could have voted for the bill before Saturday. The House Education Committee Raylee’s Law signed on March 2, but members of the House of Representatives declined to vote on it until the Crossover Day deadline two days later.
“The timing shows that there was never a serious desire to pass it. Members can say whatever they want,” he said. “It’s not a question of if, but when this will happen again. The legislature has failed the child.”
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