Virginia

FOIA Friday: What constitutes public business, Loudoun settlement disclosures – Virginia Mercury

Published

2 years ago

January 26, 2024

FOIA Friday: What constitutes public business, Loudoun settlement disclosures – Virginia Mercury

One of the less noticed features of the Virginia Way is the long-running tendency of the commonwealth’s leaders to conduct their decision-making behind closed doors. While the Virginia Freedom of Information Act presumes all government business is by default public and requires officials to justify why exceptions should be made, too many Virginia leaders in practice take the opposite stance, acting as if records are by default private and the public must prove they should be handled otherwise.

In this feature, we aim to highlight the frequency with which officials around Virginia are resisting public access to records on issues large and small — and note instances when the release of information under FOIA gave the public insight into how government bodies are operating.

General Assembly FOIA bills: Gloss v. Wheeler

A bill clarifying that three or more members of a public body can be at a meeting together without that event legally being considered a public meeting as long as they don’t “discuss or transact any public business” cleared the Senate General Laws and Technology Committee this week.

Senate Bill 36 from Sen. Mamie Locke, D-Hampton, was proposed in response to the Supreme Court of Virginia’s ruling last year in Gloss v. Wheeler. In that case, the court found five members of the Prince William Board of Supervisors had violated FOIA by participating in a police citizens’ advisory board meeting about local protests over the killing of George Floyd without complying with public meeting requirements laid out in state law.

During one meeting of the FOIA Advisory Council in December, Del. Mike Cherry, R-Colonial Heights, said the ruling “has had a chilling effect among many in local government about what they can and can’t do in terms of literally just going to a Christmas party.”

But while transparency groups say they support clarifying the definition of a public meeting, they have raised concerns that additional language defining public business could have far-reaching effects that could block access to public records.

The newest version of Locke’s bill would define public business as “activity that a public body has undertaken or proposed to undertake on behalf of the people it represents.”

Megan Rhyne, executive director of the Virginia Coalition for Open Government, noted that state law defines public records as various writings and records that are prepared, owned or possessed by a public body or agent “in the transaction of public business.” That could lead to government officials interpreting what records they have to release under FOIA too narrowly, she said, potentially blocking the release of reports or information not yet specifically raised by the public body.

“We really think this is actually a pretty big change,” said Aimee Perron-Seibert, a lobbyist for the Virginia Press Association, during a Jan. 24 hearing. “It’s a big deal to define public business, and we’d rather take some more time to do that.”

The committee nevertheless passed the bill on a 15-0 vote. It also passed another bill from Sen. Richard Stuart, R-Westmoreland, clarifying that the definition of a public meeting does not apply to local political party meetings.

“This is an effort to try to allow them to attend their political meeting, whatever party it is, without it being deemed an illegal meeting,” said Stuart Wednesday.

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General Assembly FOIA bills: Fee reform

A bill from Sen. Danica Roem, D-Manassas, intended to place a cap on the fees public bodies can charge to fulfill FOIA requests also remains alive, albeit in watered-down form.

“I have made a world of compromises and concessions on this,” Roem told the General Laws committee Wednesday.

Roem’s original legislation would have prohibited public bodies from charging people for the first two hours of a records search in response to a FOIA request as long as the requester hadn’t filed more than four records requests during the last 31 days. It also would have capped hourly fees for FOIA responses at $33 per hour unless the public body successfully argued to a court that it needed to charge more.

After backlash from local government groups, Roem proposed a substitute version that would prohibit bodies from charging a fee to fulfill the first hour of the first FOIA request a person makes every year and increase the cap to $40 per hour, with exceptions. It would also order public bodies to document all requests they receive that take longer than 30 minutes to fulfill and ask the FOIA Council to study whether the parts of the law concerning fees “should be permanently amended to make access to public records easier for requesters.”

The bill would have a sunset date of July 1, 2025, a period intended to allow the completion of the study.

Daily Wire sues Loudoun schools over disclosure of settlement figure

The right-wing media outlet Daily Wire is suing Loudoun County Public Schools over its refusal to disclose how much it paid to settle a case brought by a sexual assault victim at Broad Run High School against the division.

This October, reporter Luke Rosiak filed a Freedom of Information Act request with Loudoun schools seeking a copy of the contract settling the victim’s claims. According to the Daily Wire’s lawsuit, the division refused to produce the record, which it said was exempt from FOIA because it is an “identifiable student scholastic record,” contains information directly related to a particular student and is “a legal memoranda/work product compiled specifically for use in litigation.”

Rosiak then filed another FOIA request seeking “financial records” related to any legal settlement Loudoun schools entered into in 2023. The division said it had “no records that are responsive to” the request.

The Mercury’s efforts to track FOIA and other transparency cases in Virginia are indebted to the work of the Virginia Coalition for Open Government, a nonprofit alliance dedicated to expanding access to government records, meetings and other state and local proceedings.

Augusta County appealing ruling requiring disclosure of meeting recording

According to the Augusta Free Press, the Augusta County Board of Supervisors voted 6-1 to appeal a local judge’s recent ruling ordering the board to turn over a recording of a closed session meeting.

Judge Thomas Wilson IV previously found the board had not been specific enough in its reason for going into a March 20, 2023 closed meeting. Wilson said the personnel matter exemption cited by the board “does not contain the particularity I believe the [FOIA] statute requires.”

The Free Press is one of the news outlets that has been seeking the recording.

Spotsylvania School Board places superintendent on leave in closed meeting

The Free Lance-Star reports that the Spotsylvania County School Board voted in closed session to place controversial Superintendent Mark Taylor on administrative leave.

The vote was taken despite the fact that the Virginia Freedom of Information Act says public bodies can only take action on issues discussed during a closed session once they reconvene in public.

One board member refused to certify the closed session, saying it had violated FOIA.

Have you experienced local or state officials denying or delaying your FOIA request? Tell us about it: [email protected]

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Virginia

Feds want graduate nursing programs to reduce costs. This Virginia nurse worries changes will increase debt.

Published

4 hours ago

December 11, 2025

Press Room

Feds want graduate nursing programs to reduce costs. This Virginia nurse worries changes will increase debt.

RICHMOND, Va. — University of Virginia graduate nursing student Nelly Sekyere worries that proposed federal loan cuts could prevent future students like herself from pursuing advanced nursing degrees that are helpful in filling shortages in underserved communities.

Sekyere’s parents moved to the United States from Ghana to pursue the American Dream. They worked hourly wage jobs to support their two kids and ultimately became licensed practical nurses, but they never had much money.

Nelly Sekyere

“My dad’s credit score was to the point where it was just awful. He had to file for bankruptcy. He was in so much debt,” Sekyere said.

Still, their children had big dreams and understood the value of hard work. Sekyere, who currently works as a nurse for a local health department, is now a student at UVA pursuing her doctorate to become a family nurse practitioner and to teach others who want to be nurses.

“I do plan to work in underserved communities and rural regions because that is something I am used to, and I feel that is where my expertise are needed the most,” Sekyere said.

She is able to pursue the doctorate because she qualifies for $200,000 in federal graduate degree loans. She said that without the loans, she couldn’t afford the degree.

“I would not. I physically could not afford it,” Sekyere said.

But future nursing graduate students like her may not be able to access as much federal loan money under graduate loan program changes within the One Big Beautiful Bill. Those changes would mean students enrolling in post-baccalaureate nursing programs would be eligible for half the amount of money in federal graduate loans they are currently allowed to take out.

Currently, they can take out $200,000 in federal graduate loans. That number would drop to $100,000 if the changes take effect.

“This impacts those that are pursuing a master’s in nursing, a doctorate of nursing practice or a PhD in nursing,” said Cindy Rubenstein, Director of Nursing and a professor at Randolph Macon College. “Those graduate programs actually prepare nurses to be advanced practice nurses whether that is a Nurse Practioner in primary care, midwives specialists, and also as educators and nurse scientists.”

On its website, the U.S. Department of Education states “95% of nursing students borrow below the annual loan limit and are therefore not affected by the new caps. Further, placing a cap on loans will push the remaining graduate nursing programs to reduce costs, ensuring that nurses will not be saddled with unmanageable student loan debt.”

Rubenstein said she understands the administration’s desire to control tuition costs and limit borrowing amounts. But she says the reality is that the proposal does not take into account the cost of key professional programs that we have shortages in.

“Health care training at the graduate level is more expensive than other training programs and other graduate degrees and that is because of the requirements for clinical practice,” Rubenstein said.

Both Rubenstein and Sekyere worry that reducing the amount of federal loan money a person can take out to pursue those higher nursing degrees will stop people from entering the programs because they either don’t qualify for a private loan or the interest rate is too high.

“I likely foresee in the future that graduate students are going to get themselves into private loan debt and with these programs there is no student loan forgiveness, there is no leniency, there is no income driven plans for you to be able to pay that back,” Sekyere said.

The federal loan changes are slated to take effect July 1 of next year. The Education Department is still working to define exactly which professional programs will no longer be eligible for the higher loan amounts and may make changes based on public comments.

CBS 6 asked Congressman Rob Wittman (R-1st District), who voted for the One Big Beautiful Bill, about the changes to the graduate nursing loans, and he sent us the following statement:

“Our healthcare professionals, especially our nurses, work tirelessly to serve our communities and ensuring pathways to training and education is essential. This proposed rule from the Department of Education has not yet been finalized, and there will be another opportunity for public comment. I will continue to monitor this situation as it develops and I remain committed to addressing the affordability of higher education.”

CBS 6 is committed to sharing community voices on this important topic. Email your thoughts to the CBS 6 Newsroom.

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Virginia

Veteran environmental legislator David Bulova selected as Virginia’s next resources secretary

Published

16 hours ago

December 11, 2025

Press Room

Veteran environmental legislator David Bulova selected as Virginia’s next resources secretary

Gov.-elect Abigail Spanberger moved Thursday to elevate one of the General Assembly’s most seasoned environmental lawmakers, selecting Del. David Bulova, D-Fairfax, to lead Virginia’s natural and historic resources portfolio when she takes office next month.Spanberger said Bulova’s decades in environmental planning and his legislative work on water quality, Chesapeake Bay cleanup and conservation policy make him well suited to steer the administration’s efforts on climate resilience, preservation and land stewardship. In announcing the choice, she framed the appointment as central to her agenda.

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Virginia Lottery urges adults to ‘Scratch the Idea’ of gifting lottery tickets to minors

Published

1 day ago

December 10, 2025

Press Room

Virginia Lottery urges adults to ‘Scratch the Idea’ of gifting lottery tickets to minors

RICHMOND, Va. (WWBT) – The Virginia Lottery and the Virginia Council on Problem Gambling are urging adults to gift responsibly this holiday season, warning that giving lottery tickets to anyone under 18 can normalize gambling and increase the risk of addiction.

The Virginia Lottery and the council have partnered for years to raise awareness about the risks of youth gambling and are encouraging adults to choose age-appropriate gifts this holiday season.

The groups released a public service announcement this week called “Scratchers for Kids?—Scratch That Idea” as part of a seasonal campaign on social media and other outlets.

The PSA’s message is direct: Don’t give children scratch-off tickets or other lottery products as gifts.

“Just as you wouldn’t give a child alcohol at Christmas, don’t give them a lottery ticket,” said Dr. Carolyn Hawley, president of the Virginia Council on Problem Gambling.

Officials said well-meaning adults sometimes slip lottery tickets into stockings or hand them out as small gifts, but this practice is dangerous and inappropriate.

They warned it may raise the likelihood that a child will develop gambling problems later in life.

“We want to discourage participating in gambling for as long as possible. We want to keep it safe, we want to keep it fun and to do so, let’s delay early onset for children,” Hawley said.

Hawley said the younger someone starts gambling — whether with a scratch-off ticket or on sports-betting websites — the greater the chances of developing a problem.

She and other officials noted a recent uptick in younger people seeking help and calling hotlines for gambling-related issues.

“We know they didn’t start gambling between 18 to 24; they started much earlier,” Hawley said.

Officials also noted that giving lottery tickets to minors is illegal.

They said their hope is that parents and guardians will set positive examples and model healthy behavior.

“They’re watching and they’re seeing, even if you’re not aware that that’s happening. So pay attention, recognize and understand the risks that can happen and model good behavior for your children,” Hawley said.

The Virginia Lottery and the council have partnered for years to raise awareness about the risks of youth gambling and are encouraging adults to choose age-appropriate gifts this holiday season.

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