W.Va. lawmakers push through child abuse bill, “Raylee’s Law,” overriding Senate President

CHARLESTON, W.Va . (WSAZ) – On the second to last day of the West Virginia legislative session, several lawmakers made a last-minute push for “Raylee’s Law,” a measure meant to protect against child abuse and neglect.

The move came with just over 24 hours left in the session, and lawmkers did so while overriding the a ruling by Senate President Randy Smith (R-Preston).

Friday, a group of Senators amended Raylee’s Law into H.B. 5537, adding the measure that would temporarily pause a parent or guardian’s request to pull a child into homeschooling if a teacher has made a child abuse or neglect allegation against them. CPS would have 10 days to complete an investigation.

Senate President Smith had determined the amendment, proposed by Sen. Ryan Weld (R-Brooke), to be not germane to the bill, but senators dramatically voted to override that decision in a 12-18 vote. Senators then voted for the bill, with Raylee’s Law amended into it, in a 24-7 vote.

Raylee’s Law is named after Raylee Browning, an eight-year-old who died of severe neglectin Fayette County in 2018, after her father pulled her out of school into homeschooling. Her father had pending allegations of child abuse and neglect against him, made by her school teachers.

“I think this is just a really big step in protecting kids,” Sen. Amy Grady (R-Mason), one of the original sponsors of Raylee’s Law, told WSAZ after the amended bill passed. “And it’s also a big step in holding CPS accountable, saying, ‘hey, this is open. We need you to take care of this in X amount of time or that child is available to be to be removed.’”

Earlier this session, lawmakers made a push for Raylee’s Law similarly against a tight deadline.

On March 2, Sen. Joey Garcia (D-Marion) had motioned to bring up a version of Raylee’s Law that was not going to meet the “Crossover Day” deadline, the day bills must pass at least one chamber. That motion failed – but on the same day the House Education Committee succesfully passed a version of the measure, sponsored by Del. Shawn Fluharty (D-Ohio).

Still, that version did not pass the House in time for Crossover Day.

“There have been too many child deaths,” Garcia told WSAZ at the time. “And at this point in time, this is something that can help prevent another one. And there’s nothing, nothing more important than fighting for that.”

Opponents of the measure argue it’s anti-homeschool, infringing on the rights of those who want to homeschool their kids. But Grady says that is an absolute mis-reading of the text.

“I think the people that feel like it infringes on rights are looking at it entirely wrong… It’s not infringing on anybody’s rights,” she told WSAZ. “I want to make sure that people understand it’s not an attack on homeschoolers. Homeschoolers are people who do homeschooling like they’re supposed to. These are people who are pretending to homeschool under the guise of child abuse. And that’s not okay. We should all want to put those people away.”

Senators Weld, Grady, Mike Woelfel (D-Cabell), and others spoke on the floor about why, in their respective experiences as educators or lawyers, this bill was important to protect children. Grady noted that teachers are mandatory reporters, and are important observers for potential abuse and neglect for the children they see every day.

“This is about protecting these young children, and I would really like to see a unanimous vote,” Woelfel said on the floor. “I can’t imagine there’s one person in this chamber that would ever be against protecting these vulnerable, neglected or abused children.”

Sen. Garcia brought up other children who have recently died in West Virginia from neglect and abuse.

“It’s important we say the names. Raylee Browning. Kyneddi Miller. Miana Moran,” he said. “These are children who deserve better. We must say these names. We must remember these names. We must honor these names by protecting the children who are still at risk. We cannot wait for the next name, the child that we can protect right now.”

The amended bill heads to the House Chamber to concur with the Senate’s changes Saturday, the last day of session.

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