CHARLESTON, WV (LOOTPRESS) – The West Virginia House of Delegates failed to pass House Bill 5537, known as “Raylee’s Law,” on the final day of the regular legislative session after the measure had cleared the West Virginia Senate the previous day.
Raylee’s Law would pause a parent’s request to withdraw a child from public school for homeschooling if the parent is involved in an active child abuse or neglect investigation initiated by a teacher.
Under the proposal, Child Protective Services would have been required to complete the investigation within 10 days.
The measure is named for 8-year-old Raylee Browning, who died in 2018 after suffering severe abuse and neglect. Her teachers had alerted Child Protective Services to possible abuse, after which her abusers withdrew her from public school and began homeschooling her.
Throughout the day, the House considered Senate messages, with Raylee’s Law placed at the foot of those messages.
With limited time remaining before the Legislature’s midnight adjournment sine die, Elliott Pritt, R-Fayette, made a motion at 10:33 p.m. to immediately consider House Bill 5537.
The motion failed on a 49-47 vote. Lawmakers who voted against the motion opposed taking up the bill immediately, significantly reducing the likelihood it would receive a final vote before the midnight deadline.
Supporters of the legislation then pursued several procedural motions aimed at accelerating debate and consideration of Senate messages in hopes of creating time to bring Raylee’s Law to the floor.
Although the bill was eventually taken up during the final hour of the session, the House did not hold a final vote before midnight. As a result, the legislation effectively died with the adjournment of the session.
