Raylee’s Law Failure to Pass
Three bills were introduced in the 2026 WV legislative session that would have addressed possible exploitation of the HOPE Scholarship program. All the bills were aimed at protecting children. None of them made it to a full vote toward passage.
One Senate bill (SB 116) never made it out of committee. This was the bill named Raylee’s Law. There were no formal votes on it. The two sponsors for the bill are both Democrats, Joey Garcia was lead sponsor.
Another Senate bill (SB 972) was tabled; both of our Jefferson County Republican senators (Rucker and Barrett) voted to table. Tabling can be seen as a delaying tactic. This bill has bipartisan sponsors, the lead sponsor Senator Amy Grady (R) is herself a teacher.
A bill in the House (HB 5669) suffered from delaying tactics that ultimately stalled the bill out. There were two motions to fast track the bill, but both failed; 3 of our 4 Jefferson County delegates (Ridenour, Clark, and Anders) voted against fast tracking on both motions. The bill had two Democratic sponsors, Shawn Fluharty as the lead.
