Latest news with #HouseofDelegates
Yahoo
20-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
WV Supreme Court upholds convictions for adults sentenced for 8-year-old Raylee Browning's death
Del. Shawn Fluharty, D-Ohio, held up a poster of Raylee Browning, a child who died from abuse and neglect after her parents removed her from public school to homeschool her. The West Virginia House of Delegates passed House Bill 5180 with Raylee's Law as an added amendment on Tuesday, Feb. 27, 2024. Raylee's Law would prevent parents from removing their child from school to homeschool them if a teacher has reported them for abuse. (Perry Bennett | West Virginia Legislative Photography) The West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals says convictions must stand against three adults who are in prison for their roles in the death of 8-year-old Raylee Browning. The high-profile case has spurred attempted legislative changes — a bill known as 'Raylee's Law' — by a Democratic lawmaker who says the state's limited homeschool regulations create a loophole to shield child abuse and neglect. Raylee was being homeschooled. The girl was underweight when she died in 2018 from sepsis because of a severe bacterial pneumonia infection. Raylee's father, Marty Browning Jr., his wife and another adult ignored her deteriorating condition, a judge said, and court records said the adults failed to provide medicine or water. They were found guilty of neglect and sentenced to prison for 3 to 15 years. Marty Browning, his wife Julie Browning and Sherie Titchenell each appealed their convictions for a list of reasons that included a denial to a speedy trial and improperly admitting certain evidence. In three separate opinions issued Monday, the state Supreme Court denied their appeals, upholding the adults' 2022 convictions in Fayette County Circuit Court. Browning had been removed her from public school after her teachers reported suspected child abuse to Child Protective Services. According to testimony during the adults' trial, CPS didn't respond to the referral. The legislation, sponsored for multiple years by Del. Shawn Fluharty, D-Ohio, seeks to pause a parent's request to homeschool if there's a pending child abuse investigation against the parent. A bill including Raylee's Law passed the House of Delegates this year, but wasn't taken up by the Senate. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX
Yahoo
20-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Maryland Gov. Wes Moore Vetoes Bill Creating Reparations Commission…And Black Twitter is Big Mad
Maryland Gov. Wes Moore just pulled the plug on a state-approved bill to create a commission to study and recommend reparations for the slavery and discrimination that's taken place in America. Needless to say, Black folks are big mad. Moore sent his veto letter on May 16, applauding their work on the bill, however contending that 'now is not the time for another study.' Instead, Moore cited his own administration's record for supporting Black businesses with more than $816 million, pardoning 175,000 for cannabis convictions, increased funding for Maryland's HBCUs by nearly 60% ($1.34 billion), and more. Many on X are saying 'c'mon bruh' to Moore's decision. On the other hand, some fans saw Moore's perspective. Some citizens have expressed that the bill may not be necessary to achieve what we need to move forward. In their opinion, we've done the studies before — now it's time to make moves. The House of Delegates in Maryland were elated in April after they voted to create a reparations commission that would assess the inequalities African descendants endured via federal, state, and local policies from 1877 to 1965. According to the bill, the post-Reconstruction and Jim Crow eras led to 'economic disparities based on race, including housing segregation and discrimination, redlining, restrictive covenants, and tax policies.' Forms of compensation could include apology statements, monetary compensation, social service assistance, business incentives, and child care costs, per Maryland Matters Maryland wasn't alone. California became the first state to create a reparations Task Force, passing legislation back in 2020, followed by Illinois in 2021, and New York after in 2023. It seems Moore — the only Black governor, not just in the state, but in the entire nation — fumbled the bag before we could get on a roll. 'We have moved in partnership with leaders across the state to uplift Black families and address racial disparities in our communities,' Moore wrote in his letter Friday. 'That is the context in which I've made this difficult decision. Because while I appreciate the work that went into this legislation, I strongly believe now is not the time for another study. Now is the time for continued action that delivers results for the people we serve.' For the latest news, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
Yahoo
20-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Va. statewide GOP nominees refuse to buck Trump in a state where he's a proven albatross
A supporter of former president Donald Trump wears a "Make America Great Again" hat while attending a rally for Trump's reelection campaign in Chesapeake on June 28, 2024 (Charlotte Rene Woods / Virginia Mercury) This is primary season and candidates have to double down on what the truest of your party's true believers truly believe. Primary season begins as early voting kicks off Friday and Virginians start shaping the 2025 ballot The common logic is that you steer as far as you can to the right (for Republicans) or left (among Democrats) to rouse their base voters until they're ready to chew barbed wire and spit out roofing nails. Then, after the preseason scrimmage is over, it's time to tack back toward the center — where the dispositive mass of Virginia's electorate has repeatedly proved it resides — and, if you still can, appear less the wild-eyed zealot and more the measured, moderate and sane candidate of November. But something weird is happening this year: folks with no primary opponent seem locked in primary mode, especially within the GOP, where the statewide nominations are already settled. On the Democratic side, the only statewide candidate without a primary fight is former U.S. Rep. Abigail Spanberger, who has a bye into the November governor's election. She and Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears, who is unopposed for the Republican nomination, will contend for history's distinction as the first woman governor in Virginia's more than 400 years. There are a half-dozen Democrats — state Sens. Aaron Rouse of Virginia Beach and Ghazala Hashmi of Chesterfield County, former Richmond Mayor Levar Stoney, Prince William County School Board member Babur Lateef, lawyer and labor leader Alex Bastani and career federal prosecutor Victor Salgado — vying for lieutenant governor. None are known statewide and it's anyone's guess where that roulette ball lands. The victor will take on Republican John Reid, Virginia's first openly gay statewide nominee who survived a homophobic attempt to blackmail him off the ticket that backfired spectacularly on the top echelon of Virginia's GOP. The GOP's disgraceful bid to sandbag its openly gay lieutenant governor nominee In the Democrats' attorney general sweepstakes, Jay Jones, a former assistant attorney general in the District of Columbia and former House of Delegates member from Norfolk, is battling Henrico County Commonwealth's Attorney Shannon Taylor. The winner will oppose Republican Jason Miyares, who is running for reelection. The GOP nominees have the luxury of sniping at these down-ticket Democrats as they go after one another hammer and tongs until the June 17 primary. But the Democrats share a unifying theme. Each promises to shield Virginia from the varied predations of the Trump White House, whether it be reproductive or LGBTQ rights, mass layoffs of Virginia's large federal workforce or protecting Medicaid, the federal-state program that provides health care for the poor. Va. GOP congressman's scrutiny on federal cuts, job losses needs company from other Republicans That messaging is unlikely to change much after the primary, with good reason: Trump is historically toxic in Virginia. Every time he has either been in office or on the ballot, Republicans have paid the price in Virginia elections. Trump himself is 0-3 in the commonwealth, losing to Hillary Clinton by 5 percentage points in 2016, Joe Biden by 10 in 2020, and Kamala Harris last November by 6. Beginning in 2015 — when he descended the golden escalator into the lobby of his eponymous Manhattan skyscraper to announce his first presidential bid — and for the next five years, Virginia Republicans lost. They lost majorities in the state's U.S. House delegation. They lost every election for statewide office. They lost control of the House of Delegates and the Virginia Senate. By 2020, Democrats owned every statewide lever of elective political power in Virginia for the first time since 1968. As soon as Trump was gone, GOP fortunes improved. In 2021, Republicans swept all three statewide executive offices and retook the House of Delegates majority. The ticket was led by Glenn Youngkin, a wealthy former hedge fund executive running for governor in the first election of his life as a fresh-faced, kinder, gentler Republican who judiciously distanced himself from Trump but is now a reliable Trump lieutenant. Now, Trump is back, and if you thought the first term gave Virginia Democrats plenty to chew on, version 2.0 — supercharged by modern-day Croesus and chainsaw-wielding grim reaper of livelihoods Elon Musk — serves up a banquet. And that puts this year's GOP slate in a pickle. Sure, they're free to make Democrats account for years of out-of-control federal spending, and a border and immigration policy that the party couldn't or wouldn't address when it had the chance. Yes, the GOP is advancing the attack — as it has done for years, and with considerable success last year — that violent crime is on the rise (it's not) and that 'illegals' are driving it (they're certainly not). But what they've been unwilling to do so far, even though there are no nomination battles to wage, is put distance between themselves and Trump. Republican candidates who were once stalwart globalist free-traders now sit either in meek acquiescence or voice throaty support for daunting tariffs the president has imposed unilaterally without the concurrence of Congress. Not one has registered a notable protest over Trump unleashing Musk to eviscerate the federal workforce and curb federal government contracts, even though Northern Virginia has the richest concentration of them in the world with the possible exception of its nextdoor neighbor, the District of Columbia. These candidates sit mute as the president openly defies the 14th Amendment to the Constitution which guarantees citizenship to all persons born on U.S. soil. They turn blind eyes when masked, unbadged federal agents, without warrants, arrest foreigners — both those here legally and illegally — and try to hustle them outside our borders, often without the due process of law. Those aren't conservative vs. liberal issues. Those have been foundational principles of our republic for nearly 250 years! They're as elemental as our right to face our accusers in court, the right to be free from unwarranted government intrusion into our homes, the right to free speech and religion and the right to keep and bear arms. But they dare not dispute their president who holds a death grip on what was once the Republican Party and now presumes a measure of almost imperial authority, unbounded by the courts, the Constitution, Congress — and certainly not centuries-old norms of decency and civility. They need look no farther into history than former Rep. Bob Good, R-Va., for a sobering lesson on the consequences of displeasing Trump. Good, however, was felled in last year's 5th Congressional District primary by Trump acolyte John McGuire. As Reid convincingly proved, the 2025 GOP statewide ticket is locked in, there are no primaries, and it's time to move on. Knowing that, let's see if Republicans Earle-Sears, Reid and Miyares can reconnect with their party's longtime creed and muster the character it takes to speak frankly about what Virginia voters — including persuadable moderates and more than a few Republicans — already recognize as the Trump administration's gross abuses. That would be so refreshing. It's also the only hope the GOP has for avoiding a Virginia wipeout this November. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX
Int'l Business Times
16-05-2025
- Politics
- Int'l Business Times
Virginia House Candidate Reveals She's a Swinger Before Opponents Can 'Dig Up' Her Lifestyle: 'I Don't Do Shame'
A Virginia House of Delegates candidate revealed that she and her husband are swingers, preemptively disclosing their consensual non-monogamous lifestyle before political opponents could use it against her campaign. Yvonne Rorrer, 47, is a Democrat running for the House of Delegates in Virginia's newly drawn 47th district, a traditionally Republican stronghold, according to Huffington Post. After years in property management and court advocacy for abused children, Rorrer entered politics in response to her opponent's vote against HB1727, a bill that would strip parental rights from rapists. In a candid social media post, Rorrer disclosed that she and her husband of 22 years have been practicing ethical nonmonogamy for about two and a half years. Though they haven't been intimate with other couples in recent months, Rorrer said she wanted to get ahead of potential smears, especially in her small hometown of Stuart, Virginia. The reaction to her post has been a mix of support, judgment, and mockery—ranging from online trolls to disapproving in-laws—but she remains unfazed, emphasizing that her relationship is built on trust and communication. The announcement triggered a wave of online commentary, including accusations of impropriety and declarations of moral outrage. Still, Rorrer said most of her core supporters have not wavered. "In politics, people love to dig up the unexpected and spin it into a spectacle," she said. "I don't do shame, and I sure won't give anyone else the opportunity to tell my story." While she doesn't expect the revelation to boost her campaign, she believes it won't significantly harm her chances either. Originally published on Latin Times
Yahoo
15-05-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Virginia House clerk rejects three of Gov. Glenn Youngkin's vetoes
Gov. Glenn Youngkin. (Photo by Charlotte Rene Woods/Virginia Mercury) The clerk of Virginia's House of Delegates on Wednesday night rejected three of Gov. Glenn Youngkin's recent vetoes in the state's revised two-year budget. Acting within the clerk's purview as Keeper of the Rolls, Paul Nardo published a letter on Virginia Legislative Information System that he would not formally publish the vetoes because they are unconstitutional under Virginia's constitution. The rejections blocked Youngkin's vetoes of measures the legislature approved to expand access to weight-loss drugs in the state's Medicaid program, to provide additional state and federal Medicaid reimbursements to nursing homes to bolster staff growth efforts, and to stop the state from issuing a contract to manage state employee health benefits on a contingency basis. In explaining he would not publish the vetoes, Nardo said that Youngkin had attempted to veto the provisions without also vetoing the budget appropriation that contained it. 'Accordingly, I am duty-bound to not publish them,' he wrote as he cited constitutional law. Del. Rodney Willett, D-Henrico, who had carried the budget amendment for the weight-loss drug coverage, said Thursday he's pleased the veto was rejected because the legislature had agreed for it to be appropriated. He also emphasized how the drugs can 'save lives.' Willett's proposal stemmed from a recommendation by the rural health committee he chaired last year, which had toured the state to explore health disparities and solutions. Obesity has been a key contributing factor to health disparities — sometimes a result of other preexisting health conditions or a precursor to them, and sometimes being a side effect of living in areas with limited access to healthy foods and health care facilities. Weight-loss drugs can help people better manage their overall health, and prevent incurring additional health issues that could inflate Medicaid costs down the line. 'It's one of those win-wins,' Willett said in a call. 'Because you're going to save lives by getting people on that drug, but then also save money for the state.' Virginia's Supreme Court has previously defined an item in an appropriation bill like the state budget, for constitutional purposes, as an 'indivisible sum of money dedicated to a stated purpose which may be eliminated from the bill without affecting the enactment's other purposes or provisions.' Given that the vetoes were not recognized by Nardo, Willett thinks those appropriations should be implemented. Youngkin disagrees with that stance and plans for the executive branch to operate as if the vetoes stand, he told press at an unrelated bill signing on Thursday. Political analyst Stephen Farnsworth believes the dispute could 'end up in the courts, like just about everything these days.' *This is a developing story and will be updated. SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE
