Category: Virginia Law
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Getting Control of Nursing Home and Autism-Treatment Chains
by James C. Sherlock Virginia is awash with out-of-state nursing home and behavior-analysis chains operating as LLCs. Our state regulators know little to nothing about them and have no control over their presence in Virginia because they are not licensed by those regulators. The problems we are experiencing in both industries are centered on rogue…
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DREAM On
by Dick Hall-Sizemore Virginia law provides that a student attending a public institution of higher education shall be eligible for in-state tuition, regardless of citizenship or immigration status if the following conditions are met: Federal law provides: “Notwithstanding any other provision of law, an alien who is not lawfully present in the United States shall…
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Virginia Nursing Home Laws Avoid Chains and Subverted by Weak Sanctions
by James C. Sherlock Delegate Rodney Willet, D-Henrico, is trying to do the right thing for the right reasons. He has introduced HB 605 to amend § 32.1-127. (Effective January 1, 2026) Regulations. He added a new section B. 35 to establish staffing standards for Virginia nursing homes. Del. Willett is joined by many members of…
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Proposed Amendments to the Virginia Constitution
by James C. Sherlock To facilitate public consideration, this is the first of several articles on bills pre-filed by Democrats for the 2026 General Assembly. This one presents pre-filed amendments to the Constitution of Virginia. It will include the official summary of each and a link to the bill as filed. Some summaries are…
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Virginians’ Dreadful Nursing Home Dilemmas Part One – Assessing the Information
by James C. Sherlock Disclaimer. The author is a member of the Virginia Nursing Home Oversight and Accountability Advisory Board established under Governor Youngkin’s Executive Order 52. Nothing in this series should be taken to represent the opinions of the Commonwealth or that Board. This series will explore the dreadful and dangerous choices faced by…
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Medicaid Expansion Costs in Virginia – Who Should Pay?
by James C. Sherlock Update Feb 26 at 13:02: See here for article on potential Medicaid cuts. Ronald Reagan was wrong, yet somewhere he is smiling. “No government ever voluntarily reduces itself in size. Government programs, once launched, never disappear. Actually, a government bureau is the nearest thing to eternal life we’ll ever see on…
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A Rosetta Stone for Nursing Facility Articles
by James C. Sherlock I will continue to pursue the public health crisis that is Virginia’s worst nursing homes. I am quite aware that my articles on that subject are sometimes difficult to follow because I provide so much detail and data. I am attempting to make a case to Virginia officials to act…
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A Horrible Death in Colonial Heights – Part Three. Who Is Responsible?
by James C. Sherlock The government alleges that a woman patient helpless with cerebral palsy and diabetes was so badly neglected at Colonial Heights Rehabilitation and Nursing Center (CHRNC) that: It is important for justice to be fully served to peel back the onion — to address the system in which they worked. CHNRC is…
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An Expensive Failure to Follow the Law
by Dick Hall-Sizemore The refusal of the Youngkin administration to follow the law and Virginia Supreme Court decisions will cost the taxpayers $1.6 million. As reported by the Washington Post, the state has agreed in a court settlement to pay, in addition to $420,000 in attorneys’ fees, $1.2 million to former inmates who were held…
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Three Major Proposed Constitutional Amendments
by Dick Hall-Sizemore The 2025 General Assembly will be taking up constitutional amendments on three hot button issues—abortion, voting rights of felons, and same-sex marriage. In Virginia, to amend the state constitution, the General Assembly must agree to the proposed amendment twice, with an intervening election for the House of Delegates. If the proposal is…
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What Is It with Democrats and Criminals?
by Kerry Dougherty Elections have consequences. And when Virginia voted last November to give Democrats a slim majority in the General Assembly they also voted to give almost 8,000 violent criminals a shot at getting back on the streets. This ill-conceived measure – SB427 – is the evil brainchild of Sen. Creigh Deeds, who believes…
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The Grim Reapers of Virginia’s General Assembly
by Kerry Dougherty When she was hospitalized in September 1998, my brother and I had a somber discussion with her physician. We asked how long our mother – who was clearly failing – would live. “How long is a piece of string?” the doctor shrugged. She died four days later. I’ve been thinking about my…
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We’re Doctors. Implicit Bias Training Has No Place in Medicine.
by Martin Caplan, MD, and Kenneth Lipstock, MD Apparently, Virginia’s doctors and nurses are racist. This is the message of two bills that are moving through the state legislature. The bills would force medical professionals to take ongoing “implicit bias training” to get and keep their license. The problem is that such training is insulting, dangerous, and…
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Swallow the Money, Part 3 of 3
by Joe Fitzgerald VPAP and CFReports let you go from “How about that?” to “Oh, my God!” in 5.2 seconds. They’re attractive to the kind of nerds who used to go through the encyclopedia or the World Almanac. Yes, I did. Why do you ask? One local PAC became a subject for a dive into…
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Swallow the Money, Part 2 of 3
by Joe Fitzgerald There’s a donor in CFReports named “no name.” He, she, or it is listed on the report as “Name, No.” This same donor is called “Unknown Entity” in VPAP. Or perhaps “Entity, Unknown.” (VPAP and CFReports are described in Part 1.) This donor’s address shows up as Matt Cross’s house on his…