To Governor Glenn Youngkin, Attorney General Jason Miyares, and Members of the Virginia General Assembly,

It has now been 48 days since the launch of the public petition and email campaign advocating for Dale’s Law, aimed at addressing the systemic abuse and neglect in Virginia’s long-term care facilities. Despite the urgency of this crisis and mounting public outcry, there has been no formal response and no meaningful action from your offices.

Particularly alarming is the inaction of the House Health and Human Services Committee, chaired by Delegate Mark Sickles. This committee had the opportunity to advance HB1753, a bill that would have aligned Virginia with proposed federal minimum staffing standards for long-term care. Instead, the bill was tabled quietly—deliberately silencing a measure that could have protected thousands of vulnerable residents across the Commonwealth.

This failure to act raises serious questions about your priorities. While elderly and disabled residents continue to suffer neglect, and healthcare workers remain overwhelmed and understaffed, the voices of lobbyists appear to carry more weight than the voices of constituents and caregivers.

This is not simply a policy disagreement—it is a dereliction of duty.

You were elected to serve and protect the people of Virginia. Your continued inaction reflects a growing disconnect between the responsibilities of public office and the realities facing residents in long-term care. This silence is not neutral—it enables suffering.

I respectfully urge your offices to immediately investigate and publicly report on the following:

• The ongoing failure to implement minimum staffing standards in Virginia’s long-term care facilities
• The lack of ethical, transparent nursing home admissions practices
• The misuse and misappropriation of taxpayer-funded Medicare and Medicaid dollars by corporate providers
• The outsized political influence of the long-term care lobby in Richmond
• The repeated refusal to sanction or revoke licenses from facilities with verified histories of abuse—such as Harrisonburg Health & Rehabilitation Center, where Dale Painter was left in a urine-soaked brief, developed sepsis, MRSA, and was ultimately failed by both the system and the state

Virginia’s most vulnerable citizens are being sacrificed for political convenience and corporate profit.

If the Commonwealth continues to look away, the next preventable tragedy will not be an accident—it will be a state-sanctioned failure.

I remain available to provide documentation, resident and family testimony, and full background on Dale’s Law: The Virginia Long-Term Care Quality and Nursing Admissions Reform Act of 2025.

The time for studies, silence, and stalling is over. We need your leadership—now.

Sincerely,
Victoria Jackson
Constituent | CNA | Long-Term Care Advocate
Author of Dale’s Law: The Virginia Long-Term Care Quality and Nursing Admissions Reform Act of 2025