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

It has now been 58 days since the launch of the Dale’s Law campaign—nearly two months of silence, delay, and denial while elderly and disabled Virginians remain trapped in a system that fails them daily.

Last week’s letter outlined the shameful inaction of the House Health and Human Services Committee, specifically its quiet shelving of HB1753—a bill that would have brought Virginia into alignment with proposed federal minimum staffing standards. Since then, not a single committee, agency, or elected official has publicly acknowledged this crisis.

This continued refusal to act is not only negligent—it is dangerous.

The facts remain unchanged:
• Dale Painter was left in a urine-soaked brief, with dried rings of waste beneath him. He developed sepsis and MRSA after catheter care was neglected.
• The Harrisonburg Health & Rehabilitation Center, where this occurred, remains licensed.
• There is still no minimum staffing standard in Virginia.
• Taxpayer dollars continue to flow—unaccountably—to facilities with documented histories of abuse and neglect.

If your offices cannot or will not act, then you are complicit in preserving a system that exploits caregivers and condemns residents to suffer in silence.

I am again urging the following immediate actions:
      1.    Publicly endorse and advance Dale’s Law: The Virginia Long-Term Care Quality and Nursing Admissions Reform Act of 2025
      2.    Reintroduce and fast-track legislation to establish minimum staffing ratios in line with proposed CMS standards, and advance nursing admissions reform to ensure that residents are only accepted into facilities with the staffing, equipment, and clinical capacity to meet their needs. Admissions decisions must be based on clinical readiness, not profit margins or bed availability. No one should be set up to fail the moment they arrive.
      3.    Launch a full investigation into corporate Medicaid fraud, state licensing failures, and the political interference of the long-term care lobby
      4.    Sanction or revoke the licenses of repeat offender facilities, beginning with HHRC in Harrisonburg

The people of Virginia deserve more than thoughts and sympathy—they deserve action, oversight, and accountability.

Every day you delay, another resident suffers. The moral burden of that suffering lies squarely with those who choose to look away.

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