Rules Studies Subcommittee

Friday, January 23, 2026·2h 8m·▶ Watch / Listen

The Rules Studies Subcommittee worked through a large docket of study and commission bills, advancing a controversial VMI Task Force bill 4-1 and reporting an Autism Commission bill to Appropriations, while tabling or passing by indefinitely the majority of items — often substituting letters to agencies for full legislative studies. Two bills (HB 607 on data center air pollution and HB 1268 on veterans benefits protections) were carried over to the next session rather than disposed of outright.

Key Actions

·HB 1377 – VMI Task Force BillNo Vote

+ 11 more actions

Controversies

HB 1377 – VMI Task Force: whether VMI has reformed or retains a culture of racial hostility

Lieutenant General David Furness, VMI Superintendent, testified that 34 of 38 Barnes and Thornburg Equity audit recommendations had been accomplished and contested the bill patron's characterization of VMI as 'committed to the lost cause of the Confederacy,' stating 'That may have been true of VMI in the past. It is not now, nor will it be in the future.' Former cadet Jeremiah Woods directly contradicted that framing, testifying to ongoing racial incidents including peers asking 'whether I be a field slave or a house slave' and stating VMI has not yet established a memorial required by law in 2021.

+ 2 more controversies

Notable Quotes

“My white peers asked whether I be a field slave or a house slave. They asked if I would marry, kill or have sex with George Floyd. When I said neither, the original replied, they already killed George Floyd and no one cared, so it doesn't matter.”
Jeremiah Woods, former VMI cadet, testifying in favor of HB 1377 — Woods testified in favor of a bill establishing a task force to review whether VMI should continue as a state-sponsored institution, describing racial incidents he experienced as a cadet who arrived on a full ride scholarship in fall 2023.

+ 2 more quotes

Votes

HB 1377 – Report substitute (VMI Task Force)Passed

HJ 37 – Pass by indefinitely (JLARC entitlement benefits fraud study)Passed

HDR 50 – Pass by indefinitely (45-day early voting study)Passed

HJ 34 – Report (car tax study)Passed

HB 724 – Lay on the table (student grade retention study)Failed

Walker DSS funding formula workgroup bill – Pass by indefinitelyPassed

HJ 40 – Lay on the table (school standards compliance data accuracy study)Failed

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TranscriptPreview

Hey, robin, can we. Committee will come to order. All right, the clerk shall open the rolls. I have my first two lists. Thank you, Kathy. All right, a quorum is present. The clerk shall close the rolls. All right, ladies and gentlemen, thank you so much for being here today. This is the Rules Subcommittee on Studies. We have a significant number of bills before us, over five dozen. So we are going to be expeditious. We also have a number of places where we need to make quorum so that people can get there. So I have a sign up sheet which I will mostly abide by because every single person who's standing there, sitting out there has told me that they've got to be somewhere. I know I have Chairwoman Watts who needs to go chair a subcommittee. I know I have an appropriations meeting. I have to get delegate Reed to. I'm going to let them go first. If you are on Crim sub, can you just raise your hand for me? All right, Madam Chair, how many people do you need to make it for quorum? Five. Okay, we will get you another two. So…

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