[{"_1":2,"_88":-5,"_89":-5},"loaderData",{"_3":4,"_26":27},"root",{"_5":6,"_17":10,"_18":19,"_20":21,"_22":10,"_23":-5,"_24":-5,"_25":10},"user",{"_7":8,"_9":10,"_11":10,"_12":-5,"_13":-5,"_14":15,"_16":-5},"roles",[],"isAuthenticated",false,"isPremium","planName","subscriptionStatus","featureFlags",{},"insightsBudget","isDevelopmentHost","userPreferences",{},"recaptchaSiteKey","6LcvOJcUAAAAAHsB-gPGfGktcRlKpH7OTIU_dMTD","isImpersonating","impersonation","affiliateStatus","isFreedomPortal","routes/v2/article/layout",{"_28":29,"_30":31},"notFound",true,"relatedArticles",[32,76],{"_33":34,"_35":36,"_37":38,"_39":40,"_41":42,"_43":44,"_45":46,"_47":48,"_49":50,"_51":52,"_53":54,"_55":56,"_57":58,"_59":60,"_61":62,"_63":64,"_65":66,"_67":68,"_69":70,"_71":72,"_73":74,"_75":74},"mediaId",6099111,"mediaKeyId","2821475-5b930a52f7ee9d39e49e8730ddd499e9","parentId",2821475,"title","Votes at a glance: key bills passed by West Virginia Senate on March 28, 2025","audioSeconds",236,"startMs",3728000,"endMs",3964000,"viewUrl","/Search/View?dp=1&key=2821475-5b930a52f7ee9d39e49e8730ddd499e9&start=3728&end=3964","thumbnailUrl","https://assets.pipeline.soar.com/2821475-5b930a52f7ee9d39e49e8730ddd499e9/thumbnail_3728000.jpg","articleUrl","/articles/6099111/West-Virginia/Votes-at-a-glance-key-bills-passed-by-West-Virginia-Senate-on-March-28-2025","mediaUrl","https://secure.pipeline.soar.com/6099111-70db77498cd030cae4e6b637039a554f/orig.mp4?Expires=1770450877&Signature=oc-PjZJdPPFR08Up8zoAjDyZEV9-8kC2omRSvlja0Wh8pHGAcc5WfHLv5I~uwBOmPmUe0VeJR0mVbSOjmSPzZi96CiTyrU0njlC0gz1C0An8RZDYrLXJw9y5pd2VnBn1Q3eG9GuQE~kWx45vNm4ZQwBWtWdtnXYuktUJNbdtDkgAvNgQ~B7dO7TojMxv5qqhjalEufSW4qWmcTmRRi~qz7faQ~mY1alxaRQsRAv~0fyeiGVAjW8mOJC712IEs~J4KgsiRn0zPOB6lCV2i1S7-Kqqyq61ZSImTNT-45LqaUxVGsvBRvlDsLU6MZ8QApP0hG00LU2OBhCW11Npi08jEg__&Key-Pair-Id=KUT5TJCACFTXG","author","West Virginia Legislature","date","2025-03-29T00:00:00Z","article","CHARLESTON, W.Va. — During its March 28 session the West Virginia Senate took final action on multiple bills. Several measures were approved on third reading; the clerk recorded the tallies noted below and the Senate directed the clerk to communicate actions to the House.

Votes at a glance

- Engrossed committee substitute for committee substitute for Senate Bill 517 (requiring medical professionals to report injuries and side effects from vaccines to the Bureau for Public Health): Passed 33 yays, 0 nays, 1 absent. Sponsor urged passage and described reporting and an obligation for the Bureau for Public Health to produce a report to the Legislature.

- Engrossed committee substitute for Senate Bill 576 (authorizing fixed odds wagering for dog and horse racing and establishing related funds): Passed 24 yays, 9 nays, 1 absent. The bill creates separate funds for dog and horse racing, defines allowed operators and rulemaking authority for fixed-odds wagering.

- Engrossed Senate Bill 593 (requirements for county election officials to provide cast vote records and ballot images to the Secretary of State, and public posting requirements): Passed 31 yays, 2 nays, 1 absent. The measure requires counties to provide cast vote records and ballot images organized by precinct for publication by the Secretary of State, with special handling for precincts with fewer than 10 absentee ballots to protect voter anonymity. The Senate also voted to make the bill effective July 1, 2025 (effective-date motion passed with the required supermajority).

- Engrossed committee substitute for committee substitute for Senate Bill 6626 (relating to qualifications of regional airport authority members, technical cleanup): Passed 32 yays, 1 nay, 1 absent. The bill relaxes residency requirements when openings are publicly advertised and not filled within 90 days.

- Engrossed committee substitute for Senate Bill 707 (providing a rate increase for Birth to 3 contracted therapists and employees): Passed 33 yays, 0 nays, 1 absent. Floor debate described a 25% rate increase for in-person services effective July 1, 2026 in the bill text; on the floor the Senate later approved a motion concerning effective date as recorded in the proceedings.

- Engrossed committee substitute for Senate Bill 722/730 series (short line railroad tax credits and related tax measures): Passed (one vote recorded in the sequence was 32 yays, 1 nay, 1 absent for the short line railroad tax credit bill). Provisions include a credit equal to 50% of qualified short-line maintenance expenditures subject to per-mile and per-project caps; federal credit interactions were discussed on the floor.

- Engrossed committee substitute for Senate Bill 728 (incremental increase to the homestead exemption and repeal of the excise levy rollback): Passed 33 yays, 0 nays, 1 absent.

- Engrossed committee substitute for Senate Bill 739 (transfer-on-death deed clarifications): Passed 33 yays, 0 nays, 1 absent. The bill aligns the mental-state requirement for transfer-on-death deeds with testamentary capacity standards.

- Engrossed committee substitute for Senate Bill 739/7 39 (relating to recovery residences): Passed and the Senate made the bill effective from passage (vote recorded on the floor).

- Engrossed committee substitute for Senate Bill 748 (Safer Communities Act — county voter ratification of safety sales/amusement taxes): Passed 25 yays, 8 nays, 1 absent. The bill permits counties (outside home-rule cities) to place a sales or amusement tax before voters to fund public safety and emergency services, subject to voter ratification and notice requirements.

- Additional bills taken up on third reading and passed by the Senate that day included measures on: hospital transparency (lie over 1 day), the West Virginia Short Line Railroad Modernization Act (passed), public waterway access (passed 30 yays, 3 nays, 1 absent), anesthesia administration requirements, prior-authorization exclusions for pharmaceuticals, pension and retirement plan changes for certain county employees, and other housekeeping and policy bills. The clerk recorded each bill's passage or referral and communicated actions to the House.

A number of bills were also referred to committees for further consideration or were read for first reading during the same session. Where the transcript recorded roll-call tallies, those counts are included above. For measures where only committee referral or first-reading action was noted, the Senate's transcript lists the referral committee but not a final floor vote on March 28.","mediaType","Video","parentTitle","Senate in Session Mar 29, 2025","oneSentenceSummary","The Senate approved a package of bills on March 28, 2025, including measures on vaccine reporting, gambling/racing wagering, election records publication, airport authority membership, and others. Tallies below reflect recorded floor votes.","taxTitle","2025 Legislature WV, West Virginia","taxId",77714,"location","West Virginia","headline","","shortSummary",{"_33":77,"_35":36,"_37":38,"_39":78,"_41":79,"_43":80,"_45":81,"_47":82,"_49":83,"_51":84,"_53":85,"_55":56,"_57":58,"_59":86,"_61":62,"_63":64,"_65":87,"_67":68,"_69":70,"_71":72,"_73":74,"_75":74},6099116,"Senate approves Joel Archer substance abuse intervention act expanding involuntary hospitalization criteria",651,3048000,3699000,"/Search/View?dp=1&key=2821475-5b930a52f7ee9d39e49e8730ddd499e9&start=3048&end=3699","https://assets.pipeline.soar.com/2821475-5b930a52f7ee9d39e49e8730ddd499e9/thumbnail_3048000.jpg","/articles/6099116/West-Virginia/Senate-approves-Joel-Archer-substance-abuse-intervention-act-expanding-involuntary-hospitalization-criteria","https://secure.pipeline.soar.com/6099116-0264ac7a5652c8aea2e78867dff26c3c/orig.mp4?Expires=1770450877&Signature=e-K0RNFesVpehpMIkPsNbg5VD8G78auhmYjbDFZGsAe8K0Gz8RPiIXzIBaFoejRX3uUXTKG8IwsfKyaME6Zb8grBkDdUac19EjQydPLNc4rcHyuH6httuetlkWcXlogbbMBoGXL2zHlOi6A6v6HaM7wPZMBfLCPSyzTLmRD3sU-E60FIwfMVfS2mem6RbgLU9PBlXRQ8Rx~0aCrOceiV4Y3SIH0GME0HiMdZ4WNbJ4i-qQNY9Vf0AmUrnrH12Kh4zKOk7aZW5qRUHqimugOxvVV7CxlobamT8XFhnfwF3CDt3OPoZM2pvn~q-W7fCqkrHIothPoz7PQpCBRV9oXBFw__&Key-Pair-Id=KUT5TJCACFTXG","CHARLESTON, W.Va. — The West Virginia Senate on March 28 passed the Joel Archer substance abuse intervention act, creating a pathway for involuntary hospitalization in defined circumstances involving substance use disorder and including an expungement provision for restoration of firearm possession rights.

Supporters said the bill gives families an additional tool to obtain care for loved ones who have lost control because of substance use. The measure passed on third reading by a recorded tally of 33 yays, 0 nays and 1 absent, and the clerk was instructed to transmit the action to the House.

The bill, described on the chamber floor as the Joel Archer substance abuse intervention act, expands the statutory basis for involuntary hospitalization to apply when: (1) the individual has a substance use disorder, (2) has lost the power of self-control with respect to substance use, (3) is in need of substance abuse services, and (4) has impaired judgment to the point of being unlikely to voluntarily obtain treatment. \"This bill creates the Joel Archer substance abuse intervention act and expands the existing basis for involuntary hospitalization to include instances where ... the individual has a substance use disorder,\" the sponsor said on the floor, urging passage.

Senators who spoke in favor framed the bill as a narrowly tailored, last-resort intervention for people at acute risk. \"This bill gives those families some peace and some hope and some ability to at least try to save that person's life,\" the Senator from Fayette said during debate. The Junior Senator from the Eighth added that the bill \"provides those families with a tool of last resort, a tool of last resort to save a life.\" Those supporters also noted testimony in committee that the West Virginia Supreme Court could promulgate procedural rules to implement the statute.

The floor explanation also said the bill includes an incentive provision to restore firearm possession rights for some people through an expungement process, though the legislation leaves implementation steps to applicable agencies and courts. The sponsor noted that the measure was motivated by the death of Joel Archer and framed it as addressing broader statewide needs.

No roll-call list of individual yes/no votes was read into the record; the presiding officer announced the final tally and declared the bill passed. The clerk will communicate the action to the House.

The floor debate and votes took place during the Senate's March 28 session. The bill now proceeds to the House for further action as required by legislative process.","The West Virginia Senate passed the Joel Archer substance abuse intervention act, which expands grounds for involuntary hospitalization to include certain substance use disorder cases and includes provisions for restoration of firearm rights through expungement; vote was 33-0-1.","actionData","errors"]

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Votes at a glance: key bills passed by West Virginia Senate on March 28, 2025

Senate approves Joel Archer substance abuse intervention act expanding involuntary hospitalization criteria