A West Virginia Senate committee on March 5, 2025 reported a committee substitute for Senate Bill 723 to the full Senate with the recommendation that it pass.

Committee counsel told members the substitute would require clinical inpatient medical treatment centers for substance use disorder to report measures about residency, graduates and length of stay and would require that a minimum of 85 percent of patients be residents of West Virginia. The substitute also would require centers to provide 30 days of medication on discharge, offer periodic referrals to job-readiness services, assist patients with barriers to employment such as obtaining a driver’s license or other identification before discharge, and report on those measures. The substitute gives rulemaking authority to the Office of the Inspector General and lists an effective date of 90 days; the measure also carries a second reference to the Committee on Finance.

Committee members offered no amendments during the substitute’s explanation. The vice chair moved that the committee substitute be reported to the full Senate with the recommendation that it do pass; the chair declared the voice vote adopted.

The committee’s action forwards the substitute to the full Senate and sends the measure for additional review by the Committee on Finance under the bill’s double-reference language. The substitute’s reporting and on-site requirements would be set by rule under the Office of the Inspector General if enacted.

No roll-call vote tally was recorded in the committee transcript; the committee adopted the motions by voice vote.