A bill that would make it harder for recovery residences to kick out people with substance use disorder died last minute during last year’s legislative session, but is back this year with plenty of time for changes and legislative scrutiny.
Senators unanimously passed the bill on Friday along with a couple of dozen other bills that legislative leaders fast-tracked. These bills had passed the Senate the year before but did not make it through the House.
The bill would give tenants’ rights to people in Cabell County living in recovery residences, so operators would go through a formal eviction process to remove them from the home.
Recovery residence operators have said it would make it harder for them to enforce rules that they say are needed for people vulnerable to relapse.
They would still be able to remove a resident without a formal eviction process for breaking rules against the use, possession, or distribution of controlled substances; sexual misconduct; crimes or threats of violence; or “conduct which jeopardizes the safety of another resident.”
The bill would only use Cabell County as a pilot program as state health officials study whether it should be implemented statewide.
Expelled residents could also receive prorated rent or fees they’d paid in advance and transportation back to other states where they may have resided.
Senate Minority Leader Mike Woelfel, D-Cabell, the bill’s lead sponsor, said in an interview that the bill would protect people from bad actors, a small portion of recovery home operators, and would give “basic rights to people that are in recovery” so that they cannot be evicted late at night for not going to church or missing a 12-step program meeting.
Woelfel said some recovery residences may be more likely to kick out residents who are living there for free to make room for “some rich guy’s kid” who can pay.
Then, that evicted person becomes more likely to “fall off the wagon,” he said.
Reggie Jones, executive director of Recovery Point of West Virginia, one of the largest recovery home nonprofits in the state, said his organization has to fundraise to operate and formal eviction requirements would be prohibitively expensive. He also said the bill doesn’t give recovery home operators “leeway” to expel people for contract violations other than the four explicitly listed, such as using cell phones on premises or making “racial innuendos.”
The bill has been sent back to the House of Delegates where it was voted down last year. It’s currently pending before the Judiciary Committee.
In an emailed statement Tuesday, House Spokesperson Ann Ali said Del. Matthew Rohrbach, R-Cabell, had reviewed the bill during interim meetings and said it will require “thorough examination.”
“A lot of members have strong feelings about it, but it also looks to carry a high risk of creating unintended consequences as well, so he expects the House to take its time with the legislation,” Ali said.