At 8 a.m. today, I settled into Senate Room A at the Virginia General Assembly Building to see what would happen with SB19 (sponsored by state Sen. Barbara Favola) and SB190 (sponsored by state Sen. Suhas Subramanyam) – the two Senate bills designed to initiate state oversight of recovery housing.
As soon as the Senate Rehabilitation and Social Services Committee meeting started, SB190 – the more extensive of the two bills – was eliminated (technically, “incorporated” into SB19) at Subramanyam’s request. The reason was unclear.
What survived (without opposition) was the minimal language in SB19 requiring recovery residences to report deaths and serious injuries to the Department of Behavioral Health & Developmental Services (DBHDS).
Here’s Favola:
I left the committee meeting thinking this minuscule reporting requirement was the most oversight we might see this year.
But then I talked to Favola.
It turns out, she has something else in the works: a budget amendment (language only) that directs DBHDS to develop recommendations for providing “better oversight” of VARR and Oxford Houses.
She provided me with that amendment request, which isn’t available yet on the state budget website:
Favola expects opposition, she told me, but she believes this language will survive.
Budget amendment requests will be heard at 4 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 18 before the Senate Finance and Appropriations Committee. I spoke with a staffer who told me the committee doesn’t take public comments on budget amendments. But anyone may reach out to members of the committee to express support or opposition for a budget amendment. Click here to find out who your state senator is and here to view members of the committee.
Jan. 13, 2024 Edit: This morning, Favola added: “Senator Subramanyam submitted the same budget amendment that I did and we are both going to work very hard to get the amendment passed.”
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