The Legislation

Successful Legislation

In June 2022 the Virginia General Assembly adopted, and the Governor signed, a budget that included $750,000 to fund the project advocated by Appalachian Community Research students.  

After the fall semester ended, five students chose to continue to work towards their vision for recovery services at Catawba Hospital. Saket Bikmal, Amanda Ljuba, Hannah O’Malley, Neha Reddy, and Lacy Watson worked over the winter break to secure co-sponsors for a bill that became HB105 in the Virginia General Assembly. During the Spring semester of 2022, these collaborators formed “Hokies for SUD Recovery” to promote their bill on social media. They continued conversations with key informants and stakeholders and worked to educate legislators. Two students prepared testimony for the House Rules Committee and traveled across the state to Richmond to speak in favor of the bill, though the committee was so enthusiastic that they passed the bill without extensive public comment. HB105 passed the House of Delegates 99-0. The students’ bill did not pass the Senate, but the Senate Rules Committee suggested incorporating the proposed study into a budget item dedicated to an examination of the state hospital system more broadly. During the budget reconciliation process, House budget item 283 was amended to include funds for:

“a feasibility analysis to transform the Catawba Hospital Campus into a state-of-the-art campus at which a continuum of substance abuse treatment and recovery services, including long-term, short-term, acute, and outpatient services, is provided in addition to the array of behavioral health services currently provided to individuals in need of behavioral health care services.”

https://budget.lis.virginia.gov/amendment/2022/2/HB30/Introduced/CR/283/1c/]

Hokies for SUD Recovery plan to continue their advocacy on behalf of the class’s vision and have identified students to take over the work of promoting funding for a Catawba Hospital transformation during the 2023 General Assembly. The class’s efforts were recognized when the Virginia Tech Recovery Community presented them with a 2022 Recovery Ally Award.

Media Coverage 

The students’ proactive involvement in addressing the opioid crisis in Appalachia inspired multiple news articles—and even a Virginia Tech Daily Doodle feature—that furthered their attempts to educate the public about the necessity of reducing stigma and providing services.

“The Class That Wrote a Bill,” Cardinal News, Feb 7, 2022, https://cardinalnews.org/2022/02/07/the-class-that-wrote-a-bill/;

“The Class Fighting for Appalachia,” VTX, Jan 20, 2022, https://vtx.vt.edu/articles/2022/01/provost-appalachian-community-research.html 

“Appalachian Community Research Class Meets with Delegate Sam Rasoul,” April 25, 2022, https://vtx.vt.edu/art/2022/april/doodle-april-25-2022.html