---
type: "Bill"
title: "Allowing certain hospital staff members to begin withdrawing from retirement benefits in certain circumstances"
description: "Allowing certain hospital staff members to begin withdrawing from retirement benefits in certain circumstances"
jurisdiction: "us/states/wv"
legislature: "West Virginia Legislature"
session: "2026"
identifier: "SB 997"
citation: "West Virginia SB 997 (2026)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: ["Retirement"]
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Smith"]
version_count: 3
action_count: 38
vote_count: 3
first_action: "2026-02-19"
last_action: "2026-06-25"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/d3a9993c-b26f-44f8-ad24-e3802604f6f5"
source_url: "https://www.wvlegislature.gov/Bill_Status/Bills_history.cfm?input=997&year=2026&sessiontype=RS&btype=bill"
source_hash: "0a94da986b905b73c2b2ed622581f07e09521bb42910bd9117877792a5696abb"
vintage: "2026-07-01"
source_snapshot: "https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump"
retrieved_at: "2026-07-06"
confidence: "reported"
tags: ["legislation", "bill", "us-wv"]
---

# West Virginia SB 997 (2026) — Allowing certain hospital staff members to begin withdrawing from retirement benefits in certain circumstances

## Version chain

The bill's text revisions, in order — the diff chain from filing to enrollment.

1. **Committee Substitute** (committee substitute) — [source](https://www.wvlegislature.gov/Bill_Status/bills_text.cfm?billdoc=sb997%20sub1.htm&yr=2026&sesstype=RS&i=997)
2. **Enrolled Committee Substitute** (committee substitute) — [source](https://www.wvlegislature.gov/Bill_Status/bills_text.cfm?billdoc=sb997%20sub1%20enr.htm&yr=2026&sesstype=RS&i=997)
3. **Introduced Version** (committee substitute) — [source](https://www.wvlegislature.gov/Bill_Status/bills_text.cfm?billdoc=sb997%20intr.htm&yr=2026&sesstype=RS&i=997)

## Votes

- PASSAGE — **95–0** (pass) · lower
- Passage — **34–0** (pass) · upper
- EFFECT FROM PASSAGE — **95–0** (pass) · lower

## Sponsors

- Smith — primary (person)
- Queen — cosponsor (person)

## Timeline

The legislative action history — every referral, reading, and vote.

- **2026-02-19** Filed for introduction `filing`
- **2026-02-19** To Pensions
- **2026-02-19** Introduced in Senate `introduction`
- **2026-02-19** To Pensions
- **2026-02-23** Committee substitute reported
- **2026-02-24** On 1st reading
- **2026-02-24** Read 1st time `reading-1`
- **2026-02-25** On 2nd reading
- **2026-02-25** Read 2nd time `reading-2`
- **2026-02-26** On 3rd reading
- **2026-02-26** Read 3rd time `reading-3`
- **2026-02-26** Passed Senate (Roll No. 245) `passage`
- **2026-02-26** Effective from passage (Roll No. 246)
- **2026-02-26** Ordered to House
- **2026-02-27** House received Senate message
- **2026-02-27** Introduced in House `introduction`
- **2026-03-02** To Finance `referral-committee`
- **2026-02-27** To House Finance `referral-committee`
- **2026-03-10** Do pass
- **2026-03-10** Immediate consideration
- **2026-03-10** Read 1st time `reading-1`
- **2026-03-11** On 2nd reading, Special Calendar
- **2026-03-11** Postponed on 2nd reading, Special Calendar, until 3/12/2026
- **2026-03-12** Read 2nd time `reading-2`
- **2026-03-13** On 3rd reading, Special Calendar
- **2026-03-14** On 3rd reading, Special Calendar
- **2026-03-14** Read 3rd time `reading-3`
- **2026-03-14** Passed House (Roll No. 616) `passage`
- **2026-03-14** Effective from passage (Roll No. 617)
- **2026-03-14** Communicated to Senate
- **2026-03-14** Completed legislative action
- **2026-03-14** House Message received
- **2026-03-18** To Governor 3/18/2026 `executive-receipt`
- **2026-03-14** To Governor 3/18/2026 - Senate Journal `executive-receipt`
- **2026-04-01** Approved by Governor 4/1/2026 `executive-signature`
- **2026-03-14** Approved by Governor 4/1/2026 - Senate Journal `executive-signature`
- **2026-03-14** Approved by Governor 4/1/2026 - House Journal `executive-signature`
- **2026-06-25** Chapter 255, Acts, Regular Session, 2026 `became-law`

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/d3a9993c-b26f-44f8-ad24-e3802604f6f5`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official West Virginia legislature records).