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CHARLESTON, W.Va. (WSAZ) - Proposed reform to increase oversight of sober living homes appears to have lost momentum in the West Virginia Legislature.

Del. Matthew Rohrbach, R-Cabell, has led the push for reform in the state House of Delegates. He expressed worry Tuesday to WSAZ fearing the legislation may not make it this session.

“Certainly, we’re not going to give up,” he said.

Supporters call recovery residences, also known as sober living homes, an effective tool for drug addiction recovery, while opponents refer to them as a nuisance.

WSAZ NewsChannel 3 has been reporting on the issue for more than a year.

The station’s investigation found current state law has no registration requirement, meaning state officials have no idea how many sober living homes are in operation or when new ones open up.

WSAZ also found current law ties state funding for the homes and referrals to a certification process, but that certification is just voluntary.

“Because there’s no method for data collection, they can hold themselves out to be whatever, and we have no way to know if that’s actually what they’re doing,” Sen. Eric Tarr, R-Putnam, told WSAZ Jan. 31.

That was about one month ago when it appeared lawmakers were headed for a solution.

The House and Senate had each advanced legislation to require a base-level registration with the state, and then momentum slowed as both bills landed in House Judiciary Committee.

That is where the House plan died, and where the Senate proposal now is down to its last days.

“We have 60 days to consider about 3,000 bills,” Tarr told WSAZ on Tuesday. “So bills get hung up in that process, and as the closer we get to the line here to Day 60, the more critical it comes to get the bills out of committee.”

House Judiciary Chairman Tom Fast would not speak on camera Tuesday, but told WSAZ his committee was looking at the Senate proposal.

If passed, among other items, new recovery homes would have to register before opening. Existing homes would have to register before Jan. 1 of next year.

Each registration would require names, addresses and contact numbers.

The failure to register could result in a $20,000 fine for each day the home operates without a registration. Unregistered homes could also face forced closure.

Recovery homes that want state funding and referrals would still have to meet a higher, voluntary standard of quality -- known as certification.

The proposal would also tighten language in state law to close loopholes and make sure your tax dollars only support those certified homes.

“Particularly in Huntington and Parkersburg, people have had enough,” Rohrbach told WSAZ. “They they want some controls over this industry. We want people to get treated, but right now we just don’t have enough controls on this, and that’s what this bill attempts to do.”

“I think it’s one of the better bills that we have out there for solving a problem that we’ve been trying to solve for years in West Virginia, and this is a big step toward that solution,” Tarr added.

Rohrbach says the bill needs to be on the House floor by Thursday to give it a chance at passing.

West Virginia’s 60-day regular session ends late Saturday night.