Continuing the Crook County News Since 1884
Continuing the Crook County News Since 1884
As the Wyoming State Legislature nears the halfway mark of its 20-day budget session, a number of big-ticket items have progressed, including redistricting and work on the biennial budget. Some of the more controversial topics, however, have fallen by the wayside for the time being.
All bills to be considered during the session had to be introduced by Friday’s deadline.
Redistricting
After several months spent in a quandary, with no obvious solution to the constitutionally required redistricting process that will see Wyoming’s voting districts reapportioned to account for changes in population, the Joint Corporations, Elections and Political Subdivisions Committee are moving forward with a new plan.
The issues faced by the committee during the interim period have mostly been attributable to declining populations in rural areas and increasing populations in urban parts of the state. No configuration was found that was considered fair by every community within the state.
And so, instead of attempting to make a different jigsaw with the same pieces, the committee has put forth a bill that will increase the number of legislators serving Wyoming. House Bill 100, which has passed its third reading in the House and was received for introduction in the Senate on Monday, increases the number of representatives from 60 to 62 and the number of senators from 30 to 31.
Wyoming Elections
Representative Chip Neiman’s bill to introduce run-off elections to Wyoming was not received for introduction by the Friday deadline. Neiman’s bill would have required a run-off election after a primary when no candidate received a majority of the vote.
The bill would have applied to offices including governor, secretary of state, state treasurer, state auditor, state superintendent of public instruction, state senators and representatives and all federal offices.
Run-off elections are an issue Neiman has been vocal about since last summer, when he asked his fellow legislators to sign a pledge that they would support legislation on the matter.
“I know for a fact that this is a heavily desired piece of legislation,” he said during a September meeting of the Joint Corporations, Elections and Political Subdivisions Committee.
However, as the redistricting process introduced timing problems that would have made it difficult to implement the change in time for the 2022 elections, Neiman’s bill would have seen run-off elections introduced in July, 2023.
Two bills introduced by Senator Bo Biteman, however, were referred to the Corporations Committee. The first requires voters to provide proper documentation before submitting an absentee ballot.
The second puts a deadline on when voters may change their party affiliation, which is currently possible up until the day of the election and can be done at the polls. If the bill passes, voters will need to declare their party affiliation by the time the filing period begins for candidates.
Medicaid
A bill to expand Medicaid coverage was not introduced to the floor by Friday’s deadline. This issue has cropped up every year since the Affordable Care Act (ACA) came into being, but thus far Wyoming’s lawmakers have resisted the expansion.
The intent of Medicaid expansion is to fill an existing gap in coverage possibilities. A provision within the ACA called for states to expand eligibility to adults up to the age of 64 with incomes up to 138% of the federal poverty level; 90% of the cost would be covered by the federal government.
However, Wyoming remains among the 12 states who have so far declined to expand Medicaid. Legislators have cited concerns about issues such as cost overruns in other states, the potential impact on profit margins for hospitals and the possibility that the federal government could change its mind about how much of the cost will be covered.
In a recent report, the Wyoming Department of Health estimated that expansion would see around 19,000 new Medicaid members in this state at the end of the first two years. According to the Casper Star Tribune, new polling developed by University of Wyoming researchers suggests that the majority of Wyoming residents now support the idea of expansion.
Vaccinations
House Bill 32 died in committee last week, a proposal that would have required employers, government entities, public employees and healthcare providers to make accommodations for people who are unvaccinated. The bill would also have instituted a waiting period of five years for new vaccines before they could be required for school students.
The bill would have required healthcare facilities to provide, “reasonable accommodation to any person seeking to visit a patient or resident…if the person is unable or unwilling to provide proof of immunization.” Governmental entities and public employees would have been asked to do the same, including through audio-visual or computerized means.
Violating the new law would have been considered a misdemeanor with a fine of up to $750. However, the bill was voted down by the House Labor Committee with a narrow margin of four votes for and five against.
Critical Race Theory
Another hot issue at the moment is critical race theory, but there will be no changes to how Wyoming tackles the topic this year. Though two bills were submitted, neither will be moving forward.
Representative Chuck Gray’s bill to outright ban the teaching or training of critical race theory failed introduction with a vote of 35 to 24 against. Senator Troy McKeown’s bill to limit its teaching was placed on general file.
Although not specifically pointing to critical race theory, Senator Ogden Driskill’s bill to require school districts to publish their annual curriculums and teaching materials online is with the Senate Education Committee.
Residency Investigation
In an unusual turn of events, this year’s session began with legislators leading an investigation into one of their own. Representative Dan Zwonitzer was accused of not living in his Cheyenne district.
The Wyoming Secretary of State’s Office forwarded a complaint filed by the Wyoming Republican Party to all members of the House of Representatives at the end of January, alleging that he no longer resides within the district from which he was elected.
“The complaint further alleges that if Representative Zwonitzer no longer resides within the legislative district from which he was elected, he is no longer qualified to continue to represent that district,” said the accompanying memo from the Wyoming Legislative Service Office.
A motion was brought to create a committee to investigate the issue, but 36 of the 60 House legislators voted against it, apparently accepting his explanation that he continues to lease property within the district. Zwonitzer continues to serve his district as legislator during the session.
Other Bills
Numerous bills are still making their way through the process. Of particular potential importance is Senate File 84, which would offset future increases in federal royalties on energy by returning the state’s half to producers, while using some of the federal royalty revenue to replace lost severance tax.
“The draft language directs the State Treasurer’s Office to issue a check to each producer that would be “equal to” the state’s share of the federal royalty rate,” says a statement from Senator Brian Boner, issued in response to the bill passing out of the Senate Minerals Committee on Monday.
“The Biden Administration hopes they can raise the mineral tax and Wyoming will remain silent because more money will be coming into the State’s coffers. But in Wyoming, that’s not how we do things; we don’t tax our industry partners out of the State.”
House Bill 43, which has passed its third reading in the House, would see a gradual increase in the number of ram bighorn sheep, wild bull bison, bull moose, mountain goat and grizzly licenses for resident hunters; by July, 2027, 90% of these licenses would be reserved for residents.
The House Appropriations Committee is considering a bill to create the Tomorrow Scholarship Program for students who want to go to college after the age of 24. House Bill 80, which would require all political campaigns and action committees to file their contributions and expenditures whether or not the funds were spent and increasing the fine for failure to do so, was introduced to the Senate on Monday.
Senate File 51, which is with the Senate Education Committee, would address the issue of trans athletes in Wyoming by prohibiting “biological males” from athletic teams and sports in public schools that are designated for females.
As expected for a short session with a two-thirds vote requirement for introduction, many bills failed to be introduced before the Friday deadline. This included bills to increase fuel tax; create lodging tax exemptions for licensed guides and outfitters; prevent cities or counties from prohibiting the use of working animals; prohibit discrimination based on the use or non-use of face masks to prevent COVID-19; and designate Highway 258 in Casper as the President Donald J. Trump Highway.
