COVID anti-discrimination bill dies on House floor

CHEYENNE — Members of the House of Representatives killed an anti-discrimination bill addressing required COVID-19 vaccinations, mask wearing and testing on third reading.

House Bill 66 was voted down 32-29-1, following the passage of an amendment widely debated by representatives Monday morning. The amendment was brought forward by Rep. Barry Crago, R-Buffalo, as a backup plan for hospitals if federal funds were withheld as a result of the bill.

It would have set aside nearly $848 million from the Legislative Stabilization Reserve Account for the Wyoming Department of Health to replace funding for the Wyoming Medical Assistance and Service Act for one year, and the funds would have reverted back in 2024 if they weren’t needed.

Crago said the appropriation was based on the state reimbursement for Medicaid and Medicare, which may have not been all that was needed.

“I just want us all to have the option to provide an insurance policy for all of our hospitals back home. Because, if this bill passes, and we end up on the wrong side of an argument with the federal agency that provides this funding back to the state, that money will disappear,” he told lawmakers. “And the hospitals back home will be ... struggling isn’t the right word; dying is the right word I would have to use to describe how it will affect our hospitals back home.” 

Rep. Jeanette Ward, R-Casper, was the sponsor of the bill, and she was against the amendment.

Her bill was already changed after multiple readings in the House, and it would have prohibited any person in the state from refusing, withholding or denying any “services, goods, facilities, advantages or privileges that are public in nature or that invite patronage of the public” based on a person’s COVID-19 vaccine status, not wearing a mask or refusing COVID-19 testing. 

It also would have banned publishing or displaying “any communication, notice or advertisement” asking individuals to adhere to vaccination, masking or testing requirements.

Any person in violation found guilty of the misdemeanor could have had to pay a fine of up to $5,000, serve up to one year in jail or both.

“My bill doesn’t keep you from wearing a mask. You just can’t make other people wear a mask,” Ward said. “And my bill doesn’t keep you from getting a vaccine. You just can’t make other people get the vaccine.”

While many recognized the fight for individual freedoms, there were concerns that federal vaccination and masking requirements would place businesses, health care providers and residents in jeopardy. 

Federal funding could be withheld, and certain entities would have to choose between following state law or federal law.

State representatives cited times when Wyoming didn’t adhere to federal requirements, such as the minimum drinking age or a certain number of staff members in health care facilities, and were close to losing funding.