Legislative Update Week 3
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It's Week Three (out of four) of the "budget" session and time is flying. Tuesday March 1 is the last day for 3rd reading on bills in House of Origin. Bills that fail to pass to the other chamber will be dead.
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Bill that Would Restrict Voting Passes Senate
Senate File 97 – Change in party affiliation – passed the Senate last week and is headed to the House where it will first be considered by the House Corporations Committee. Please contact the members of the committee to urge a “No” vote on this bill that would egregiously restrict voting in Wyoming. The law would prevent voters from changing their party affiliation or registering in the three months leading up to the primary.
You can contact the committee members here: https://www.wyoleg.gov/Committees/2022/J07
If this bill passes it means that this year a voter would have to register by May 12—long before most people are thinking of Election Day—in order to participate in the August 16 primaries.
Thousands of voters typically register to vote in Wyoming during this period of time, whether they are independent voters who want to support or oppose a primary candidate, voters who missed an election and were required to re-register, or new voters who want to participate in a primary election for the first time.
Wyoming elections have long allowed people to register to vote—and register for a political party—on the same day they cast a ballot. But this practice came into question after the 2018 elections, when failed gubernatorial candidate Foster Friess blamed his loss to Mark Gordon on Democrats who switched their party affiliation to vote in the GOP race. Gordon, however, beat Friess by more than 9,000 votes. In the run up to the election only 2,400 independents switched to Republican and the Democrats only lost 1,800 registered members. (Thanks to Better Wyoming for these statistics.)
Many more people registered with the Wyoming GOP to vote in the 2018 primary. But rather than being former Democrats or independents, they appear to be among the thousands of Republicans purged from Wyoming’s voter rolls and who were forced to re-register. Under Wyoming law, a person who misses a single election is un-registered to vote—i.e. “purged from the voter rolls”—and must re-register in order to cast a ballot.
Since people can re-register at the same time they vote this hasn’t been a problem. But if SF-97 passes, thousands of voters—a majority of them Republicans—will be unable to participate in the primary elections, simply because they will fail to register or re-register before the May 12 deadline.
Law Would Politicize Gender Identity
Senate File 51 – Fairness in women’s sports act, - a bill that will be considered by the Wyoming Senate on Monday would ban transgender girls and women from competing in high school women’s sports. It would require individuals to use the sex assigned on the birth certificate to determine who can compete in a sport as a female. The bill does not ban transgender males from participating on men’s sports teams.
Currently, the Wyoming High School Activities Assn. already has a policy that handles high school transgender issues on a case-by-case basis. We will be watching to see if this bad bill passes the Senate by the end of the day on Tuesday. If not, we will urge action to defeat it in the House.
Bill to Criminalize Drug Use During Pregnancy Gets House Consideration
HB 85 – Child endangering-controlled substance use while pregnant – A bill that could deter women from seeking health care or carrying their baby to term will have a second hearing in the House on Monday morning. Advocates say a bill targeting drug use in pregnancy could help protect children and connect women with the treatment they need. But opponents argue that further criminalizing some drug use during pregnancy will do more to hurt women and their children than help them. Using illicit drugs is already a crime.
Mental health professionals testified before the legislature that such laws hurt pregnant mothers and their children by making drug use a criminal problem rather than a public health problem. Rep. Karlee Provenza, D, Albany, highlighted research showing that other states with policies like these have higher rates of children born with withdrawal symptoms.
HB 85 would classify methamphetamine and "narcotic" use by a pregnant person as child endangerment. It only applies to meth and other drugs legally classified as narcotics, but not marijuana.
The bill would create a felony crime with a possible five-year prison sentence. During the committee meeting Thursday, opponents warned that such a law would push pregnant drug users to avoid treatment, for fear of incarceration. A 2019 study by the Journal of the American Medical Assn. that analyzed over 4 million births across eight states found greater rates of withdrawal symptoms in newborns in states with punitive policies toward substance use during pregnancy compared to states without such policies.
Senate Passes Second Amendment Protection Act
SF 102 – Second Amendment Protection Act – Proponents of this bill which passed the House last week, claim that it will protect Wyoming gun owners from overreach of the federal government. It prohibits the enforcement of federal regulation of firearms by state officials. No meetings are currently scheduled for consideration of the Senate bill.
The bills sponsor, Larry Hicks, R- Albany, Carbon, Sweetwater, told the legislature that the law would prohibit any actions of the federal government that are inconsistent with the values of Wyoming gun owners, or infringes on their rights to gun ownership. The law would carry punishment of up to a year in jail or a $2,000 fine, or both.
The Director of the Wyoming Coalition Against Domestic Violence & Sexual Assault Policy, Tara Muir, told the legislature that the law could come into conflict with two federal laws the keep firearms out of the hand of perpetrators of domestic violence. Currently anyone convicted of domestic violence is prohibited from owning fire arms.
Medicaid Expansion Dies Again
Another attempt to expand Medicaid in Wyoming through a budget amendment died Friday although there remains a small hope to move the measure closer to eventual adoption.
Both the House and Senate attempted to pass budget amendments that would provide increased funds for Medicaid but both efforts failed. The House version failed before a vote could be held, while the Senate attempt failed by a vote of 6-24.
However, the Senate passed another amendment that would allow the governor and the Department of Health to negotiate with the federal government over how much the state would pay for the expanded program.
Currently Wyoming would have to pay a bigger share of the cost sharing with the federal government than similar states because Teton County, which is home to the highest number of billionaires per capita, skews Wyoming’s numbers. The House did not pass the amendment, which means it could be removed from the final budget going forward.
Abortion Restrictions Update
HB 92 – Trigger bill – would automatically ban abortion if the Supreme Court overturns Roe v. Wade. The bill passed out of the House Labor, Health & Social Services Committee but on Friday was “laid back” for consideration of the House. If could be dead by the end of the day on Tuesday.
HB 149 – Human life equality – prohibiting discriminatory abortion – would ban abortions based on “selective reasons” including “race, sex, or selected disabilities.” This bill was not considered for debate by the Committee of the Whole and is dead.
SF 83 – Prohibiting Chemical Abortions – would outlaw abortion pills and impose penalties of six months in prison and $9,000 fine for any physician or person who violates the law. This bill passed first reading in the Senate on Monday. If it makes it through two more readings in the Senate by end of the day on Tuesday, it will move on to the House.
Sage Grouse Farming
SF 61 - Sage grouse game bird farms-no certification expiration-2 – passed the Senate and moves on to the House. Five years ago, the Wyoming Legislature passed a bill temporarily allowing a business to collect sage-grouse eggs and attempt to farm our native birds ans supplement their declining population. This year, the law that makes sage-grouse farming legal is set to expire and conservationist think it should.
Conservationist believe that sage-grouse farming has never been a good idea. In addition to privatizing Wyoming wildlife, there has never been any evidence that it will actually work to support native sage grouse populations as touted. Additionally, domestic rearing of these birds poses a potential disease risk to native populations. Sage-grouse farming also places the burden of subsidizing a private business on the backs of Wyoming taxpayers. If you wish to lobby legislators to kill this bill you can get a fact sheet on the issue from The Wyoming Outdoor Council : https://wyomingoutdoorcouncil.org/wp-content/uploads/FACTSHEET-SF61-SageGrouse.pdf?sourceid=1070791&emci=546af56a-e28d-ec11-a507-281878b83d8a&emdi=b5c31450-eb8d-ec11-a507-281878b83d8a&ceid=6400683
Our sincere thanks to Marylee White for providing this report. Stay tuned for more updates as the legislative session continues.
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You can contact Teton Country legislative members by email:
Senator Mike Gierau, Senate District 17 - [email protected]
Senator Dan Dockstader, Senate District 16, Lincoln, Sublette, Teton Counties - [email protected]
Representative Andy Schwartz, House District 23 - [email protected]
Representative Mike Yin, House District 16 - [email protected]
Representative Jim Roscoe, House District 22 - [email protected]
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