ACTION ALERT! Contact Your Legislature.
After years of refusing to expand Medicaid in Wyoming there is hope! Better Wyoming has the story and has created an easy form for you to fill out.
What You Can Do:
- Read the Note below from Nate Martin, Director of Better Wyoming
- Fill out the online form. The Revenue Committee meets November 11-12 and Medicaid expansion is on the agenda. Let them hear from all of you before they meet.
- Northwest Wyoming Representative Dan Laursen is on the Revenue Committee. If he’s your representative, send him an email: Dan.Laursen@wyoleg.gov
- Become informed: Read the article by Better Wyoming at this link: Revenue Committee to consider non-tax proposal to bring hundreds of millions of public dollars to Wyoming.
Note from Nate Martin
Director, Better Wyoming
Many of us have watched for years with shame and disgust as the Wyoming Legislature has refused to expand Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act. This refusal has denied access to healthcare for tens of thousands of low-income state residents. It has also kept Wyoming from receiving hundreds of millions of dollars in federal funding.
As the state’s budget crisis continues to intensify with the collapse of the coal industry, there might exist a silver lining: Desperate for revenue and unwilling to raise state taxes, lawmakers are starting to see that tapping into Medicaid dollars might not be such a bad idea.
In fact, the Revenue Committee has voted to consider sponsoring a Medicaid expansion proposal at its next meeting, on Tuesday. Read more about it here. But neither the Revenue Committee nor the Legislature as a whole is ready to jump enthusiastically behind Medicaid expansion after shooting it down year after year.
Lawmakers are going to need to hear loud and clear from Wyoming residents that we are still sick of their tomfoolery, and—now more than ever—we demand that they do the right thing and expand Medicaid.
Will you take two minutes and use this quick and easy form to write to the Revenue Committee and ask that they support the Medicaid expansion proposal on Tuesday? The form includes helpful tips and talking points to assist you in crafting your message.
I know this might seem like beating a dead horse, but sometimes that dead horse just hasn’t been beaten from the correct angle, with the proper motivation. Or something.
Let me know if you have any questions. Thanks in advance.
Sincerely,
Nate Martin
Director, Better Wyoming
Visit Better Wyoming website for more Better Wyoming work.
Follow Better Wyoming on Facebook and Twitter.
Good news ! —the Wyoming Legislature’s Revenue Committee voted 8 – 5 on Tuesday to sponsor a bill to expand Medicaid in Wyoming. Huzzah!
As we reported last week, expanding Medicaid would bring hundreds of millions of federal dollars into Wyoming to help ease our state budget crisis and provide access to healthcare for tens of thousands of residents.
The Revenue Committee’s vote means that the committee will sponsor the bill during the upcoming 2020 legislative session. This is a big deal, since bills sponsored by committees have a much better chance of passing the full legislature than bills brought by individual lawmakers.
But, of course, the battle isn’t over yet. Legislators will be under tremendous pressure to stop Medicaid expansion, as they have each of the past seven years.
One of the biggest factors as to whether this bill will succeed is YOU. Lawmakers need to know that the people of Wyoming have their backs on Medicaid expansion, and that we really want those hundreds of millions of dollars and healthcare access.
Will you take a few minutes today and write to thank the members of the Revenue Committee who voted “YES” to support expanding Medicaid? It doesn’t have to be an elaborate email: Just let them know you’re a Wyoming resident and that you appreciate their vote.
The “YES” votes were:
Sen. Fred Baldwin (R-Kemmerer)
Sen. Cale Case (R-Lander)
Rep. Cathy Connolly (D-Laramie)
Rep. JoAnn Dayton-Selman (D-Rock Springs)
Sen. Affie Ellis (R-Cheyenne)
Rep. Jim Roscoe (I-Wilson)
Rep. Pat Sweeney (R-Casper)
Rep. Dan Zwonitzer (R-Cheyenne)
If you want to copy and paste their emails, here ya go:
Fred.Baldwin@wyoleg.gov, Cale.Case@wyoleg.gov, Cathy.Connolly@wyoleg.gov, JoAnn.Dayton@wyoleg.gov, Affie.Ellis@wyoleg.gov, Jim.Roscoe@wyoleg.gov, Patrick.Sweeney@wyoleg.gov, dan.zwonitzer@wyoleg.gov
It doesn’t matter whether these lawmakers represent your district—their decisions affect all Wyomingites, and they will appreciate hearing from you. But if one of them is in your district, you should mention it.
Thank you for speaking up on behalf of Medicaid expansion for Wyoming.
— reposted from Nate Martin, Better Wyoming