Legislation Watch 3/8/22

Our Watchlist:

Bills we oppose:

Senate File No. 0083 – Prohibiting chemical abortions.
March 8 – UPDATE: Passed Senate. Currently in House for vote on Wednesday or Thursday.
Outlaws the most commonly used form of abortion in Wyoming. “no person shall manufacture, distribute, prescribe, dispense, sell, transfer or use any chemical abortion drug in the state for the purpose of procuring or performing an abortion.”

HOUSE BILL NO. HB0092 – Abortion prohibition-supreme court decision.
March 8 – UPDATE: Passed House. Passed Senate. Stands for a final vote by the whole Legislature on Wednesday or Thursday
Called a “trigger law” that will take effect when/if the supreme court of the United States overrules Roe v. Wade, this bill would outlaw all abortions in Wyoming even those that are now legal in Wyoming: when a pregnancy substantially endangers her life or health or when the pregnancy is the result of incest or sexual assault.

SENATE FILE NO. SF0097 – Change in party affiliation.
March 8 – UPDATE: Passed the Senate and House. This bill may be passed in a vote by the whole Legislature on March 8, 9, or 10.
This bill would prohibit voters from changing their party affiliation or un-registering themselves for any reason during the three months between candidate filing and the primary election. We oppose this because it would make it hard for independent voters to participate in choosing their County Commissioners and other local elected officials. Crossover voting is not an issue in Wyoming, According to the Equality State Policy Center, in 2018 less than 1% of registered voters changed their party affiliation.

Bills we support:

House Bill 52 –Timeline to prepare and process absentee ballots.
March 8 – UPDATE: Passed House. Passed Senate.
Would allow absentee ballots to be counted up to four days in advance, allowing for a more accurate ballot count on election day.

Bills that died:

We opposed SENATE FILE NO. 0062 – Civics Transparency Act. An act requiring publication of a list of all instructional material utilized by K-12 public schools. 
March 8 – UPDATE: This bill was defeated.

We opposed HOUSE BILL 85 – Child endangering-controlled substance use while pregnant. This bill makes drug use while pregnant a felony. 
March 8 – UPDATE: Passed House. DIED in Senate

We opposed SENATE FILE NO. SF0103 – Education-limitations on teaching critical race history. This would prohibit any teaching of history that “inflames divisions: or harms the well-being of Wyoming residents.” March 8 – UPDATE: Passed House. DIED in Senate

We opposed House JOINT RESOLUTION NO. HJ0002 – Calling for a convention of States for the purpose of amending the U.S. Constitution.

We supported HOUSE BILL NO. HB0068 – Broadband and telehealth access projects. An act relating to the support of broadband internet and telehealth access; appropriating federal funds for broadband access projects and telehealth access projects as specified.

We supported HOUSE BILL NO. HB0020 – Medical treatment opportunity act. An act relating to Medicaid; providing for the expansion of Medicaid eligibility; limiting the continued expansion of Medicaid eligibility as specified; repealing prior authorizations; and providing for an effective date.