Power generation tax fails

Bill to diversify tax base runs aground

This is Part II of an ESPC analysis of state tax policies and policy proposals and their potential effect on the Wyoming economy

By Sarah Gorin
ESPC researcher

At its November meeting, the Joint Interim Revenue Committee deadlocked on bringing forward (as a committee bill) an electrical generation tax. The members’ votes are listed below.

A joint committee is comprised of the same standing committee from each house of the Legislature – in this case, the Revenue Committees from the Wyoming House of Representatives and the Wyoming Senate. According to the joint committee’s policy, a majority of both the House and Senate committees must vote for sponsoring a bill as a committee bill, on the grounds they want to know it will pass each committee during the legislative session.

The designation as a committee bill is important because these get preference during the short and busy legislative sessions, when many bills will fall by the wayside.

As proposed, the bill — sponsored by Sen. John Schiffer (R-S22, Kaycee) — levied a .0025 cent tax on each kilowatt hour (or portion thereof), produced in Wyoming. The bill also provided a credit of .00087 cents per kilowatt hour for electricity generated from sources upon which a severance tax was paid (i.e., fossil fuels).

In other words, the full tax would be paid on electricity generated from wind or other non-fossil sources.

While this might seem counterproductive from a planetary viewpoint, the idea is to broaden Wyoming’s tax base to include alternative energy sources in a future less dependent on fossil fuels, which currently generate a large part of Wyoming’s tax revenues. It also provides a way to collect revenues from ratepayers in other states whose renewable portfolio standards are driving much of the wind generation being built in Wyoming.

Anticipated revenues from an electrical generation tax were not discussed in any detail. However, given the level of electrical production in Wyoming, it appears that the tax minus the credit might amount to approximately $50 million annually.

The defeat of the electrical generation tax as a committee bill does not preclude a legislator (or legislators) from bringing the bill individually.

The bill failed as a committee bill on a tie vote, 4-4 on the House side and 2-2 on the Senate side. Reps. Ken Esquibel (D-HD41, Cheyenne), Mike Madden (R-HD40, Buffalo), Owen Petersen (R-HD19, Mountain View), and Patrick Goggles (D-HD33, Ethete) voted for the bill, while Reps. Amy Edmonds (R-HD12, Cheyenne), Mark Semlek (R-HD1, Moorcroft), Sue Wallis (R-HD52, Recluse) and Pete Anderson (R-HD10, Pine Bluffs) voted against it. On the Senate side, Sens. Schiffer, Cale Case (R-SD25, Lander) voted for the bill, and Sens. Marty Martin (D-SD12, Superior) and Drew Perkins (R-SD29, Casper) voted no.

Sen. Grant Larson (R-SD17, Jackson) and Rep. Dave Miller (R-HD55, Riverton) were not present for the vote.

Next:
Part III, Manufacturing Tax Exemption & Gender Wage Gap
Part IV, The Jobs Budget

Taxes and Jobs

Tax expenditures erode state revenue

This is Part I of an ESPC analysis of state tax policies and how they affect the health of Wyoming's economy

By Sarah Gorin

ESPC researcher

Low levels for natural gas prices continue to drag down projections for state revenues. The Governor’s 10% across-the-board budget cut from last summer has freed up funds for the coming legislative budget session that will meet in February 2010, but many legislators fear that there may be worse to come.

Despite years of hand-wringing over the boom-and-bust nature of Wyoming’s economy – and the consequent boom-and-bust effect on state revenues – very little has been done to stabilize revenues for budget purposes. The Legislature has set up “rainy day” accounts to set aside funds during boom times to spend in bust times, but not enough has been saved. For example, spending can be continued at the same level as the 2009-2010 biennium only by completely wiping out the rainy day accounts.

The state is then left with two alternatives: cut spending or raise taxes. Many legislators apparently prefer the former, as shown by the Joint Interim Revenue Committee actions at its meeting last week, when all revenue-raising bills offered were voted down (with the exception of a tax increment financing bill for municipalities).

However, there is more than one way to cut spending. Spending occurs through direct state expenditures and also through “tax expenditures” – tax not collected due to tax exemptions (for example, the sales tax exemption for purchases of manufacturing equipment) or tax exclusions (for example, sales of services are not exempt from Wyoming’s sales tax, they simply are not taxed).

Wyoming’s statutes are rife with numerous sales and property tax exemptions, and because we have no tax expenditure reporting, legislators and the public have no idea how much revenue is being lost. If, during the course of the two-day revenue committee hearing, the state had collected a million bucks for every time a state agency or a lobbyist answered “I don’t know” in response to a question about quantifying a tax exemption, we’d be well on the way to meeting next year’s budget.

That’s why it was particularly disappointing to witness the demise of a bill to repeal property tax exemptions for pollution control and fire protection equipment. We actually do have a figure for the cost of the pollution control exemption – about $15 million a year – because county assessors have to report it.

The exemption for pollution control equipment is an artifact left over from the time forty years ago when pollution controls were a new and different thing. Now, they are simply a cost of doing business.

The utility lobbyists were all over the pollution control bill, however, saying that the exemption still provides an “incentive” to comply - as if compliance wasn’t required by state and federal laws - and, if the exemption is repealed, the cost of the tax would fall on Wyoming consumers.

Most electric power generated in Wyoming is exported to other states, and the costs of generating that power are allocated to all ratepayers, not just those in Wyoming. A repeal of the tax exemption on pollution controls would mean that the cost of the tax would be similarly allocated, with a relatively small portion passed on to Wyoming ratepayers.

Right now, because Wyoming residents bear the full brunt of the tax exemption in terms of tax revenues not received by local governments (property taxes mostly go toward supporting public education), they are subsidizing ratepayers in other states for the costs of pollution control. Go figure.

A good way to start getting a handle on state spending via tax expenditures would be to require tax expenditure reporting. If we knew what the tax exemption for fire protection equipment, for example, costs us, we could better decide if it is worth it.

Next:
Part II, Electrical Generation Revenues
Part III, Manufacturing Tax Exemption & Gender Wage Gap
Part IV, The Jobs Budget

Keep it affordable, please

Check out this analysis of pending health insurance legislation provided by the Economic Policy Insitute, www.epi.org:

Cutting Health Insurance Subsidies
Would Hurt Wyoming Families

In Wyoming, the median income for an average family of four is $77,432 and the projected family health insurance premium in the proposed new national marketplace (to be implemented under Congressional reform proposals) is $13,230.

If premium subsidies are cut from 400% of the federal poverty line to 300%, as politicians in the House of Representatives and in the Senate have proposed, many Wyoming residents may not be able to purchase health insurance.

With the subsidy proposed in current House of Representatives legislation, the median family of four in Wyoming would receive $5,299 a year to help them purchase insurance in the new insurance exchange.

By cutting eligibility to 300% of the federal poverty line, about 82,884 individuals in Wyoming stand to lose support.

Nationally, about 42 million individuals (or 14.3% of the population) are between 300-400% of the federal poverty line and thus stand to be affected by a cut in eligibility. The lost subsidy for these families averages $5,000 per year, meaning that the median family would be forced to spend 19% of their income on premiums. This analysis likely understates the problem because it only looks at insurance premiums, and not total out-of-pocket medical expenses.

Slashing subsidies to lower the price of reform undermines the fundamental point of reform—to make health insurance more, not less, accessible and affordable.

Wyoming families ought to ensure that their politicians make reform affordable for middle-class households.

More information can be found in the EPI Issue Brief #261
(“Expanded Subsidies are Essential to Health Reform”), available online at
http://www.epi.org/page/-/pdf/ib261.pdf.

Tax committee attracts big crowd

What to do about revenues in a declining economy


It was standing room only at Tuesday’s meeting of the Interim Joint Revenue Committee in Cheyenne. Topic: What to do about state revenues in the face of a declining economy.

While there was no shortage of lobbyists, there was a shortage of good data for the committee to work with.

Sarah Gorin of the Equality State Policy Center and Erin Taylor of the Wyoming Taxpayers Association opened the day with a presentation on sustainable tax policy. One item they suggested – the creation of a tax expenditure report (which would show revenues the state is missing due to tax exemptions and exclusions) generated some interest from members of the committee.

It turned out in a subsequent presentation from the Department of Revenue that the Department had begun efforts to quantify revenues lost from tax exemptions. Unfortunately, the data were woefully incomplete, mainly because taxpayers don’t have to apply for tax exemptions – they simply don’t pay. Consequently, it’s very difficult to collect data that doesn’t have to be reported in any way, especially if (as in this case) county governments are involved as well as the state.

Good data are essential to good decision-making. We constantly hear that government should be “run more like a business,” and no business would make decisions involving millions of dollars without any data. Although there is reluctance to spend more while revenues are down, investing in a state employee or whatever it takes to accurately collect and analyze relevant data to inform legislative decisionmaking would be a good move. Wyoming taxpayers deserve it.

Two committee members asked the Legislative Service Office to draft bills to remove tax exemptions for some industry operations and property, according to reporting by Joan Barron of the Casper Star-Tribune.

Rep. Mike Madden of Buffalo wants to eliminate tax exemptions granted industry for underground mining equipment, pollution control equipment and fire protection, the story reported.

But Sen. Cale Case of Lander disputed the report that he seeks to eliminate tax exemptions for private schools, charitable and religious organizations and fraternal organizations.

Sen. Case said he asked for a bill that would require an annual application process to qualify for property exemptions for religious entities, non-profits and private schools. He believes the process would generate useful data about the exemptions.

"This is an effort to consistently determine the impact and appropriateness of the tax exemption for entities that have a broad range of activities and property interests -- some of which should properly be taxed," Sen. Case wrote in an email message. Examples of these "mixed entities" include churches that have taxable rental property or schools that operate a retail store open to the public.

"I am not aware of any member of the revenue committee suggesting that the property tax exemption for these entities be removed," Sen. Case wrote.

Colorado TABOR evangelist offers 'help'

Independence Institute economist Barry Poulson, an evangelical proponent of Colorado’s Taxpayer Bill of Rights known as TABOR, laid out his vision for limiting state government before the committee Tuesday afternoon. Barron reported Poulson's presentation in Wednesday's Star.

One hopes that the members of the Joint Revenue Committee will talk with their legislative colleagues in Colorado to learn how that piece of reactionary 1990s anti-government activism has adversely affected public schools, higher education, road maintenance, fire and police protection and other basic services.

Many of the state’s business and community leaders view TABOR as deeply flawed, limiting the Colorado’s ability to invest in its own future.

TABOR applies to all levels of government, from weed and pest districts to the state legislature. It limits tax increases to a formula based on population increase and the consumer inflation rate.

That might work if everything stayed the same in the world. But Colorado in the 1990s was a young state. Its demographics have changed with the aging Boomer population. Health care costs have gone up at a much higher rate than the consumer price index.

Parents with children in some rural public schools have been forced to hold fund-raisers to buy text books and other school essentials.

Things got so bad in Colorado that voters in 2005 approved a referendum to loosen the strict spending limits TABOR imposes for five years. Even with that, Colorado faces a troubling future. As in Wyoming, revenues have declined, continuing to erode the state’s ability to deliver essential services. Some economists there predict that general fund revenues will not return to 2007 levels even by the end of 2012-13.

Sarah Gorin contributed to this post.

Look East for help on healthcare, housing

National policy battles over health care now may be more important to Wyoming residents than anything happening in the state these days.

Things have been grim in Wyoming. The House killed the expansion of the KidCare program in the last week of the session. The governor decided against investing any effort to continue the Wyoming Healthcare Commission, a group that veered across the spectrum of policy options as its membership changed over the years. Though few tears were shed at its death – speeded up when the governor terminated it in April rather than letting it run through the end of the fiscal year – it at least provided a forum for discussing Wyoming’s healthcare system.

Nationally, there is a gathering consensus that changes must be made to fix our system, which is the costliest in the world but fails to match the achievements of the systems in many other countries. The President was right when he said no one would choose the expected future of the existing system if it was advanced by some advocate. (See "Trends in the Absence of Reform.") But there’s little agreement beyond the assessment of the current system’s shortcomings.

The administration says it wants ideas from across the country. One effort to solicit those ideas is on Linked In, one of the Web’s networking sites. Linked In is featuring a Council of Economic Advisors request for comment from small business operations. Here’s the pitch:

The White House wants to know: What are the most important issues for small businesses when it comes to health care?

CEA Report: The Economic Effects of Health Care Reform on Small Businesses and Their Employees

The Council of Economic Advisers in the White House has just released a new report on the impact health insurance reform would have on small businesses. Download and look through the report, then give the White House your feedback, comments, questions, or objections. CEA Chair Christina Romer will answer some of the most penetrating responses, as chosen by LinkedIn, in a live video online discussion at WhiteHouse.gov on Wednesday, July 29th, at 3:00 PM EDT.

I want to know: “What are your experiences with health care as somebody involved in small business, and what are your thoughts and questions on the new CEA report in light of those experiences?”
Clarification added 2 days ago: The report can be downloaded at the link below:
http://learn.linkedin.com/CEA-smallbusiness-july24.pdf

Still looking for a soft landing

Also on the national front, the economic crisis threatens many homeowners facing foreclosure and eviction. The Center for Economic and Policy Research today released a study suggesting a Right to Rent program could keep people in their foreclosed homes by enabling them to rent them.

The Center for Economic and Policy Research study by Dean Baker and Hye Jin Rho notes that the different mortgage modification programs put forth by Presidents Bush and Obama did not benefit the large majority of people facing home foreclosures.

In contrast, Right to Rent legislation would “give homeowners facing foreclosure the option to remain in their homes as tenants paying the market rent for a substantial period of time (e.g. five to ten years).”

The study argues that the program would give homeowners facing foreclosure some security because they could not be thrown out of their homes and onto the streets.

“Right to Rent rules may also increase homeownership, since it will make foreclosure a less attractive option for lenders. If they knew that they could not foreclose and get a house free and clear, they may put more effort into arranging modifications that homeowners can afford,” Baker and Rho assert.

The idea benefits homeowners because the study shows that renting is cheaper than owning in many U.S. metropolitan areas.

“During ordinary years, homeowners would not gain much from having a right to rent, since the gap between ownership costs and rental costs is usually not very large. However, because of the run-up in house prices during the housing bubble years, ownership costs vastly exceeded rental costs in many bubble markets.”

That may not be true in Wyoming, at least not yet. (The study's appendix does not include Wyoming MSAs.) But the idea is definitely worth considering as national policy. I like the anti-blight effects of Right to Rent, since it holds the promise that in neighborhoods located in the most troubled areas, renters would continue to occupy homes that otherwise would be vacant.

Here’s the conclusion reached by Baker and Rho:

“Many of the homeowners currently facing foreclosure would likely be able to afford the market rent on their home. If, recognizing the extraordinary situation, Congress were to temporarily alter the foreclosure laws to allow foreclosed homeowners to remain in their homes as renters, it is likely that many would choose to take advantage of this opportunity. This path would offer savings for former homeowners, as well as help stabilize families and communities that are blighted by foreclosures. In addition, Right to Rent offers the advantage that it could immediately benefit all homeowners facing foreclosure without any bureaucracy and would require no taxpayer dollars.”

A boost for a primary seatbelt law??

A primary seatbelt law may get a big boost from the industry and other safety advocates after data presented at a meeting of the Wyoming Worker Safety Task Force today (July 9) revealed that a high percentage of worker fatalities occur in crashes that involve workers who were not using seatbelts.

Wyoming requires the use of seatbelts. The law is not a primary requirement, however, and police officers cannot stop a driver simply for failure to buckle up.

Governor Dave Freudenthal formed the safety task force earlier this year. It has been focusing its work on Wyoming’s worst-in-the-nation worker fatality rate. Task Force Director Gary Hartman invited the Alaska office of the National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) to assist the task force.

Dr. Paul Anderson of NIOSH presented fatality data he developed in conjunction with Tom Gallagher, director of the Research and Planning division of the Wyoming Department of Employment.

Anderson and others described the data as preliminary and warned that no recommendations should be developed from it. The fatality data needs further refining before recommendations should be made to the governor or the Wyoming legislature.

But the preliminary data revealed that more than half the workers killed from 2003-2007 died in crashes on highways or roads. About three-quarters of those crashes involved tractor-trailers or pickups, and many of those killed failed to use seatbelts.

Department of Transportation representatives at the meeting said the data reflects similar highway crash information compiled by the DOT. It shows again the need for a primary seatbelt law, they said.

Small company fatalities

Data presented by NIOSH’s Ryan Hill showed that the Wyoming oil and gas injury has a fatality rate roughly four times higher than the rate for all workers nationally. His data further revealed that the risk of fatality is much higher among small drilling industry companies (with fewer than 20 employees) than for mid-sized and large drilling companies.

EnCana’s Paul Ulrich said the number of oil and gas industry deaths is “embarrassing for Wyoming” and said his company wants to drive down the numbers. The data further shows that more than half “of our people aren’t wearing their damn seatbelts” while driving at work, Ulrich said.

Others at the meeting said they support setting up a central data collection point on workplace fatalities. Hartman said the task force may be able to obtain a grant to pay for that work. He strongly indicated he will recommend to the governor that the state pursue the grant and establish the office.

Marion Loomis of the Wyoming Mining Association said the task force needs to study the factors that precede to the crashes. Dr. George Conway of NIOSH said his group will look at work schedules, Circadian rhythms and other factors that may contribute to vehicle crashes as they investigate Wyoming’s fatalities further.

Facing down the bust -- thoughtfully

Wyoming faces another bust as lower natural gas prices reduce mineral revenues. The ESPC is out in front offering numerous ideas to help craft sustainable taxing and spending policies that both invest in Wyoming’s people now and save for the future.

In a recently-published guest editorial, we talked about the need for thoughtful budgeting. Rather than taking a meat cleaver to state spending, we said programs should be evaluated to see if they’re still needed and working efficiently. And we suggested the state look at the revenue side of the budget, including tapping its considerable savings, ending some tax exemptions, and increasing severance tax rates. We noted:

“All the things we Wyomingites say we want – a more vibrant and diverse economy, a clean environment and wildlife, and low crime rates – depend on continued investment. Main Street survives on people with jobs and spending money, not laid-off employees. Department of Environmental Quality inspectors are barely covering the ground as it is; cuts will mean regulatory delays and spotty enforcement. When the cuts trickle down to local governments, police and sheriff departments will take a hit just like everyone else.”

It will take a major effort from all of us to convince our legislators that we don’t have to slash budgets and turn away from the progress the state has made with investments in infrastructure and education. Unfortunately, too many state policy-makers, including Gov. Dave Freudenthal, have rushed to cut spending, again subjecting the state to yo-yo budgeting that reduces the ability to deliver services when they are most needed. We need to protect investments in public education, health care and child care.

Cutting programs like KidCare insurance and Medicaid will shove those costs off on the private sector when people show up in doctors' offices and hospital emergency rooms. We've already decided that we're not going to turn sick people away. By cutting those budgets, the state expects private providers to take on the costs.

There's a better way. But we've got to look at more options, including putting savings on the table and considering tax hikes if we can't otherwise cover those costs.

Workers' Compensation reform

House seals victory for Wyo workers

Higher campaign contributions rejected by House

The final step in the legislative process for HB 54, the Workers’ Compensation reform bill, took place Tuesday when the House concurred with Senate amendments on a 50-10 vote. The bill now goes to the Governor.

As noted in the March 2 blog, this success culminates months of work and will significantly improve the lives of Wyoming’s permanently disabled workers. It’s an outstanding example of how public education and engagement can work to move a Legislature which is not, overall, sympathetic to the situations of working Wyomingites.

Campaign finance bill killed on consent list

Senate File 12 Campaign finance, the bill raising individual campaign contribution limits, came to a dramatic end Tuesday on third reading and final consideration in the House.

On Monday, Reps. Mary Throne and Amy Edmonds (Democrat and Republican from Cheyenne, respectively) successfully amended the bill to apply the proposed increase in the individual contribution limit (from $1,000/election to $2,400/election) only to statewide races. The amendment won passage by the barest of margins at 31 votes.

Surprisingly, no legislator attempted to remove that amendment and Third Reading, and the bill was on the “consent list,” meaning that no amendments were offered and no further discussion was deemed necessary. The consent list is voted on as a whole with everyone voting “aye.” After the list of bills is approved, the chief clerk reads the number and title of each bill it and asks if there are any changes.

Usually, a handful of legislators will change their votes to “no” on any given bill.

Regular readers of this blog may recall that we wrote about a situation earlier this session when a bill on the consent list, HB 313 Licensing of employer daycare facilities, died when 30 legislators changed their votes to “no.”

The same thing happened Tuesday on SF 12, but an error by the chief clerk initially put the vote at 31-29. Legislators keeping track at their desks asked for a check of the audio recording, which confirmed a 30-30 vote. Bills must pass by a majority of those elected to the House, so SF 12 failed.

ESPC researcher Sarah Gorin filed this report.

Workers' compensation reform

Senate passes Workers Comp bill

Rejects unfriendly amendments, then passes bill unanimously, 30-0

Acknowledging that Wyoming’s injured workers deserve better treatment, the Wyoming Senate Monday passed a bill improving death benefits to surviving family members and extending and increasing temporary total and permanent total disability benefits.

The Senate passed the bill unanimously, 30-0. The House similarly approved the bill on a unanimous 60-0 vote.

Injured workers, the AFL-CIO, the Wyoming Trial Lawyers Association, the ESPC worked for nearly 18 months to bring the need to improve the care extended to people hurt on the job to the public’s attention. (That's a photo of Les Vasey of the Laborers' local and AFL-CIO Executive Secretary Kim Floyd, above.)

The advocates’ mantra was short:

“No one should go broke because they went to work one day and got hurt.”

The Joint Labor, Health and Social Services Committee took the question up during last year’s interim between legislative sessions. The committee conducted several hearings, then hammered out legislation that will make things better for people aimed at changing the state’s treatment of injured worker

In Monday’s action, the senate rejected two deleterious amendments; one proposed by Sen. Charles Scott and a second proposed by Sen. Drew Perkins. Both senators represent districts that include parts of Casper.

Scott proposed an amendment that would have rejected part of the bill that requires the Workers’ Compensation division to pay its fair share of litigation costs when it claims up to 33% of the settlements won in successful third-party lawsuits filed by injured workers.

The Perkins amendment would have reduced the age limit under which children of workers killed at work are eligible for survivor benefits.

Neither amendment garnered much support. Each was defeated on a voice vote. (Once again, here is the need for taking roll call votes on amendments. In the official record, there’s no telling who supported and who opposed the suggested changes.)

In its consideration of the House bill, the Senate added several amendments:

1. Allows injured workers seeking vocation rehabilitation to attend a private technical school as well as a community college or UW.
2. Allows workers’ comp coverage of single proprietorships with just one employee.
3. Changes the appropriation to set aside $100,000 for a single new position in the Office of Adminstrative Hearings* rather than $200,000 for two positions. Appropriates $50,000 for a study of OAH procedures aimed at making it technologically current. The amendment also requires the Worker’s Comp division and DOT to split those costs 55% - 45%.

The bill has been referred to the House for concurrence. It still could get hung up there, however, the ESPC and its allies believe none of the differences truly endanger ultimate passage of the bill.

House Bill 54 Workers’ compensation amendments will:

• Increase dependent children’s, death and permanent impairment benefits;
• Provide a minimum and extend the duration of temporary total disability benefit;
• Provide an annual cost of living adjustment to permanent total disability benefits;
• Extend the maximum duration of vocational rehabilitation benefits;
• Extend the period over which death benefits are paid;
• Limit the time for the Workers’ Compensation Division to recover overpayments;
• Revise the criteria for, and distribution of, employer premium credits;
• Authorize companies with as few as two employees to obtain coverage under the system;
• Require the state to pay a fair share of the costs of litigation when covered workers recover damages from third parties;
• Require the division to reconsider claims if an injured worker’s failure to meet a procedural deadline is the fault of the worker’s attorney;
• Authorize and appropriate $100,000 for one additional position in the Office of Administrative Hearings and $50,000 for the cost of investigating the acquisition of a case management system capable of accepting and receiving electronic filings and which includes a time management system.
  

Monday March 2 was a good day for Wyoming's workers and their families. Please send thanks to your legislators, especially those on the House and Senate Labor committees, for their efforts on the behalf of injured workers. The bill did not deliver all the reforms needed in the system. The ESPC still believes the division needs more case workers and needs to treat workers and employers fairly and equitably.

Also, here's a thanks to all the journalists who wrote about this issue, but a special thank-you to Dustin Bleizeffer of the Casper Star-Tribune. Reporter Bleizeffer demonstrated great devotion to workers and the state that needs them by writing many stories about the system and its flaws.

Campaign contributions reined in …

The House Monday amended Senate File 12, the proposed bill to increase the limit on campaign contributions from individuals from $1,000 per election (the primary and general count as separate elections) to $2,400 per election, the same as the federal individual contribution limit.

The amendment applied the increased limit only to statewide races (governor, secretary of state, auditor, treasurer, and state superintendent of public instruction), not to legislative or local races.

The amendment, sponsored by Rep. Mary Throne (Democrat from Cheyenne) and co-sponsored by Rep. Amy Edmonds (Republican from Cheyenne), focused the argument that campaign contribution limits should bear some relationship to the cost of races.

Contributions at the $2400 level are not necessary for legislative and local races, they argued, and it’s better for candidates to have to appeal to a larger group of people for the funds they need to campaign.

The principal argument against the amendment (and for the bill) seems to be “inflation.” It seems odd that some legislators are very concerned about inflation cutting into campaign contribution levels, but not other amounts set in statute – like minimum wage for tipped employees, for example.

Senate File 12 is on third reading and final passage Tuesday morning. Please contact your legislators and ask them to keep the amendment and, if it is removed on third reading, to oppose the bill.

Helium property tax goes to Gov. Dave

Also on Monday, the HB 287 Helium - property tax won final approval when the Senate adopted a Joint Conference Committee report that the House approved last Friday. The measure imposes property taxes on helium, putting taxation of that very valuable gas in line with property taxes levied on the extraction of other minerals in Wyoming.

The finished bill awaits signing by Gov. Dave Freudenthal.



*Briefly, OAH is the board that reviews contested Workers’ Comp cases and contested actions by the Department of Transportation on driver’s licenses.

ESPC researcher Sarah Gorin and Marcia Shanor of the Wyoming Trial Lawyers Association contributed to this report.

Counting down to bill cutoff

Thursday was a good, though not perfect day.

First, the Senate heard HB 54 Workers’ compensation amendments in Committee of the Whole, assuring the bill of a full debate on the Senate floor by getting it off general file.

Any bill not off general file by the end of the day Friday dies for the session.

The Senate quickly went through the bill and Sen. Charles Scott, as usual, took a few swings at attorneys, a profession he long has made clear that he holds in low regard. But he did manage the bill. It was good to see conservative stalwart Sen. Eli Bebout of Riverton endorse the bill. Sen. Bebout noted that benefits for injured workers have not been increased for many years and said it is time to do so.

Children’s health insurance

Timing still tight

Over in the House, supporters of a bill that will expand the KidCare Chip program to cover more children with health insurance continued the rush to meet the Legislature’s General File deadline. After getting the measure out of the House Labor committee Wednesday night, the House Appropriations committee considered the bill, SF 39 Children’s health insurance program over the noon recess. The committee approved the measure on a 6-1 vote, with only Rep. Jeb Steward of Saratoga voting against the bill.

“I applaud this step,” Rep. Pete Jorgensen told the prime sponsor Sen. Mike Massie after the committee’s vote. “It’s a small step but it’s a step.”

Jorgensen has advocated for more aggressive efforts by the state to address the lack of access to affordable, quality care that plagues many residents of Wyoming.

The bill now goes to the House General File, where all supporters of the bill now need to ask their representatives to ask House Majority Leader Buchanan to make certain the bill is considered during committee of the whole Friday.

Here are some key points to consider mentioning to your representatives in email messages and any other conversation you can have with them.

Key points:

• This is a successful program that currently serves approximately 5,700 children in our state. These are children whose families are earning up to 200% of the federal poverty level;
• This bill proposes increasing eligibility up to 300% of the federal poverty level;
• The state financial contribution for this bill is less than $100,000 ($94,355);
• The federal contribution is 65% of the cost and amounts to $185,232;
• The state premium per child is $188 per month which includes health, mental health and dental care. It is anticipated that the premium will increase to $200 per month on July 1;
• Parents who earn between 201 and 250% of the federal poverty level would be required to contribute up to $40 per month (per child but only for the first two children) toward the premium and up to $250 per person in deductibles per year;
• Parents who earn between 252 and 300% of the federal poverty level would be required to contribute up to $50 per month (per child but only for the first two children) toward the premium and up to $500 per child in deductibles per year;
• This program supports working families who are doing everything they can to support their families.
  

As always, remember to lobby politely. Please don’t send an email blast to all 60 members. A comment of support for SF 39 to your House district’s representative will be most effective. If you have relationships with other members, please write separate messages to them.

Thanks for all your help advocating for Wyoming’s uninsured children.

Not perfect?

Why was the day not perfect? Well, SF 94, a campaign finance bill was heard. It raises individual contributions limits to $2,400 per election. The ESPC like to see the bill killed. There does not appear to be a compelling need to pump more money in elections in Wyoming.

Or, if contribution limits must be raised because of the rising cost of races for governor, the ESPC believes the state should institute tiers of individual contribution limits. Wyoming could raise individual contribution limits for statewide races – governor, secretary of state, state auditor, state treasurer and superintendent of public instruction – but have a second tier that retains the existing $1,000 individual limit for all other elections.

Campaign costs in the average contested Wyoming legislative race are low – about $15,000 for a contested state Senate race and around $8,500 for a contested House race, according to the Wyoming League of Women Voters.

Deanna Frey of the Wyoming Children's Action Alliance contributed to this report.

Children's health insurance

KidCare breathes

House Labor keeps bill alive

The KidCare Chip expansion won strong approval from the House Labor committee Tuesday, although getting through required yeoman’s work by sponsor Sen. Mike Massie of Laramie, seen at right, and considerable testimony from Patti Guzman, who manages the program for the Department of Health.

Sen. Massie and Ms. Guzman went through many questions as they explained SF 39 Children’s health insurance program. Their testimony proved there is no substitute for proper planning. And Ms. Guzman deserves plenty of credit for keeping a very tight ship as she runs the program. She handled all the questions about the program expertly and competently.

Frankly, Patti Guzman puts the lie to the negative stereotyping of bureaucracies, bureaucrats, and the management of government programs.

Rick Schum of Blue Cross/Blue Shield answered questions concerning “crowd out” – the idea that KidCare Chip will encourage people to leave private insurance. That doesn’t happen, Schum told the committee. It was important testimony supporting the bill.

House Labor Health and Social Services Committee Chairman Jack Landon noted he had prepared several amendments to address what he had believed were shortcomings in the bill. But after Sen. Massie, Patti Guzman, and Rick Schum answered question after question, Chairman Landon dropped his amendments.

“I’m more comfortable with this all the time. I’m just about to wear it out,” Landon said as the hearing of the bill passed the two-hour mark. He called for a vote and the committee voted 8-1 in favor of the expansion of the KidCare program.

Only Casper Rep. Lisa Shepperson voted against the bill.

Rep. Debbie Hammons of Worland, (a co-sponsor of the bill) AARP, Blue Cross Blue Shield, the Wyoming Children's Action Alliance, the Wyoming Hospital Association, and the Equality State Policy Center testified in favor of the bill.

The bill next will be re-referred to the House Appropriations committee. It must be heard by the committee by end of day Thursday then return to the floor of the House to be considered in Committee of the Whole by the Friday deadline for hearing bills listed on general file.

Advocates who can talk with members of the House Appropriations Committee should urge them to support the measure.


Helium bill hits snag

On Tuesday, the bill to impose property taxes on helium produced in Wyoming passed the Senate, 21-9, with a relatively minor amendment. On Wednesday, the House failed to concur with the amendment, triggering a conference committee along with concerns that the bill will fall victim to House-Senate wrangling. Currently, helium is the only valuable mineral produced in Wyoming that is not subject to property tax.


And on other property tax topics …

On Tuesday, the Senate Revenue Committee heard House Bill 234, which proposed a property tax exemption for home, commercial and agricultural properties. For each property, the value would be determined by a three-year rolling average, and the amount of value in excess of the average would be exempt from property tax.

The bill had significant administrative problems, and the ESPC opposed it on those grounds as well as a broader opposition to hobbling the fair market value system. The Legislature has more direct options for reducing property taxes if that is the desired outcome.

The Senate Appropriations Committee ended one of those options on Tuesday by killing HB 68, the homestead exemption bill. However, a bill expanding eligibility for the property tax refund program already has passed both houses.

ESPC researcher Sarah Gorin contributed to this report.

Child health insurance

Bill cut-off threatens KidCare expansion

House Labor chairman puts bill in tight position

Calendar management can be key to passing – or killing – proposed legislation. Advocates for expansion of Wyoming’s KidCare Chip program saw the bill authorizing it fall into a dire situation Monday night.

House Labor, Health and Social Services Committee Chairman Jack Landon, pictured above, announced Monday evening that the committee had run out of time to hear the bill during its Monday meeting. He put it off consideration until the committee meets again Wednesday.

That puts the bill in a scheduling crunch. Any bill that has not been heard in Committee of the Whole by end of business Friday is dead for the session. The bill, Senate File 39 – Children’s health insurance program, must first win approval by the Labor committee, the be re-referred to the Appropriations Committee for a hearing on the General Fund spending it requires.

If House Labor approves it Wednesday night, it could still make it. Unfortunately, the House Appropriations Committee ordinarily does not meet on Thursday. The ESPC will join Deanna Frey of the Wyoming Children’s Action Alliance and others in asking House Appropriations Committee Chairwoman Rosie Berger to consider SF 39 on Thursday.

Here’s what Frey said in a note to allies Monday evening:

“AT 6:50 this evening Chairman Jack Landon informed the House Labor Health and Social Services committee and those waiting to testify that SF 39 Children's Health Insurance would not be heard this evening. … At this point we need to contact members of the Labor committee asking for their positive consideration of the bill on Wednesday. The members of the committee are listed below as are the talking points previously provided.”

Here are the email addresses of Labor committee members.

• Chairman Rep. Jack Landon - Sheridan - jlandon@wyoming.com
• Rep. Dave Bonner - Powell - dbonner@wyoming.com
• Rep. Kathy Davison - Kemmerer - kdavison@wyoming.com
• Rep. Ken Esquibel - Cheyenne - kesquibel@wyoming.com
• Rep Patrick Goggles - Ethete - pgoggles@wyoming.com
• Rep. Timothy Hallinan - Gillette - tphallinan@bresnan.net
• Rep. Elaine Harvey -Lovell - harvey00@tctwest.net
• Rep. Lori Millin -Cheyenne - lorimillin@bresnan.net
• Rep. Lisa Shepperson - Casper - lshepperson@wyoming.com
  

Here are the talking points offered by Ms. Frey --

"The message is simple: (information from the Wyoming Children's Action Alliance issue brief Health Care a National Priority)

1. Wyoming's Equality Care and Kid Care CHIP programs have been very successful in helping to ensure more children from the target population, those from poor and low income families.
2. Despite this success, the percentage of uninsured children from income brackets never eligible for government sponsored increased from 1995-2005.
3. Working parents in Wyoming that earn between 200 and 300% of the federal poverty level are often unable to provide health insurance for their children.
4. The funding for the bill has been reduced dramatically to $ 94,355 to provide health care for eligible children.
5. Amendments to the bill require a increase of the parent co-pay and a parent payment of a portion of the insurance premium.
   

As the ESPC has noted previously, expanding the program to cover uninsured children in families making 300% of poverty merely recognizes that insurance costs have escalated to the point that even families with decent incomes cannot afford the cost.

Prime sponsor Sen. Mike Massie has presented statistics showing that the average health care policy in Wyoming covering families costs $12,800 per year. State employees pay more than $15,000 per year for family coverage. Buying insurance on the open market would take 20% of the gross income (before taxes) of families at 300% of the poverty level, Sen. Massie pointed out - an option these families could not choose and still pay for other family needs.

This bill, Ms. Frey noted, is supported by the Wyoming Education Association, the AARP, the Hospital Association, the Nurses Association, the Equality State Policy Center, and the Wyoming Children's Action Alliance and its allies.

Mental health coverage for First Responders fails

One last note ... Chairman Landon also noted that he will not bring up SF 18 Mental injury - workers compensation. The bill had been heavily amended but was a chance to address mental injuries suffered by First Responders, that is, fire fighters, police, and EMTs, in the line of duty. Sen. John Hastert steered it through heavy opposition in the Senate, but could not overcome resistance in the House. He had hoped the bill would be pulled out of House Labor and referred to House Judiciary, but that effort did not work out.

Deanna Frey contributed mightily to this report.

Workers' compensation reform

COLA sticks on bill increasing benefits

KidCare bill comes up Monday night

After fighting off an effort to delay adjusting payments to permanently disabled workers to account for inflation, the bill that will increase benefits for injured Wyoming workers and their families was approved by the Senate Labor, Health and Social Services Committee on Friday.

The bill was helped by testimony from Laramie construction contractor Gregory Stouffer and Richard Johnson, who has been on Permanent Total Disability payments from the Wyoming Workers’ Compensation system since the 1980s. Both argued for implementing the proposed Cost of Living Adjustment, which would increase benefits by up to 3% annually for the 184 people on Permanent Total Disability.

Stouffer told of a former employee of his who was injured in 1993 and lost 80% of his lung capacity. The employee, identified as “Carl N.” by Stouffer, originally was awarded monthly Permanent Total Disability (PTD) benefits of about $1,600. The benefit was adjusted once years ago, he said, rising to about $1,800 per month. Stouffer argued that rents and wages have doubled since Carl’s injury, but his award amount remains fixed.

The division has made life tough for Carl and has ignored its own rules, Stouffer said. He “has had to fight the division over his status” and once lost his benefits for 14 months. When the benefits were restored, the division forced him to settle for half of what he was due. “He should not have to re-file annually for his benefits,” Stouffer said of his former employee.

Instead, the division has “tried to squeeze the remaining life out of Carl” and his family, and has even told him he would get more benefits if he was not married.

Richard Johnson strives to survive on annual PTD payments of about $13,000 and last year gained some fame when the Wyoming Supreme Court, at the urging of attorney George Santini, ordered the Workers’ Compensation Division to end its practice of considering Johnson’s wife’s earnings when it calculated his extended benefits. (That's a photo of Richard, left, and George outside the Senate hearing room Friday morning.)

Johnson described a litany of woes involved in his dealings with the division.

“I’ve already suffered the hardships of this stuff,” he said. “Let’s do something to get this straightened up.”

Department of Employment Director Gary Child, the former director of the Workers' Comp division, and other division employees attended Friday's hearing. None disputed comments by either Stouffer or Johnson.

The committee voted 1-4 to defeat Chairman Charles Scott's amendment that would have offered a COLA only on extended permanent total disability payments - basically subjecting an injured worker to the benefits-eating appetite of inflation for eight years before the COLA would be applied.

House Bill 54 Workers’ compensation amendments will:

• Increase dependent children’s, death and permanent impairment benefits;
• Provide a minimum and extend the duration of temporary total disability benefit;
• Provide an annual cost of living adjustment to permanent total disability benefits;
• Extend the maximum duration of vocational rehabilitation benefits;
• Extend the period over which death benefits are paid;
• Limit the time for the Workers’ Compensation Division to recover overpayments;
• Revise the criteria for, and distribution of, employer premium credits;
• Authorize companies with as few as two employees to obtain coverage under the system;
• Require the state to pay a fair share of the costs of litigation when covered workers recover damages from third parties;
• Require the division to reconsider claims if an injured worker’s failure to meet a procedural deadline is the fault of the worker’s attorney;
• Authorize and appropriate $200,000 to two additional positions in the Office of Administrative Hearings.
  

The bill must be re-referred to the Senate Appropriations Committee for consideration of the funding for the new positions at the Office of Administrative Hearings. Then it must go through three hearings on the Senate floor.

Children’s health insurance

Monday, the House Labor committee is scheduled to consider Senate File 39 Children’s health insurance program. The ESPC and many of its allies, including the Wyoming Children’s Action Alliance, support the measure, which was significantly amended in the Senate.

You can read comments from Marc Homer of the WCAA, who has worried the measure would die if the committee chaired by Rep. Jack Landon fails to consider it Monday evening. Here's a sample of Homer's analsis:

“Working parents in Wyoming earning between 200 and 300 percent of the federal poverty level (FPL) are often unable to provide health insurance for their children. Wyoming Senate File 39 was introduced with the aim of helping parents securely know that their children’s health care needs will be met.

"If passed into law, the SCHIP program would become more equitable by covering more children across income brackets.”- Marc Homer, WCAA

You can read the ESPC fact sheet about SF 39 here. Interested parties should contact members of the House Labor Committee and ask them to support it.

Workers compensation

Increase in benefits in Senate Labor committee

The long effort to win improved benefits for people hurt on the job in Wyoming has entered the stretch run. The Senate Labor, Health and Social Services Committee listened Wednesday to a long explanation of HB 54 Workers compensation amendments and began taking public testimony on it.

Rep. Jack Landon, the chairman of the House Labor Committee, shepherded the bill through the House and ultimately won passage on a unanimous 60-0 vote. Rep. Landon would have explained the bill for the Senate committee, but he was ill. His advocacy was missed. Instead, Department of Employment Director Gary Child presented the bill to the committee. Child struck a fairly neutral tone, an appropriate stance since agency representatives are officially prohibited from lobbying legislation.

But the department’s analysis of the fiscal impacts of the benefits increases, especially its estimate of the cost of a cost of living adjustment on benefits paid permanently disabled workers, is cause for worry. Several industry representatives have raised concerns that the COLA may cost too much.

We disagree and will challenge the agency’s projections of cost. Those injured workers should not be driven into poverty by inflation. With just 184 people getting permanent total disability benefits, the $1 billion Workers Compensation fund will not be threatened by a 3% COLA.

Father testifies

The committee did take testimony from James Henderson Wednesday, a mechanic whose son-in-law was killed in a horrific oil field accident last year. Henderson drove from Casper Tuesday night so he could make his case to the the committee that the death benefits paid to survivors are inadequate. (That's a photo of him outside the committee room Wednesday morning talking with Marcia Shanor of the Wyoming Trial Lawyers Association.)

He asked the committee who calculated the formula to determine how much a person is worth. The benefits offered his daughter caused her to abandon plans to move to a home large enough for her family, which includes four children under age 9. Her pursuit of a college degree also may have to be given up, he said.

Although other members of the Henderson family are helping her financially, “none of us are in any financial position to change where they live.”

Henderson also told the committee that the system is “ is wrong morally and ethically” because it protects employers when they are negligent.

"Any employer can put someone in harm’s way at work as long as they don’t do it maliciously." - James Henderson

“Any employer can put someone in harm’s way at work as long as they don’t do it maliciously” and know that nothing will happen to them if that worker is killed or maimed, he said.

If someone gets killed, the company says only, “Oops, we’re really sorry,” Henderson said. It’s wrong for the system to send a message that there’s no responsibility.

“That doesn’t make sense to me in any form. I can’t understand it.”

Contact committee members, please

The ESPC urges supporters of increasing benefits to contact the members of the Senate Labor Committee – Sens. Charles Scott, John Schiffer, Bill Landen, Rick Hunnicutt and John Hastert – to urge them to support the benefit increases, especially the COLA on indemnity payments and the increase in death benefits. The committee resumes its hearing of the bill Friday morning at 7:30. Injured workers especially should consider attending if possible.

Helium tax

Senate Revenue Committee unanimously votes for ad valorem tax on helium

The state should go ahead and impose a property, or ad valorem, tax on helium gas produced in Wyoming, the Senate Revenue Committee declared Tuesday.

In a noon hour hearing of HB 287 – Helium property tax, the committee unanimously approved imposing the tax, just as the state imposed a severance tax last year. The bill passed the House last week on a 47-12 vote.

The state had collected severance and property taxes on the extraction of helium between 1986 and 2004 from Exxon (later ExxonMobil). The company produces large quantities of the gas at its LaBarge plant in Lincoln County. The gas is among the “impurities” Exxon takes out of natural gas it extracts from federal lands in western Wyoming.

But the gas is extracted under a contract with the federal government rather than a more traditional lease on the minerals. The company challenged the tax, and in 2007, the Wyoming Supreme Court declared that the current statutory definition of “taxpayer” does not include an entity extracting helium under a federal contract as opposed to a federal lease.

In response to the court, the 2008 Legislature amended the definition of taxpayer for the purpose of imposing severance taxes; HB 287 does the same for ad valorem (property) taxes.
The bill now moves to general file for its first hearing when the Senate sits as the Committee of the Whole.

Workers Comp amendments up Wednesday

The Senate Labor, Health and Social Services Committee will consider HB 54 – Workers compensation amendments Wednesday at 7:30 a.m. The bill reflects considerable work over the interim and includes increases in benefits such as a cost of living adjustment for injured workers living on permanent total disability and increases in death benefits.

The House passed the bill 60-0 earlier in the session.

The ESPC, the AFL-CIO, the Wyoming Trial Lawyers Association and a number of other groups affiliated with the ESPC support the bill. These supporter believe system should treat workers and employers eqaully and fairly.

It should ensure that workers receive the medical care needed to restore them to health and a productive work life as quickly as possible. It also should provide indemnity benefits that are sufficient to protect injured workers and their families from being devastated financially after a work-related injury.

No one should go broke because they went to work one day and got hurt.

House stands behind day care licensing

No free pass for employer child care

A measure that would have exempted employers who set up on-site day care facilities from state licensing requirements was killed Tuesday without debate.

The measure, HB 313 Licensing of employer day care facilities, was sponsored by Rep. Lorraine Quarberg of Thermopolis.

House leaders put the bill on its Third Reading Consent List. Those bills are not debated. A vote is taken on the list. All members generally vote yes. Once approved, the House clerk then announces the number of each bill on the list and asks members if they wish to change their votes.

When members got that opportunity on HB 313, 30 representatives stood to have their consent-list votes changed to No. The bill failed on a 29-30 vote.

Children’s advocates and others have worked hard for many years to professionalize child care in the state. Rep. Quarberg’s bill represented a step backward by allowing companies to evade the licensing rules.

Those same advocates worked hard to convince their representatives to oppose this measure. It’s encouraging to see that the majority of the House members listened and came to understand their positions. It's a victory for efforts to maintain and improve the quality of child care in Wyoming.

Property tax on helium extraction

The bill proposing a property tax on helium, HB 287, passed the House on Wednesday with a solid 47 aye votes (12 no votes, one excused).

The bill addressed a tax loophole left after a 2007 Wyoming Supreme Court decision which held that helium extracted by ExxonMobil in its gas stream in Sublette County could not be taxed.

The Court made this ruling on the grounds that Wyoming law currently defines a taxpayer as a “lessee” or “lessee’s assignee,” whereas in this particular case, ExxonMobil extracts the helium under a federal contract rather than a lease.

Further, an attorney for ExxonMobil argued in committee that the company did not own the helium at the point of production and therefore could not be held liable for property tax – not mentioning that under the terms of the contract, ExxonMobil ultimately becomes the sole buyer of the helium.

In Committee of the Whole debate Monday, Rep. Tom Lubnau of Gillette said that “If it looks like a duck, and walks like a duck, and quacks like a duck, then we should tax it like a duck.” Today, he took his analogy further to say, “Do we really want this camel’s nose under the tent?” If a company can evade taxation by moving the point of ownership, he argued, then pretty soon we’ll see other companies engaged in mineral extraction doing the same thing.

This argument was echoed by Speaker of the House Colin Simpson of Cody and by Speaker Pro Tempore Frank Philp of Shoshoni, the lead sponsor of the bill. Speaker Pro Tem Philp also pointed out that, prior to the Wyoming Supreme Court decision, the taxes had been paid.

Freshman Rep. Jim Roscoe of Wilson, whose district includes Sublette County, said the bill makes clear that all valuable minerals are subject to severance and property tax. Although he did not mention this, the Sublette County school district is a recapture district, so the helium revenues will benefit schools all over Wyoming.

ESPC researcher Sarah Gorin contributed to this report.

Early education advocates oppose HB 313

Stop unlicensed day care

The House approved HB 313 Licensing of employer day care facilities Tuesday on second reading. Constant readers will recall that the ESPC believes the bill’s title is a bit misleading. Rather than licensing employer day care facilities, the measure allows them to operate on site without meeting state licensing requirements.

The ESPC and Wyoming Children’s Action Alliance see no benefit to compromise on the bill. We urge advocates for safe day care services in Wyoming to contact their representatives and tell them why they should oppose it when it comes up on third reading Wednesday morning.

Proponents in the Committee of the Whole debate Monday seemed to be saying that people who do not support the bill do not support employer-sponsored, on-site child care. This is not the case. Deanna Frey of the WCAA notes that on-site child care can indeed be a very positive experience for the child and the parent. But just because the parent is close by does not necessarily mean that the child is receiving care in a safe and healthy environment.

And other critics have noted that there is no guarantee that parents will be working near on-site care centers. Energy industry workers especially may find themselves miles away from their office in the course of the work day.

Licensing provides basic provisions for health and safety, for example:

• background checks for employees;
• age requirements for employees; minimum training for employees;
• facilities that have passed fire, health and sanitation inspections;
• staff trained to administer medications;
• square footage requirement to ensure adequate space to play and learn;
• outdoor play space;
• staff/child ratios that provide for the opportunity for children to form relationships, and receive the care and education appropriate to their needs.

Proponents also said Monday that employers still must consider the liability surrounding such operations, so will operate them safely.

But that may not be the case if an employer decides to cut corners in order to keep costs down. The prospect of suing an employer will be cold comfort to parents who could see a child injured because staff is not properly screened or trained or, worse, find that the failure to meet minimum fire safety requirements resulted in their child’s death.

Good employers will meet these basic requirements. But exempting all employers from licensing requirements will make it easier for an economically-troubled business to cut corners. They know there will be no third-party inspector who checks to see that children are safe and properly cared for in on-site centers.

Please email or contact your representative before 10 a.m. Wednesday, Feb. 11. Urge them to vote No on HB 313.

Property tax refund bill delayed

Meeting at the noon recess Tuesday, the Senate Revenue Committee ran out of time and postponed consideration of HB 138 Property tax refund program.

The bill fine-tunes a tax relief program for people who have lived in the state five years and whose gross household income falls well below the statewide median income or median income of their county, whichever is greater.

This is “circuit breaker” property tax relief, since it helps longer-term residents of growing areas that have seen steep increases in property values, such as Park, Sheridan and Teton counties.

The new legislation also changes the program, which started last year, to expand qualification to households in which each individual person has assets of $100,000 or less. The existing asset limit is $50,000 per person in the household. It also exempts retirement funds, such as a 401K accounts, and medical savings accounts from counting toward the total assets of the applicants.

Senate Revenue Committee Chairman John Schiffer of Kaycee said the hearing of the bill will resume when the committee meets again later this week. Sen. Schiffer is a co-sponsor.

The ESPC supports HB 138.

Child health insurance program reinstated

Senate goes for broader KidCare

Chances for gaining needed expansion of Wyoming’s KidCare CHIP program improved Monday when the Senate approved a bill enabling children in families earning up to 300% of poverty-level income to enroll in the program.

Senate File 39, Child health insurance program, was amended last Friday to hold the expansion to children in families earning incomes up to 250% of poverty-level income. Sen. Eli Bebout, who offered the amendment, said the 300% level would encourage people to drop private insurance for their children in favor of the state program.

On Monday, prime sponsor Sen. Mike Massie, photo at left, brought an amendment to address those concerns. He noted that expanding to 300% will provide coverage to about 1,700 children who currently lack health insurance.

His amendment excludes families whose children are eligible for employer-provided insurance, even if the family hasn’t taken it.

Sen. Bebout liked the amendment, but still argued that employees would choose coverage only for themselves and not their children on the assumption they could get KidCare CHIP. He said $45,000/year is a good income for a family of three in Wyoming. People earning that amount can afford their own insurance if they keep their priorities straight, he suggested.

But Sen. Michael Von Flatern of Gillette noted that many families earning $45,000 per year do so through part-time jobs with employers who don’t offer health insurance benefits to part-time workers.

The debate sparked a tart comment from Sen. Curt Meier of Torrington. He said employers will not offer insurance for employees’ dependents if they know the employees can turn to the state. “Enough socialism is enough socialism,” he said.

But Sen. Massie said family insurance is just not affordable for many families at this income level. He presented statistics showing that the average health care policy in Wyoming covering families costs $12,800 per year. State employees pay over $15,000 per year for family coverage. Buying insurance on the open market would take 20% of the gross income (before taxes) of families at 300% of the poverty level, he pointed out - an option these families could not choose and still pay for other family needs.

The amendment passed 16-11 and the bill itself was approved by a wide margin (26-3 with one excused).

Property taxes on helium

Ad valorem (property) taxes will be assessed on all helium extracted in Wyoming under HB 287 Helium property tax, approved in House Committee of the Whole on Monday.

House Speaker Pro Tempore Frank Philp of Shoshoni said that some helium currently escapes property taxation because it is extracted through a contractual arrangement rather than a lease, and is the only valuable mineral extracted in Wyoming that is not taxed. He noted that last year the Legislature approved imposing severance taxes on helium.

The helium property tax bill resulted from a Wyoming Supreme Court decision saying that Wyoming’s property tax statutes define a taxpayer as a “lessee” or “lessee’s assignee,” but not a contractor. If the Legislature wants to tax helium extracted under a contractual arrangement, the Court said, then legislators need to put that in the law – hence HB 287. (Helium extracted from private and state lands and from federal lands under a lease arrangement already is taxed.)

Revenue Committee Chairman Rodney “Pete” Anderson of Pine Bluffs pointed out that property taxes were paid on helium until the Wyoming Supreme Court decision, when the state’s major extractor of helium suddenly declined to pay.

Chairman Anderson did not name the company, since naming companies, individuals and organizations during debate is against House rules. But the company is ExxonMobil, which has a long history of aggressively testing Wyoming’s mineral tax system.

Rep. Mike Madden of Buffalo argued there is no substantive difference between a contract and a lease, so legislators should not get hung up on the “oddity” of the arrangement and approve taxing helium like any other mineral.

Rep. Tom Lubnau of Gillette brought some humor into the debate when he advised his colleagues that if “it looks like a duck, walks like a duck, and quacks like a duck, then we should tax it like a duck.”

Opponents argued that the bill was “changing the rules in midstream” and would disrupt investments made by companies extracting or planning to extract helium. Speaker Pro Tem Philp noted the companies were paying the tax prior to the Wyoming Supreme Court decision, and surely are watching what is going on in the industry, they could hardly be surprised at the re-imposition of property taxes.

The measure passed Committee of the Whole overwhelmingly on voice vote and will move to second and third readings on Tuesday and Wednesday.

De-regulating child care

House Bill 313 Licensing of employer day care facilities passed on general file by a vote of 29 for 28 against Monday evening. The bill’s title is a bit misleading, since it allows employers to open a daycare center on site without meeting state licensing requirements.

Speaking in favor of the bill were Reps. Lorraine Quarberg, Thermopolis, Jack Landon, Sheridan, Bob Brechtel, Casper, Erin Mercer, Gillette, Mike Madden, Buffalo, Del McComie, Lander, David Miller, Riverton, and Tom Lockhart.

Reps. Cathy Connolly, Mike Gilmore, Casper, Elaine Harvey, Lovell, Tom Lubnau, Gillette, Saundra Meyer, Evanston, and Lori Millin, Cheyenne, opposed the bill.

The speakers fell into two distinct camps on this bill:
* Why wouldn't a company want to license their child care? Licensing provides for the basic health and safety needs of children.
* Licensing is not necessary because parents know what is best for their children.

The ESPC and the Wyoming Children’s Action Alliance oppose the bill. (Since the bill passed Committee of the Whole, there is no roll call vote.) It will be up for second reading Tuesday.

ESPC researcher Sarah Gorin contributed to this report. Thanks also to Deanna Frey of the Wyoming Children's Action Alliance

House stands up for equality

Defense of Marriage bill defeated

Members of Wyoming's House of Representatives soundly defeated a proposed constitutional amendment that, if passed by voters, would have prohibited the state from recognizing any union other than of a man and a women, including same-sex marriages legally made in other states or countries.

The House voted down HJR 17 - Defense of marriage on a 25-35 vote, sending a strong message that Wyoming will not enshrine discrimination in its constitution. The measure would have placed the proposed amendment on the 2010 general election ballot for a vote of Wyoming citizens.

The bill, sponsored by Reps. Owen Petersen, Ed Buchanan and others, was pushed by Wyo Watch and a Colorado group, Focus on the Family. They argued it would protect the institution of marriage in Wyoming and secure the benefits of marriage for society far into the future.

But speaker after speaker questioned their claims.

"What is the common good?" asked former speaker Roy Cohee, the Casper representative who now chairs the House Transportation Committee. "Is the common good to tear at the fabric of society?"

"I'm here to make a choice today," he said. Cohee told the members that they had been getting emails and phone calls from people on both ends of the Wyoming political spectrum, demanding passage of the amendment or votes against it. He asked for consideration of the silent middle of the electorate. House members should consider the answer they would get if they asked 10 of their good friends at home about the proposal, he said.

"Those folks that do not call you," he said, "they would say, 'Don't you have something better to do?'"

Noting that some proponents had argued the Bible says homosexuality is a sin, Rep Sue Wallis of Gillette recounted many other sins listed in Leviticus for which the penalty is death, including gathering firewood on Saturday, adultery, shaving, cross-breeding livestock, and eating non-kosher foods like shrimp.

Her Gillette church welcomes same-sex couples and "couples of all kinds," she said. The bill should not have been titled the Defense of Marriage Act, Rep. Wallis declared. It truly was the "Defense of State-sponsored Bigotry Act," she said.

Rep. Pat Childers of Cody told the House about his lesbian daughter who has become a successful professional but would be denied rights accorded heterosexuals. He suggested the state should find a legal way "to allow these people to have their rights" such as a civil union process that does not involve a religious sanction of marriage.

"Why don't we separate that?" he asked, and keep church and government separate.

Rep. Pat Goggles of Arapahoe, the lone Native American in the legislature, noted he solicited the votes of gays in his district when he ran for election. They elected him, he said, "to speak on their behalf."

"I look upon this state as the equality state," Goggles said. "And I urge you to maintain this status as the Equality State."

Rep. Dan Zwonitzer of Cheyenne noted that Wyoming historically is the site of the murder of Matthew Shepard, a gay man killed in Laramie in 2008. But it is also the Equality State, the place where women were first given the vote and the state that elected Nellie Tayloe Ross, the nation's first governor, and the first female public official, Esther Hobart Morris.

A campaign in 2010 over gay marriage would bring many outside interests to pour money in the state to push both sides of the issue in an ugly contest. "Our state will be ripped apart at the seams," he warned.

Rep. Cohee pointed to the words of Jefferson in the Declaration of Independence that say all people have a right to "life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness." Cohee said he has been married 40 years. "How can my marriage be defended" by a state law?

Rep. Childers noted his lesbian daughter "was born that way." Wyoming does not discriminate against people for whom or what they are.

"Ladies and gentlemen," Rep. Childers said. "This bill is wrong."

Rep. Steve Harshman of Casper handled the debate from the Speaker's chair. He declared the bill had failed and called on members to stand to be counted - 25 yeas and 35 nays.

The story got big play in the state, in Cheyenne, Casper and on television. (Watch Channel 13's Feb. 6 broadcast.)

A personal note

It was a rewarding moment for all who worked so hard to defeat this discriminatory legislation. Thanks to Bob Spencer of Wyoming Equality and other members of the ESPC coalition. But also kudoes to the students from Casper and Bert and Carolyn Toews who drove to Cheyenne Monday to picket and sing for peace and tolerance in front of the Capitol. And thanks to the students from the University of Wyoming who rallied in Cheyenne Tuesday afternoon while the House Judiciary Committee took testimony from both sides in Room 302.

And a special thanks to all of you working behind the scenes across the state: Mary, Shannon, Terry, Bob and Bob, Liz, Dee, Tom, Melanie, Erich, Jolene, and many others - you know who you are.

Mental health/First responders

The Senate approved SF 18 – Mental injury – workers’ compensation after sponsor Sen. John Hastert successfully convinced the senators that it could cover First Responders in a two-year trial.

Sen. Hastert originally hoped to cover all workers who suffer mental injuries at work. But fears of unknown costs forced narrowing the bill only to cover First Responders such as EMTs, fire fighters, and police. It’s hard to convince people that advances in mental diagnoses over the past 20 years make it possible for a doctor to determine whether someone truly is suffering from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.

Over the past six months, critics of the idea raised all sorts of fears, including the idea that a worker would claim a mental injury if denied a promotion. Current state law says a mental injury must be tied to a physical injury – itself a somewhat irrational concept. How does a broken arm or smoke inhalation cause PTSD that a First Responder suffers after seeing a friend killed in a blast at a fire or a baby horribly beaten at a crime scene.

Hastert noted there have been few cases, anyway, so the benefit probably does not carry a high cost. The idea of a two-year trial period carried the day when President John Hines cast the deciding vote in a 15-14 victory for all those who work in public safety agencies, both paid and volunteer.

Ad valorem tax on helium

The House Revenue Committee this morning approved HB 287, Helium – property tax. There have been long-standing problems with taxation of helium, a federally-owned “strategic” mineral. Last year, the Legislature approved a bill to impose severance taxes on helium extraction. This bill imposes property taxes as well.

The bill was sponsored by House Speaker Pro Tem Frank Philp (R-H34, Shoshoni), along with co-sponsors Pete Anderson (R-H10, Pine Bluffs), Ed Buchanan (R-H4, Torrington), Kathy Davison (R-H20, Kemmerer), Jim Roscoe (D-H22, Wilson) and Senator John Schiffer (R-S23, Kaycee).

Helium is produced along with sour gas in the fields in southwestern Wyoming, where the gas has to be processed to remove impurities, which in themselves may be marketable – such as sulfur and helium. Back when dirigibles were in vogue, the federal government designated helium as a strategic mineral, and its extraction and sale is closely controlled.

To date, the only company extracting helium is ExxonMobil at its Shute Creek plant. ExxonMobil has a long history of stiffly resisting taxation, going back to the late 1980s when it refused to pay taxes on extraction at Shute Creek on the grounds the gas had no value.

ESPC lobbyist Sarah Gorin urged the committee to approve the bill, noting that the roomful of legal talent obviously portended a dispute, so the state “might as well get on with it.”

Lawyer/lobbyists no doubt billing at least $250/hour included Patrick Day of Holland & Hart, who led off opposition to the bill on behalf of ExxonMobil; Walter Eggers of Holland & Hart also was in the room. Brent Kunz of Hathaway & Kunz, who has represented ExxonMobil for many years, was present, along with Sara Tays, an ExxonMobil lobbyist flown in from Texas.

The committee ran out of time to hear from all the opponents, but voted the bill out in an effort to get it debated on the floor on Monday (the last day for bills to get through Committee of the Whole in the House).

Representatives Amy Edmonds (R-H12, Cheyenne), Ken Esquibel (D-H41, Cheyenne), Patrick Goggles (D-H33, Ethete), Mike Madden (R-H40, Buffalo), Mark Semlek (R-H1, Moorcroft), and Sue Wallis (R-H52, Recluse) voted for the bill. Committee chair Pete Anderson (R-H10, Pine Bluffs), David Miller (R-H55, Riverton, and Owen Petersen (R-H19, Mountain View) voted no. Chairman Anderson indicated he wanted the bill to go to the floor, but voted no to indicate that he thinks there needs to be more discussion.

Bump in the night

Sen. Cale Case’s effort to set up a legal framework enabling counties that do not have zoning laws to regulate lighting failed on third reading Friday. Sen. Case’s outdoor lighting bill was aimed at preserving Wyoming’s dark skies.

Opponents raised questions about unintended consequences of the bill, including giving a club to “someone” who wants to stop progress.

Sen. Charles Scott of Casper urged the members not to be afraid of things that go bump in the night. The bill really would encourage the use of focused, more efficient lighting, he said.

The Senate was having none of it and killed the bill when 15 senators voted No.

Keeping them down

A rushed hearing over the noon hour just barely gave two Cheyenne servers time to tell the House Labor Committee about their work situations at local establishments that do not make certain they make at least the minimum wage.

They commented on a bill that would have raised wages for tipped employees from $2.13 an hour (say it again, two-dollars-thirteen-cents per hour) to the startling wage of five dollars an hour.

One worker said she averages about $4.50 an hour when serving and about $5.50 when bartending at a local hotel, counting both tips and her hourly pay. The other server reported making slightly more. Both noted that employers expect them to perform duties that should receive the federal minimum wage such as busing tables, hosting, handing cashier duties, and other clean-up and maintenance. They don't get the money.

Both servers got a good lesson in power when restaurant association lobbyist Lynn Birleffi showed the committee a poster declaring workers are owed minimum wage. The poster must be put up where employees can see it, she said.

Workers who don't get the minimum should tell their employers, Ms. Birleffi said. If the employer refuses to pay, the workers should report it to the department of labor. Raising the minimum wage from $2.13 per hour would devastate the industry, she added, and drive up menu prices. That should not happen because their are a few "bad actors" in the industry, she asserted.

What Ms. Birleffi did not admit that workers fear losing their jobs if they complain. Other servers who told the ESPC they would testify cancelled for just that reason. One told the ESPC that it has been very difficult to see menu prices go up at place she has worked for 15 years. In that time she said she has not seen an increase in her base pay.

The committee voted 3-6 to defeat the bill. Reps. Goggles, Ken Esquibel of Cheyenne, and Kathy Davison of Kemmerer supported it.

Reps. Dave Bonner of Powell, TimothyHallinan of Gillette, Elaine Harvey of Lovell, Lori Millin of Cheyenne, Lisa Shepperson of Casper, and Chairman Jack Landon voted to kill the bill.