Rallying for civil rights for gays, lesbians
Health insurance will be extended to more Wyoming children who live in homes with incomes that barely make ends meet if an effort to expand eligibility for Wyoming’s KidCare CHIP program passes the legislature.
Sen. Mike Massie of Laramie has proposed SF 39 – Children’s health insurance program. His measure calls for opening the program to children in families whose earnings do not exceed 300% of the federal poverty level. The program currently is available to children in families with income up to 200% of the federal poverty level.
Sen. Massie told the Senate Labor Committee Wednesday that nearly 3,700 Wyoming children who currently do not have health insurance would qualify if the eligibility limit is raised. The program presently covers about 5,800 children.
Children who are in good health are more successful at school, he noted.
“If they don’t have the health care, they don’t have the kinds of education outcomes” the state seeks through its huge investment in public schools, he noted.
The federal government presently will pay 65% of the cost of insuring children in families with incomes up to 250% of the federal poverty level. Sen. Massie indicated that it appears the federal government will soon extend that assistance to families with earnings equal to 300% of federal poverty.
Children in general are a healthy group, so the cost of insuring them is fairly low. Blue Cross Blue Shield currently provides the insurance for the KidCare program at a cost of about $188 per month per child, according to Patti Guzman of the Department of Health. Those monthly costs are expected to rise to about $200 per month if the changes proposed by Sen. Massie are approved.
Guzman noted that federal law requires coverage of all eligible children, regardless of pre-existing conditions.
The measure enjoys broad support. The Wyoming Hospital Association, AARP, the Wyoming Children’s Action Alliance, the Catholic Diocese of Wyoming, the Wyoming Nurses Association, and the ESPC testified in support of the expansion of coverage in Wednesday’s hearing.
Supporters noted the program provides insurance relatively cheaply and significantly reduces the incidences of uncompensated care that hurt doctors, hospitals and other providers. That reduces the cost shifting that has led one group to estimate that $934 of the average family’s $12,000 health insurance premium goes to cover the cost of uncompensated care in the American health system.
Senate File 39 also proposed coverage of up to 3,500 parents or guardians of eligible children. But Sen. Massie, noting that separate bill to provide insurance to some adults has been sponsored by committee Chairman Charles Scott already has been approved by the committee, suggested that the adult-coverage portion of his bill could be excised.
It was, but not before Sen. John Schiffer of Kaycee made a strong case for including it. Sen. Schiffer noted that Wyoming’s economy often trails the nation’s by about 18 months. With the U.S. economy in trouble, he suggested the Equality State may see a “slide” in its economy in 2010. He worried that families headed by adults who often are the “last hired, first fired” will need health coverage then.
“You’ve got to have these kinds of programs in place when you hit that slide,” he argued. “This bill goes to the heart of the health problem in that population.”
"This bill goes to the heart of the health problem in that population." -
Sen. John Schiffer
Sens. Scott, Bill Landen and Rick Hunnicutt were not convinced by Sen. Schiffer. The committee voted 3-2 to remove the coverage of parents or guardians of children who qualify for the program. Nevertheless, the committee approved the measure with the 300% coverage limit. The bill now goes to the Senate General File where it will be heard by the full Senate.
Civil rights for gays and lesbians
Gay rights are the civil rights issue of our era. A measure that would bar discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation, HB 203, will be heard by the House Judiciary Committee Monday. It is sponsored by Rep. Cathy Connolly of Laramie and simply provides the same protections that prohibit discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, age, national original or economic status.
Considerable public support will be required to ensure passage.
A far more insidious proposal, HR 17 Defense of marriage, calls for a constitutional amendment to allow the state to ignore valid marriage contracts made in other states or countries by people of the same gender.
Proponents say it is not an anti-gay measure. They argue that it is instead aimed at protecting the institution of marriage and will help ensure that children have a mother and a father.
Hogwash.
These adherents are no different than the defenders of segregation and the Jim Crow laws that discriminated against African-Americans living in the South 50 years ago. Those laws and this proposed amendment were and are intended to isolate a particular group of people and deny them rights enjoyed by more privileged members of society.
Wyoming people should shout down this bill. The House Judiciary Committee will hear the proposal next Tuesday, Feb, 3 in Room 302 of the Capitol. Please join us in urging the committee to vote this bill down. Please stand up for human rights and equality in Wyoming.
Wednesday, January 28, 2009
Tuesday, January 27, 2009
Hopeful step for health care
Senate Labor considers measure expanding KidCare
Sen. Mike Massie’s children’s health insurance bill, Senate File 39, will be considered Wednesday in the Senate Labor, Health and Social Services Committee - assuming poor weather does not shut down the Capitol. The hearing begins at 8 a.m.
The ESPC sees this measure as part of a “building block” plan for achieving health insurance for all Americans by using existing private and public group health insurance. The Building Blocks framework allows many insured people to continue as they are, but creates more options for small business and individuals.
One of the key building blocks in Wyoming is the KidCare CHIP program. Wyoming KidCare Chip is a public-private partnership providing health insurance coverage for children through age 18 living in households with too much income to qualify for Medicaid, but not enough to purchase health insurance.
Senate File 39 bill extends eligibility for the program to children in Wyoming families who have incomes up to 300% of the federal poverty level. Eligibility currently is restricted to children in families whose income does not exceed 200% of the federal poverty level. The bill also extends coverage to parents of qualifying children, though that number is limited.
The bill contains an appropriation of $390,000 to fund the FY2010 expansion. The fiscal note on the bill foresees spending about $1.2 million in 2011 and about $2.1 million in 2012 for a maximum of 3,720 enrollees.
You can read the ESPC description of the bill here.
Like Lazarus, the Speaker’s property tax bill rises
After being killed on Friday, January 23rd, HB 87 rose from the dead on Monday the 26th, when sponsor and House Speaker Colin Simpson asked the Revenue Committee to hear it again on the grounds he hadn't been there to present the bill Jan. 23.
Speaker Simpson came to the Friday committee meeting but had to leave; the bill was presented by Sen. Eli Bebout, a co-sponsor, who was at the committee meeting for another bill. Four members of the House Revenue Committee -- Reps. Amy Edmonds (R-H12, Cheyenne), David Miller (R-H55, Riverton), Owen Petersen (R-H19, Mountain View) and Mark Semlek (R-H1, Moorcroft) -- changed their Jan. 23 No votes to Yes on Monday.
Thus the 3-6 tally from last Friday became a 7-2 majority in favor of the bill. It was re-referred to Appropriations, where it will be heard on Wednesday along with the homestead exemption bill (HB 68).
The ESPC has urged members of the House Appropriations Committee to consider the options for property tax relief carefully. As supporters of responsible fiscal policy, legislators must take care to protect the state’s revenue sources. And a broad base of resources means that the state will be less susceptible to pressure from the state’s biggest taxpayers: the minerals extraction industry.
Wyoming residents already receive government programs and services worth far more than they pay for through property and sales taxes. It’s appropriate that we benefit now from the mineral bounty the state enjoys.
But it also is important to recognize the link between tax investments and good schools, roads, business-ready communities, and needed social services. Moreover, Wyoming residents pay lower taxes on their property than residents of other states. Any legitimate concerns with the residential valuation process should be addressed there and not indirectly through tax rates.
If the Appropriations Committee desires to forward a property tax reduction bill, the ESPC favors bringing out HB 68, the homestead exemption, for two simple reasons: (1) the fiscal impact is dealt with up front; and (2) the tax reduction is tilted toward lower-value homes, whose occupants are more likely to be suffering in the current economic downturn.
Neither argument holds true for HB 87. It enacts a permanent property tax reduction without regard for future economic conditions. It includes provisions to protect local government for only one year, after which the revenue losses will affect local governments significantly. It provides the same percentage reduction to all homeowners, even those not facing economic difficulties.
Sen. Mike Massie’s children’s health insurance bill, Senate File 39, will be considered Wednesday in the Senate Labor, Health and Social Services Committee - assuming poor weather does not shut down the Capitol. The hearing begins at 8 a.m.
The ESPC sees this measure as part of a “building block” plan for achieving health insurance for all Americans by using existing private and public group health insurance. The Building Blocks framework allows many insured people to continue as they are, but creates more options for small business and individuals.
One of the key building blocks in Wyoming is the KidCare CHIP program. Wyoming KidCare Chip is a public-private partnership providing health insurance coverage for children through age 18 living in households with too much income to qualify for Medicaid, but not enough to purchase health insurance.
Senate File 39 bill extends eligibility for the program to children in Wyoming families who have incomes up to 300% of the federal poverty level. Eligibility currently is restricted to children in families whose income does not exceed 200% of the federal poverty level. The bill also extends coverage to parents of qualifying children, though that number is limited.
The bill contains an appropriation of $390,000 to fund the FY2010 expansion. The fiscal note on the bill foresees spending about $1.2 million in 2011 and about $2.1 million in 2012 for a maximum of 3,720 enrollees.
You can read the ESPC description of the bill here.
Like Lazarus, the Speaker’s property tax bill rises
After being killed on Friday, January 23rd, HB 87 rose from the dead on Monday the 26th, when sponsor and House Speaker Colin Simpson asked the Revenue Committee to hear it again on the grounds he hadn't been there to present the bill Jan. 23.
Speaker Simpson came to the Friday committee meeting but had to leave; the bill was presented by Sen. Eli Bebout, a co-sponsor, who was at the committee meeting for another bill. Four members of the House Revenue Committee -- Reps. Amy Edmonds (R-H12, Cheyenne), David Miller (R-H55, Riverton), Owen Petersen (R-H19, Mountain View) and Mark Semlek (R-H1, Moorcroft) -- changed their Jan. 23 No votes to Yes on Monday.
Thus the 3-6 tally from last Friday became a 7-2 majority in favor of the bill. It was re-referred to Appropriations, where it will be heard on Wednesday along with the homestead exemption bill (HB 68).
The ESPC has urged members of the House Appropriations Committee to consider the options for property tax relief carefully. As supporters of responsible fiscal policy, legislators must take care to protect the state’s revenue sources. And a broad base of resources means that the state will be less susceptible to pressure from the state’s biggest taxpayers: the minerals extraction industry.
Wyoming residents already receive government programs and services worth far more than they pay for through property and sales taxes. It’s appropriate that we benefit now from the mineral bounty the state enjoys.
But it also is important to recognize the link between tax investments and good schools, roads, business-ready communities, and needed social services. Moreover, Wyoming residents pay lower taxes on their property than residents of other states. Any legitimate concerns with the residential valuation process should be addressed there and not indirectly through tax rates.
If the Appropriations Committee desires to forward a property tax reduction bill, the ESPC favors bringing out HB 68, the homestead exemption, for two simple reasons: (1) the fiscal impact is dealt with up front; and (2) the tax reduction is tilted toward lower-value homes, whose occupants are more likely to be suffering in the current economic downturn.
Neither argument holds true for HB 87. It enacts a permanent property tax reduction without regard for future economic conditions. It includes provisions to protect local government for only one year, after which the revenue losses will affect local governments significantly. It provides the same percentage reduction to all homeowners, even those not facing economic difficulties.
Monday, January 26, 2009
Two bills help ensure insurance
And what’s happening to the minimum wage bill?
Frustration with insurance companies and their efforts to avoid paying benefits has contributed to rising public sentiment to make companies provide the benefits they seemingly promise customers. Two bills that will give insurance customers a chance of standing up to these big companies when they are denied benefits have cleared the Senate Judiciary Committee.
Senate File 62, the Discretionary Clause Prohibition Act, will help protect consumers by barring the inclusion of “discretionary clauses” in insurance contracts sold in Wyoming. Doing so will help ensure a fair hearing for people forced to challenge in court an insurer’s determination of benefits.
Supporters include the American Heart Association, the Cancer Action Network, the League of Women Voters and the ESPC.
Senate File 95, Medical Necessity Review Procedures, is a companion bill that sets up an external review procedure when a health insurance carrier denies benefits. If a patient’s doctor recommends a treatment that the insurer denied, a neutral medical expert would review the case.
Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Tony Ross of Cheyenne said he and Sen. Kathryn Sessions (also of Cheyenne) met with Blue Cross Blue Shield lobbyist Rick Schum over the weekend to discuss the bill. They put together a number of amendments that used notification and appeal rights included in federal law, refined the definition of who can serve as a neutral expert, and otherwise attempt to assure a fair review process.
The same groups support this bill. Members of the public who believe consumers deserve a more fair relationship with insurance companies should contact their state senators and urge them to back both bills.
Is $2.13 an hour a slave wage?
A bill to raise Wyoming’s minimum wage to the federal level ($7.25 as of July 1, 2009) and to raise the state minimum wage for tipped employees ($2.13/hour) for the first time in decades was introduced at the beginning of the session but still has not been assigned to a committee.
House Bill 30, Minimum Wage, got its number way back in December and was received for introduction Jan. 13, the first day of the session.
Nothing has happened since.
Proponents worry that lobbyists for the Wyoming Lodging and Restaurant Association have been urging the House leadership to simply sit on the bill. The ESPC is working to counteract these efforts.
In the Wyoming legislature’s accelerated general session, any bill that is not reported out of committee in the chamber it originates by Feb. 6 dies for the session.
The $2.13/hour wage for tipped employees - the servers who wait tables in Wyoming restaurants- was set decades ago. If a server’s combined income from tips and that slave wage does not reach the federal minimum wage, employers are supposed to make up the difference. That’s called the tip offset.
Anecdotal surveys by the ESPC indicate that employers do not, shall we say, go out of their way to make certain their servers make the federal minimum. Worse, they don’t fear they will be reported to agencies with the responsibility for ensuring payment of minimum wages.
Servers include a high number of students who just need a job to get through college, along with single mothers, who struggle to make ends meet. It’s difficult for them to speak out because they fear employers will retaliate and fire them.
Please feel free to forward this information to servers you know and urge them to contact the ESPC with their stories (they can write to use through our website at equalitystate.org). They will need to provide their names, but need not identify their employers if they fear retaliation.
Let’s go viral!
It will be helpful if servers include information about how many jobs they have and if they receive public benefits of any kind (e.g., food stamps, child care subsidies, KidCare CHIP, Medicaid, housing subsidies) so we can make the point that businesses paying inadequate wages are offloading their responsibilities to the taxpayers.
The ESPC will compile and forward stories to House Speaker Colin Simpson and other legislative leaders. If they realize the extent of the problem, it will help get the bill assigned and on the road to a hearing. The public needs to hear about this sorry practice that exploits too many Wyoming workers.
More campaign finance
If cold and snow don’t shut down the Capitol tomorrow, the Senate Corporations Committee will consider SF 94, Campaign finance reporting – election periods.
Current law limits a single individual to $25,000 in total contributions to candidates for office in Wyoming. The $25,000 limit applies to a single, two-year election cycle, which starts following a general election, and includes the subsequent primary and general elections.
Language in SF 94 limits well-heeled contributors to $12,500 in contributions prior to the primary election and $12,500 between the post election reporting date for the primary and through the general elections.
Frustration with insurance companies and their efforts to avoid paying benefits has contributed to rising public sentiment to make companies provide the benefits they seemingly promise customers. Two bills that will give insurance customers a chance of standing up to these big companies when they are denied benefits have cleared the Senate Judiciary Committee.
Senate File 62, the Discretionary Clause Prohibition Act, will help protect consumers by barring the inclusion of “discretionary clauses” in insurance contracts sold in Wyoming. Doing so will help ensure a fair hearing for people forced to challenge in court an insurer’s determination of benefits.
Supporters include the American Heart Association, the Cancer Action Network, the League of Women Voters and the ESPC.
- They say the bill will also:provide transparency regarding real benefits for consumers.
- Put consumers on an equal footing with insurers in benefit disputes.
- Increase the chances that consumers will receive benefits that otherwise would be denied.
Senate File 95, Medical Necessity Review Procedures, is a companion bill that sets up an external review procedure when a health insurance carrier denies benefits. If a patient’s doctor recommends a treatment that the insurer denied, a neutral medical expert would review the case.
Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Tony Ross of Cheyenne said he and Sen. Kathryn Sessions (also of Cheyenne) met with Blue Cross Blue Shield lobbyist Rick Schum over the weekend to discuss the bill. They put together a number of amendments that used notification and appeal rights included in federal law, refined the definition of who can serve as a neutral expert, and otherwise attempt to assure a fair review process.
The same groups support this bill. Members of the public who believe consumers deserve a more fair relationship with insurance companies should contact their state senators and urge them to back both bills.
Is $2.13 an hour a slave wage?
A bill to raise Wyoming’s minimum wage to the federal level ($7.25 as of July 1, 2009) and to raise the state minimum wage for tipped employees ($2.13/hour) for the first time in decades was introduced at the beginning of the session but still has not been assigned to a committee.
House Bill 30, Minimum Wage, got its number way back in December and was received for introduction Jan. 13, the first day of the session.
Nothing has happened since.
Proponents worry that lobbyists for the Wyoming Lodging and Restaurant Association have been urging the House leadership to simply sit on the bill. The ESPC is working to counteract these efforts.
In the Wyoming legislature’s accelerated general session, any bill that is not reported out of committee in the chamber it originates by Feb. 6 dies for the session.
The $2.13/hour wage for tipped employees - the servers who wait tables in Wyoming restaurants- was set decades ago. If a server’s combined income from tips and that slave wage does not reach the federal minimum wage, employers are supposed to make up the difference. That’s called the tip offset.
Anecdotal surveys by the ESPC indicate that employers do not, shall we say, go out of their way to make certain their servers make the federal minimum. Worse, they don’t fear they will be reported to agencies with the responsibility for ensuring payment of minimum wages.
Servers include a high number of students who just need a job to get through college, along with single mothers, who struggle to make ends meet. It’s difficult for them to speak out because they fear employers will retaliate and fire them.
Please feel free to forward this information to servers you know and urge them to contact the ESPC with their stories (they can write to use through our website at equalitystate.org). They will need to provide their names, but need not identify their employers if they fear retaliation.
Let’s go viral!
It will be helpful if servers include information about how many jobs they have and if they receive public benefits of any kind (e.g., food stamps, child care subsidies, KidCare CHIP, Medicaid, housing subsidies) so we can make the point that businesses paying inadequate wages are offloading their responsibilities to the taxpayers.
The ESPC will compile and forward stories to House Speaker Colin Simpson and other legislative leaders. If they realize the extent of the problem, it will help get the bill assigned and on the road to a hearing. The public needs to hear about this sorry practice that exploits too many Wyoming workers.
More campaign finance
If cold and snow don’t shut down the Capitol tomorrow, the Senate Corporations Committee will consider SF 94, Campaign finance reporting – election periods.
Current law limits a single individual to $25,000 in total contributions to candidates for office in Wyoming. The $25,000 limit applies to a single, two-year election cycle, which starts following a general election, and includes the subsequent primary and general elections.
Language in SF 94 limits well-heeled contributors to $12,500 in contributions prior to the primary election and $12,500 between the post election reporting date for the primary and through the general elections.
Saturday, January 24, 2009
Taxes, taxes and tax relief
Homestead exemption advances
Property tax relief is high on the agenda for the governor and many legislators this session. Ideas for providing it have been proliferating like mice.
The House Revenue Committee approved a homestead exemption bill on Wednesday, Jan. 21. But the committee killed other bills proposing property tax cuts on Friday (Jan. 23).
The Equality State Policy Center and the Wyoming Taxpayers Association – usually not allies – both opposed the property tax bills before the Revenue Committee on Friday.
The homestead exemption has several good points. Governor Dave Freudenthal proposed House Bill 68 – Property tax-homestead exemption. It was taken as a committee bill by the Revenue Committee at its last interim meeting in December 2008.
How a homestead exemption works
Let’s say the fair market value of a home, as determined by the county assessor, is $100,000. The assessment ratio for residential property is 9.5%. So, the assessor multiplies $100,000 by 9.5% to arrive at an assessed valuation of $9500.
In HB 68, the homestead exemption is $4,400 of assessed value. That means $4,400 will be subtracted from the assessed valuation of $9,500, leaving $5,100 in assessed valuation.
The assessor then multiplies the assessed valuation of $5,100 by the mill levy of about .071 mills to reach the actual tax of approximately $362, instead of the $675 it would have been if the assessed value was $9,500.
This approach to cutting property taxes benefits lower-value homeowners, because the lower the value, the bigger a chunk the $4,400 is.
However, the tax revenue losses still are significant – the HB 68’s fiscal note shows a loss of about $33.4 million to local governments, and nearly $7 million to the school foundation fund.
Current Wyoming law states that the homestead exemption cannot be implemented unless the Legislature funds it – so HB 68 has an appropriation of $40.2 million to make up the revenue losses affecting local governments – “holding them harmless” in the vernacular. The school foundation fund would not be held harmless and would simply lose revenue.
If the Legislature chooses to reduce property taxes, the ESPC favors the homestead exemption because the revenue to fund it has to be available up front and more of the benefit goes to lower-value homes. The Casper Star-Tribune ran a story about the Jan. 21 Revenue committee meeting.
Last Wednesday, the ESPC also supported passage of HB 138, which broadens eligibility for the property tax refund program. The Revenue Committee passed HB 138 unanimously and, like HB 68, it is waiting to be heard on the House floor.
Variations on an assessment theme
Friday’s bills – all killed -- included three variations on lowering the assessment ratio and one bill modeled on California’s Proposition 13, which limits increases in assessed valuation. The revenue losses for each of the bills would have been significant.
House Bill 189, sponsored by Rep. Lisa Shepperson (R-H58, Casper) and co-sponsored by Sen. Don Dockstader (R-S16, Afton) was a Proposition13-like bill to limit increases in assessed valuation to 2% per year, with no make-up revenues.
Under HB 189, revenue losses to local governments were projected at $15 million for fiscal year 2010, nearly $25 million for fiscal year 2011, and $35 million for fiscal year 2012, going up in future years. Losses to the School Foundation Program were projected at approximately $3 million, $5 million, and $8 million for those three fiscal years, respectively.
Lower assessment ratios
House Bill 87 was sponsored by House Speaker Colin Simpson (R-H24, Cody), and co-sponsored by Reps. Ed Buchanan (R-H4, Torrington), Keith Gingery (R-H23, Jackson), David Miller (R-H55, Riverton) and Sens. Eli Bebout (R-S26, Riverton), Hank Coe (R-S18, Cody) and Grant Larson (R-S17, Jackson).
House Bill 87 permanently lowered the assessment ratio for residential property but included make-up revenues for local governments only for the year 2010. After that, revenue losses would start hitting the School Foundation Program (nearly $10 million in fiscal year 2011) and local governments (about $46 million in fiscal year 2012 and going up thereafter).
House Bill 175, sponsored by Rep. David Miller (R-H55, Riverton) and co-sponsored by Rep. Frank Philp (R-H34, Shoshoni) lowered the assessment ratio for both industrial and residential properties for the years 2010-2011, with make-ups revenue for local governments only.
House Bill 214, sponsored by Rep. Lisa Shepperson (R-H58, Casper) and co-sponsored by Rep. Bob Brechtel (R-H38, Casper) and Sens. Eli Bebout (R-S26, Riverton) and Charles Scott (R-S30, Casper), permanently lowered the assessment ratios for industrial and residential properties with no make-up revenues.
Under HB 214, revenue losses for local governments begin at $83 million in 2011 and $87 million in 2012, going up thereafter. Revenue losses to the School Foundation Program were projected at $18 million for fiscal year 2011 and $19 million for fiscal year 2012, increasing in future years.
Revenue Committee member votes had not been listed on the LSO website as of Saturday evening. On Friday, five committee members opposed all four bills that would have adjusted assessed valuations or assessment ratios, including Chairman Rodney "Pete" Anderson, (R-H10, Pine Bluffs), Amy Edmonds (R-H12, Cheyenne),Mike Madden (R-H40, Buffalo), Owen Petersen (R-H19, Mountain View) and Mark Semlek (R-H1, Moorcroft).
Rep. Ken Esquibel (D-H41, Cheyenne) supported only HB 87. Rep. Patrick Goggles (D-H33, Ethete) supported HB 87 and HB 175. Rep. David Miller (R-H55, Riverton) voted for HB 189, HB 175, and HB 124, but opposed HB 87.
Rep. Sue Wallis (R-H52, Recluse) voted in favor of all four bills.
(Equality State Watch thanks Sarah Gorin, the ESPC's tax expert, for reporting on the House Revenue Committee's actions on Jan. 21 and 23.)
House kills Throne campaign finance bill
House Bill 117 - Campaign finance, which would have limited state Political Action Committee contributions to campaignsd was defeated 35-18 in Committee of the Whole Friday. (The seven members who did not vote were excused for a meeting of the Appropriations Committee.)
Confusion over the pre-election receipts reporting apparently troubled the representatives, who were tired from a week of working bills.
Property tax relief is high on the agenda for the governor and many legislators this session. Ideas for providing it have been proliferating like mice.
The House Revenue Committee approved a homestead exemption bill on Wednesday, Jan. 21. But the committee killed other bills proposing property tax cuts on Friday (Jan. 23).
The Equality State Policy Center and the Wyoming Taxpayers Association – usually not allies – both opposed the property tax bills before the Revenue Committee on Friday.
The homestead exemption has several good points. Governor Dave Freudenthal proposed House Bill 68 – Property tax-homestead exemption. It was taken as a committee bill by the Revenue Committee at its last interim meeting in December 2008.
How a homestead exemption works
Let’s say the fair market value of a home, as determined by the county assessor, is $100,000. The assessment ratio for residential property is 9.5%. So, the assessor multiplies $100,000 by 9.5% to arrive at an assessed valuation of $9500.
In HB 68, the homestead exemption is $4,400 of assessed value. That means $4,400 will be subtracted from the assessed valuation of $9,500, leaving $5,100 in assessed valuation.
The assessor then multiplies the assessed valuation of $5,100 by the mill levy of about .071 mills to reach the actual tax of approximately $362, instead of the $675 it would have been if the assessed value was $9,500.
This approach to cutting property taxes benefits lower-value homeowners, because the lower the value, the bigger a chunk the $4,400 is.
However, the tax revenue losses still are significant – the HB 68’s fiscal note shows a loss of about $33.4 million to local governments, and nearly $7 million to the school foundation fund.
Current Wyoming law states that the homestead exemption cannot be implemented unless the Legislature funds it – so HB 68 has an appropriation of $40.2 million to make up the revenue losses affecting local governments – “holding them harmless” in the vernacular. The school foundation fund would not be held harmless and would simply lose revenue.
If the Legislature chooses to reduce property taxes, the ESPC favors the homestead exemption because the revenue to fund it has to be available up front and more of the benefit goes to lower-value homes. The Casper Star-Tribune ran a story about the Jan. 21 Revenue committee meeting.
Last Wednesday, the ESPC also supported passage of HB 138, which broadens eligibility for the property tax refund program. The Revenue Committee passed HB 138 unanimously and, like HB 68, it is waiting to be heard on the House floor.
Variations on an assessment theme
Friday’s bills – all killed -- included three variations on lowering the assessment ratio and one bill modeled on California’s Proposition 13, which limits increases in assessed valuation. The revenue losses for each of the bills would have been significant.
House Bill 189, sponsored by Rep. Lisa Shepperson (R-H58, Casper) and co-sponsored by Sen. Don Dockstader (R-S16, Afton) was a Proposition13-like bill to limit increases in assessed valuation to 2% per year, with no make-up revenues.
Under HB 189, revenue losses to local governments were projected at $15 million for fiscal year 2010, nearly $25 million for fiscal year 2011, and $35 million for fiscal year 2012, going up in future years. Losses to the School Foundation Program were projected at approximately $3 million, $5 million, and $8 million for those three fiscal years, respectively.
Lower assessment ratios
House Bill 87 was sponsored by House Speaker Colin Simpson (R-H24, Cody), and co-sponsored by Reps. Ed Buchanan (R-H4, Torrington), Keith Gingery (R-H23, Jackson), David Miller (R-H55, Riverton) and Sens. Eli Bebout (R-S26, Riverton), Hank Coe (R-S18, Cody) and Grant Larson (R-S17, Jackson).
House Bill 87 permanently lowered the assessment ratio for residential property but included make-up revenues for local governments only for the year 2010. After that, revenue losses would start hitting the School Foundation Program (nearly $10 million in fiscal year 2011) and local governments (about $46 million in fiscal year 2012 and going up thereafter).
House Bill 175, sponsored by Rep. David Miller (R-H55, Riverton) and co-sponsored by Rep. Frank Philp (R-H34, Shoshoni) lowered the assessment ratio for both industrial and residential properties for the years 2010-2011, with make-ups revenue for local governments only.
House Bill 214, sponsored by Rep. Lisa Shepperson (R-H58, Casper) and co-sponsored by Rep. Bob Brechtel (R-H38, Casper) and Sens. Eli Bebout (R-S26, Riverton) and Charles Scott (R-S30, Casper), permanently lowered the assessment ratios for industrial and residential properties with no make-up revenues.
Under HB 214, revenue losses for local governments begin at $83 million in 2011 and $87 million in 2012, going up thereafter. Revenue losses to the School Foundation Program were projected at $18 million for fiscal year 2011 and $19 million for fiscal year 2012, increasing in future years.
Revenue Committee member votes had not been listed on the LSO website as of Saturday evening. On Friday, five committee members opposed all four bills that would have adjusted assessed valuations or assessment ratios, including Chairman Rodney "Pete" Anderson, (R-H10, Pine Bluffs), Amy Edmonds (R-H12, Cheyenne),Mike Madden (R-H40, Buffalo), Owen Petersen (R-H19, Mountain View) and Mark Semlek (R-H1, Moorcroft).
Rep. Ken Esquibel (D-H41, Cheyenne) supported only HB 87. Rep. Patrick Goggles (D-H33, Ethete) supported HB 87 and HB 175. Rep. David Miller (R-H55, Riverton) voted for HB 189, HB 175, and HB 124, but opposed HB 87.
Rep. Sue Wallis (R-H52, Recluse) voted in favor of all four bills.
(Equality State Watch thanks Sarah Gorin, the ESPC's tax expert, for reporting on the House Revenue Committee's actions on Jan. 21 and 23.)
House kills Throne campaign finance bill
House Bill 117 - Campaign finance, which would have limited state Political Action Committee contributions to campaignsd was defeated 35-18 in Committee of the Whole Friday. (The seven members who did not vote were excused for a meeting of the Appropriations Committee.)
Confusion over the pre-election receipts reporting apparently troubled the representatives, who were tired from a week of working bills.
Thursday, January 22, 2009
Voter ID bill sinks
Burdensome HB 153 threatened voting rights
Requiring Wyoming voters to show a current, government-certified photo identification card when they come to the polls would send the state’s nation-leading turnout numbers “down the tubes,” a top state elections official told a House committee Thursday.
The testimony of Peggy Nighswonger, elections director from the Secretary of State’s Office, combined with objections from the Wyoming County Clerks’ Association, several individual clerks, the ACLU, the League of Women Voters, and the ESPC convinced the House Corporations Committee to vote 3-6 against sending the bill to the House floor.
“I haven’t taken a beating like that in a long time,” primary sponsor Rep. Steve Harshman said as the meeting broke up.
Rep. Harshman’s bill, HB 153 Vote Identification, imposed significant barriers to voters in an effort to prevent voter fraud. It was modeled closely after an Indiana law that recently survived a challenge to the U.S. Supreme Court, Rep. Harshman told the committee.
But no one knows of any voter fraud in Wyoming. Uinta County Clerk Lynne Fox, representing the county clerks association, said the group discussed the matter during its meeting this week. Of the19 counties represented at the meeting, not one clerk could recall any attempt by someone to vote fraudulently, Ms. Fox said.
Rare as mortal lightning strikes
The Brennan Center for Justice has found that in-person voter fraud is “exceedingly rare.”
“Legitimate cases of fraud that could be addressed by a photo ID requirement are proven to occur approximately as often as Americans are struck and killed by lightning,” the center’s director Michael Waldman has written.
The ESPC cited this report to support our argument that the Voter ID bill was a solution seeking a problem.
Perhaps the most egregious aspect of the bill was its requirement that people voting for the first time in a federal election not only would have to show a qualifying photo ID, but would have to show poll judges “a copy of a current utility bill, bank statement, paycheck, government check or other government document which shows his name and address.”
Parents of children reaching voting age know how difficult it is to instill good voting habits. It’s not easy for them to get through the registration process and to the polls, let alone remember to bring a photo ID and supporting documentation. Many students and other young adults would have trouble producing the utility bills or check stubs, since they share households, occupy rentals that may or may not cover utilities, and rarely, if ever, make a copy of a paycheck, and move frequently. Even their driver’s license is unlikely to show their current address.
Jennifer Horvath of the American Civil Liberties Union noted that many types of student, tribal and federal photo IDs do not have an expiration date, as required by HB 153, so they would not meet the letter of the proposed law.
Confronted at the polls with that problem, the bill would have allowed voters to cast a provisional ballot, then somehow get to the county clerk’s office with adequate proof of identity by the close of business the following day -- not an easy task for many people who live in counties where the county seat may be more than 75 miles from their polling place.
“It’s a question of whether you can vote on a particular day,” Ms. Horvath said.
Obtaining the required types of ID would force poor people and others to bear the costs of obtaining a passport or getting a driver’s license, she added.
Voters can get an ID from the state for $10, and the bill outlined situations under which the fee could be waived. That did not satisfy Rep. Mary Hales of Casper.
“You are getting awfully close to a poll tax,” she said.
Ms. Fox noted the measure would impose heavy burdens on poll judges. The bill exempted indigents and voters who have a religious objection to being photographed. Poll workers would have to make those determinations.
But they are busy enough with same-day registration, which requires “absolutely correct” recording of information by the judges.
“It’s a problem,” she said.
Breaks in two on way to bottom
Worse, both Ms. Fox and Ms. Nighswonger noted, was the potential that the documentation standards impose a residency requirement. “That, in effect, undoes election day registration,” Fox said.
Ms. Nighswonger explained that Wyoming’s same-day registration law enabled it to achieve a waiver exempting it from many of the federal requirements in the federal Help America Vote Act. Indiana did not have that waiver, she said.
Rep. Harshman said he did not want to do away with same-day registration and noted he had asked the secretary of state if he had problems with the bill.
“I went to the guy in charge,” he said, and did not hear this objection.
In the end, Reps. Kermit Brown of Laramie and David Miller of Riverton were joined by Chairman Pete Illoway as the only votes for the bill.
Reps. Bernadine Craft, Rock Springs, Ross Diercks, Lusk, Tom Lubnau, Gillette, Mary Hales, Tim Stubson, Casper, and Dan Zwonitzer, Cheyenne, voted against the measure.
Requiring Wyoming voters to show a current, government-certified photo identification card when they come to the polls would send the state’s nation-leading turnout numbers “down the tubes,” a top state elections official told a House committee Thursday.
The testimony of Peggy Nighswonger, elections director from the Secretary of State’s Office, combined with objections from the Wyoming County Clerks’ Association, several individual clerks, the ACLU, the League of Women Voters, and the ESPC convinced the House Corporations Committee to vote 3-6 against sending the bill to the House floor.
“I haven’t taken a beating like that in a long time,” primary sponsor Rep. Steve Harshman said as the meeting broke up.
Rep. Harshman’s bill, HB 153 Vote Identification, imposed significant barriers to voters in an effort to prevent voter fraud. It was modeled closely after an Indiana law that recently survived a challenge to the U.S. Supreme Court, Rep. Harshman told the committee.
But no one knows of any voter fraud in Wyoming. Uinta County Clerk Lynne Fox, representing the county clerks association, said the group discussed the matter during its meeting this week. Of the19 counties represented at the meeting, not one clerk could recall any attempt by someone to vote fraudulently, Ms. Fox said.
Rare as mortal lightning strikes
The Brennan Center for Justice has found that in-person voter fraud is “exceedingly rare.”
“Legitimate cases of fraud that could be addressed by a photo ID requirement are proven to occur approximately as often as Americans are struck and killed by lightning,” the center’s director Michael Waldman has written.
The ESPC cited this report to support our argument that the Voter ID bill was a solution seeking a problem.
Perhaps the most egregious aspect of the bill was its requirement that people voting for the first time in a federal election not only would have to show a qualifying photo ID, but would have to show poll judges “a copy of a current utility bill, bank statement, paycheck, government check or other government document which shows his name and address.”
Parents of children reaching voting age know how difficult it is to instill good voting habits. It’s not easy for them to get through the registration process and to the polls, let alone remember to bring a photo ID and supporting documentation. Many students and other young adults would have trouble producing the utility bills or check stubs, since they share households, occupy rentals that may or may not cover utilities, and rarely, if ever, make a copy of a paycheck, and move frequently. Even their driver’s license is unlikely to show their current address.
Jennifer Horvath of the American Civil Liberties Union noted that many types of student, tribal and federal photo IDs do not have an expiration date, as required by HB 153, so they would not meet the letter of the proposed law.
Confronted at the polls with that problem, the bill would have allowed voters to cast a provisional ballot, then somehow get to the county clerk’s office with adequate proof of identity by the close of business the following day -- not an easy task for many people who live in counties where the county seat may be more than 75 miles from their polling place.
“It’s a question of whether you can vote on a particular day,” Ms. Horvath said.
Obtaining the required types of ID would force poor people and others to bear the costs of obtaining a passport or getting a driver’s license, she added.
Voters can get an ID from the state for $10, and the bill outlined situations under which the fee could be waived. That did not satisfy Rep. Mary Hales of Casper.
“You are getting awfully close to a poll tax,” she said.
Ms. Fox noted the measure would impose heavy burdens on poll judges. The bill exempted indigents and voters who have a religious objection to being photographed. Poll workers would have to make those determinations.
But they are busy enough with same-day registration, which requires “absolutely correct” recording of information by the judges.
“It’s a problem,” she said.
Breaks in two on way to bottom
Worse, both Ms. Fox and Ms. Nighswonger noted, was the potential that the documentation standards impose a residency requirement. “That, in effect, undoes election day registration,” Fox said.
Ms. Nighswonger explained that Wyoming’s same-day registration law enabled it to achieve a waiver exempting it from many of the federal requirements in the federal Help America Vote Act. Indiana did not have that waiver, she said.
Rep. Harshman said he did not want to do away with same-day registration and noted he had asked the secretary of state if he had problems with the bill.
“I went to the guy in charge,” he said, and did not hear this objection.
In the end, Reps. Kermit Brown of Laramie and David Miller of Riverton were joined by Chairman Pete Illoway as the only votes for the bill.
Reps. Bernadine Craft, Rock Springs, Ross Diercks, Lusk, Tom Lubnau, Gillette, Mary Hales, Tim Stubson, Casper, and Dan Zwonitzer, Cheyenne, voted against the measure.
Wednesday, January 21, 2009
Focus on Family zeroes in on Wyoming
Expensive lobbying effort launched
SJ 2 proposes an amendment to the Wyoming Constitution that would recognize marriages only between a man and a woman.
Marriage already is defined in Wyoming law as between a man and a woman, so this proposed amendment is aimed at gay marriages recognized in other states.
One might wonder how huge a problem this is in Wyoming, especially compared to issues such as 100,000 residents with no health insurance, a crippling lack of quality child care, or permanently disabled workers whose “benefits” leave them in poverty.
But apparently it’s a big problem, judging by the lobbying effort behind SJ 2. For the past week, residents in the five state senate districts whose senators comprise the Senate Education Committee have received calls from a calling center in the Midwest called “Advantage Research.”
The caller says that he or she has “an important message about marriage in Wyoming.” The caller claims that most people in Wyoming favor marriage as only between a man and a woman, and that a bill to give citizens a chance to vote on this concept has been referred to the Senate Education Committee.
The script goes on to warn the recipient of the call that if the bill does not get out of committee, the chance for the people to vote on the issue will be lost. The caller then informs the recipient of the call that his or her senator is on this committee, and offers to patch the recipient through to the senator’s office to urge a “yes” vote.
This is interesting since Wyoming legislators do not have offices; apparently the call is patched through either to the Legislative Service Office or to the voter hotline.
Sarah Gorin, past chair of the Equality State Policy Center, received two calls about an hour apart, and asked each caller who was paying for the calling. On both occasions she was informed that the calling was financed by Focus on the Family Action, the lobbying arm of Focus on the Family, based in Colorado Springs.
Need for disclosure
Everyone has the right to lobby. The unfortunate aspect about what obviously is an expensive lobbying effort on SJ2 is that under Wyoming’s weak lobbyist reporting law, Wyoming people will not find out how much it cost because Focus on the Family Action is not required to report it.
Wyoming’s current law requires reporting only of gifts to legislators, the cost of receptions, and “advertising” intended to influence legislation, whatever that means. Any other lobbying expenses, including the resources needed to keep lobbyists chatting in legislators’ ears 24/7 in Cheyenne and between sessions, is invisible. It’s high time to adopt legislation that requires complete reporting of lobbyists’ expenditures.
SJ 2 proposes an amendment to the Wyoming Constitution that would recognize marriages only between a man and a woman.
Marriage already is defined in Wyoming law as between a man and a woman, so this proposed amendment is aimed at gay marriages recognized in other states.
One might wonder how huge a problem this is in Wyoming, especially compared to issues such as 100,000 residents with no health insurance, a crippling lack of quality child care, or permanently disabled workers whose “benefits” leave them in poverty.
But apparently it’s a big problem, judging by the lobbying effort behind SJ 2. For the past week, residents in the five state senate districts whose senators comprise the Senate Education Committee have received calls from a calling center in the Midwest called “Advantage Research.”
The caller says that he or she has “an important message about marriage in Wyoming.” The caller claims that most people in Wyoming favor marriage as only between a man and a woman, and that a bill to give citizens a chance to vote on this concept has been referred to the Senate Education Committee.
The script goes on to warn the recipient of the call that if the bill does not get out of committee, the chance for the people to vote on the issue will be lost. The caller then informs the recipient of the call that his or her senator is on this committee, and offers to patch the recipient through to the senator’s office to urge a “yes” vote.
This is interesting since Wyoming legislators do not have offices; apparently the call is patched through either to the Legislative Service Office or to the voter hotline.
Sarah Gorin, past chair of the Equality State Policy Center, received two calls about an hour apart, and asked each caller who was paying for the calling. On both occasions she was informed that the calling was financed by Focus on the Family Action, the lobbying arm of Focus on the Family, based in Colorado Springs.
Need for disclosure
Everyone has the right to lobby. The unfortunate aspect about what obviously is an expensive lobbying effort on SJ2 is that under Wyoming’s weak lobbyist reporting law, Wyoming people will not find out how much it cost because Focus on the Family Action is not required to report it.
Wyoming’s current law requires reporting only of gifts to legislators, the cost of receptions, and “advertising” intended to influence legislation, whatever that means. Any other lobbying expenses, including the resources needed to keep lobbyists chatting in legislators’ ears 24/7 in Cheyenne and between sessions, is invisible. It’s high time to adopt legislation that requires complete reporting of lobbyists’ expenditures.
Tuesday, January 20, 2009
Close the PAC loophole
Rep. Throne bill limits contributions by PACs
A campaign finance bill that closes the loophole in state law that allows political action committees (PACs) to completely dominate local elections passed the House Corporations Committee Tuesday.
Rep. Mary Throne’s bill proposed limiting PAC contributions to $1,000 per election. The committee amended it to allow PACs to contribute $3,000 per election.
The ESPC supports the measure. State law presently imposes no limits on PAC contributions. That loophole in finance law was exploited in the 2006 campaign by a political action committee set up in Natrona County.
In 2006, the Committee to Elect Natrona County Candidates received $11,757.48 from a single contributor. The PAC subsequently contributed $11,190.77 to a candidate for Natrona County Commission during and after the 2006 general election campaign. The actions of the committee were duly reported in campaign reports filed in the Natrona County Clerk’s Office by the PAC and the county commission candidate.
We contend the action violated the spirit of state campaign finance law, which seeks to limit the ability of a wealthy few to dominate state and local elections. The $3,000 limit will reduce the ability of a PAC to dominate relatively low-cost contest for local and legislative offices.
A reporting clause in Rep. Throne’s bill requires all candidates to report any contribution of $500 or more made in the last days of an election campaign within 24 hours. The wording on this requirement is tricky.
State law, the bill notes, says this (lines of text are numbered in bills – this is excerpted from Page 4 of HB 117):
12 (i) Every candidate shall file a fully itemized
13 statement of receipts at least seven (7) days before any
14 primary, general or special election with information
15 required by this subsection current to any day from the
16 eighth day up to the fourteenth day before the election.
Rep. Throne proposed this reporting requirement:
17 Any additional receipts of five hundred dollars ($500.00)
18 or more received from any one (1) contributor, other than
19 the candidate or the candidate's immediate family, shall be
20 reported not later than the close of the following business
21 day;
The committee approved two amendments aimed at clarifying the reporting requirement. Together, those amendments insert the following words on line 17, before the word “Any”:
“After the date the fully itemized statement of receipts is due, and prior to or on the date of the election,” …
I know this is an exhaustive look at legislating details. But if you’ve read this far, you may have another question. Is it possible to evade the 24-hour reporting requirements on contributions made during the 14th to the 8th day prior to the election? What if those contributions are not listed in the report that must be submitted by the 7th day before the election?
Party limits? Pre-election reporting for PACs?
It’s one step at a time with campaign finance reform. More steps lie ahead. State law presently does not limit contributions by political parties. We should look at the reasoning for the lack of a limit.
Imposing similar pre-election reporting requirements on PACs would continue to build on the legislature’s effort to make the campaign financing process more transparent. The public deserves to know who is funding PACs during the last two weeks of campaigning.
House Bill 117 could be amended to instruct PACs to list both receipts and contributor names seven days before an election. Similarly, PACs could be required to file daily reports of large receipts and of contributions made to candidates in the last 14 days of an election.
Here’s another consideration. Campaign finance guru Robert Stern of the Center for Governmental Studies in L.A. suggests imposing individual limits on contributions to PACs. Wyoming law limits individuals to total contributions of $25,000 per election to individual candidates. But there does not appear to be any limit on individual contributions to PACs.
Monday, January 19, 2009
Loud and proud in the halls of power
MLK Day brings ebullient crowd into Capitol
Martin Luther King Day demonstrators celebrated King’s annual holiday with a march from the old Union Pacific Depot to the Capitol, loudly, brashly reminding everyone of that American revolutionary’s commitment to equality and his drive to free all of us from the oppression of racism.
It was obvious the crowd also was energized by the impending inauguration of Barack Obama as the country’s 44th president and the first black man to hold that office. Whoops and shouts accompanied every mention of Obama’s name until one speaker silenced them with a lame joke that Obama should not have been elected.
He recovered but the humor did not go over very well.
Still, with all this going on, one wonders why the legislature continues to work tomorrow at 10 a.m., the approximate moment that Obama will have his hand on a Bible swearing the oath of office. Any presidential inauguration is a great civic moment. We all should stop and take notice. Even our hard-working legislators deserve a pause.
Campaign finance in Senate
Meeting in Committee of the Whole Monday, the Senate gave its initial approval to SF-12, a measure that will raise campaign contribution limits in Wyoming races to $2,300 per individual per election. Lead sponsor Sen. Bruce Burns of Sheridan told his colleagues that the limits have not been raised since first imposed in the 1970s.
He also said he finds problematic that fact that federal law allows him to contribute $2,300 per election to a candidate for Congress but state law limits him to a contribution of just $1,000 to a candidate for statewide office such as governor or state auditor.
But the good senator's first argument assumes that the legislature picked exactly the right limit 30 years ago. We believe $1,000 was too high then and just about right now, particularly for a legislative race. It just does not cost that much to run in Wyoming.
And for argument 2, why not impose tiers that establish higher limits for statewide races and maintain the current limits for legislative races? Higher limits will crowd voters out of campaigns in favor of people with money to pass around.
The House takes up campaign finance Tuesday when its Corporations Committee considers HB-117, a measure proposed by Rep. Mary Throne of Cheyenne. It will limit contributions from Political Action Committees to $1,000 per candidate per election. The committee meets when the House recesses for lunch.
Medicaid shortfall seen
Department of Health officials told the Joint Appropriations Committee Monday that demand for Medicaid services is climbing in the recession as low-income workers lose their jobs. With the loss of income, they meet the state's very tight Medicaid qualification rules. The department now expects a $33.2 million shortfall. They agreed with Senate Chairman Phil Nicholas of Laramie that other services the department is required by law to deliver and funds needed for Development Disabilities waivers mean the department may be short $49 million.
Legislators will have to scramble to find funds for those programs and others pushed in new legislation, including proposed increases in mental health services.
Jennings explains missed hearing
Sen. Kit Jennings of Casper spotted me in the Senate lobby Monday and chastised me for claims in Monday’s posting that he missed a hearing of one of his own bills last week. Jennings said he had made arrangements to be called from a separate meeting when his bill, SF53 – Property tax deferral, came up in the Senate Revenue Committee. The bill came up but no one notified him, he said.
Jennings said I could have learned that simply by talking to him. He’s right. I apologize for the comment and the failure to follow through. The committee, meanwhile, has re-scheduled the hearing of the bill Tuesday when it meets over the noon recess.
Martin Luther King Day demonstrators celebrated King’s annual holiday with a march from the old Union Pacific Depot to the Capitol, loudly, brashly reminding everyone of that American revolutionary’s commitment to equality and his drive to free all of us from the oppression of racism.
It was obvious the crowd also was energized by the impending inauguration of Barack Obama as the country’s 44th president and the first black man to hold that office. Whoops and shouts accompanied every mention of Obama’s name until one speaker silenced them with a lame joke that Obama should not have been elected.
He recovered but the humor did not go over very well.
Still, with all this going on, one wonders why the legislature continues to work tomorrow at 10 a.m., the approximate moment that Obama will have his hand on a Bible swearing the oath of office. Any presidential inauguration is a great civic moment. We all should stop and take notice. Even our hard-working legislators deserve a pause.
Campaign finance in Senate
Meeting in Committee of the Whole Monday, the Senate gave its initial approval to SF-12, a measure that will raise campaign contribution limits in Wyoming races to $2,300 per individual per election. Lead sponsor Sen. Bruce Burns of Sheridan told his colleagues that the limits have not been raised since first imposed in the 1970s.
He also said he finds problematic that fact that federal law allows him to contribute $2,300 per election to a candidate for Congress but state law limits him to a contribution of just $1,000 to a candidate for statewide office such as governor or state auditor.
But the good senator's first argument assumes that the legislature picked exactly the right limit 30 years ago. We believe $1,000 was too high then and just about right now, particularly for a legislative race. It just does not cost that much to run in Wyoming.
And for argument 2, why not impose tiers that establish higher limits for statewide races and maintain the current limits for legislative races? Higher limits will crowd voters out of campaigns in favor of people with money to pass around.
The House takes up campaign finance Tuesday when its Corporations Committee considers HB-117, a measure proposed by Rep. Mary Throne of Cheyenne. It will limit contributions from Political Action Committees to $1,000 per candidate per election. The committee meets when the House recesses for lunch.
Medicaid shortfall seen
Department of Health officials told the Joint Appropriations Committee Monday that demand for Medicaid services is climbing in the recession as low-income workers lose their jobs. With the loss of income, they meet the state's very tight Medicaid qualification rules. The department now expects a $33.2 million shortfall. They agreed with Senate Chairman Phil Nicholas of Laramie that other services the department is required by law to deliver and funds needed for Development Disabilities waivers mean the department may be short $49 million.
Legislators will have to scramble to find funds for those programs and others pushed in new legislation, including proposed increases in mental health services.
Jennings explains missed hearing
Sen. Kit Jennings of Casper spotted me in the Senate lobby Monday and chastised me for claims in Monday’s posting that he missed a hearing of one of his own bills last week. Jennings said he had made arrangements to be called from a separate meeting when his bill, SF53 – Property tax deferral, came up in the Senate Revenue Committee. The bill came up but no one notified him, he said.
Jennings said I could have learned that simply by talking to him. He’s right. I apologize for the comment and the failure to follow through. The committee, meanwhile, has re-scheduled the hearing of the bill Tuesday when it meets over the noon recess.
Sunday, January 18, 2009
Workers' Comp changes sent to House floor
House Labor backs Workers Comp measure
Amendments to Wyoming’s workers’ compensation program that would improve benefits to injured workers and give employers big premium credits were approved Friday afternoon.
We’ve talked about the measure before. One key element is including Cost of Living Adjustments on payments received by people who are permanently totally disabled. The bill, hammered out by the Joint Labor, Health and Social Services Committee over the past seven months, offers a COLA of up to 3% to those injured people.
But Rep. Lisa Shepperson of Casper, who was just appointed to the committee and thus missed all those deliberations, tried to cut the COLA to just 2%. The average recipient of such benefits gets only about $30,000 per year, according to division administrators. With the cost of living going up for everyone around them, it seemed a hard-hearted message to send to the just 184 people who get such permanent benefits.
Fortunately, the committee refused to go along with the Casper representative. We’ll have to watch the coming floor action, however, for similar efforts to reduce the proposed COLA.
ESPC joins in creation of new freedom of information organization
The Equality State Policy Center and other groups Thursday announced the creation of the Wyoming Coalition for Open Government (WyCOG), an organization designed to promote open, accountable government in Wyoming.
The ESPC joined the Wyoming League of Women Voters, venerable press institutions like the Casper Star-Tribune,the Wyoming Tribune-Eagle, and The Associated Press, and interested individuals to form WyCOG, which will educate the public about the importance of government transparency to the function of our democratic institutions.
WyCOG also intends to hold government institutions accountable for keeping their meetings and records open to the public. As part of that effort, the group plans to hand out awards each year to those individuals or organizations most dedicated to open government. And it will shine a light on public institutions that shut the public out of their deliberations.
On Thursday, WyCOG declared Casper attorney Mike Krampner its “First Amendment Hero” for his many years of work with the Freedom of Information Hotline, established in 1986 by Sigma Delta Chi, the society of professional journalists. Krampner has helped many reporters fighting to gain access to public meetings and documents.
ON the flip side, WyCOG gave its “Black Hole Award” to the Building Code Board of Appeals for the City of Cheyenne. The board has shut the public out of deliberations that led to the demolition of historic homes in Cheyenne.
Senate measure more than doubles campaign contribution limits
Individual contributions to political campaigns would more than double under legislation backed Thursday by the Senate Corporations Committee.
The bill, SF-12, is sponsored by Sen. Bruce Burns and Reps. Kermit Brown of Laramie and House Corporations Committee Chairman Pete Illoway of Cheyenne. It will hike the state’s limits on individual campaign contributions from $1,000 per election to $2,300. A well-heeled donor could give a candidate a total of $4,600 during an election cycle: $2,300 for a primary election and another $2,300 for a general election.
The bill maintains existing law that restrict a single individual’s total campaign contributions to $25,000 during a two-year election cycle.
The ESPC and the League of Women Voters oppose the hike. Contested Wyoming legislative races rarely exceed $15,500 for a Senate seat or $7,500 - $9,500 for a House seat. With the proposed limits, one couple basically could fund a House race. The ESPC believes candidates should have to appeal to many residents of their districts.
Statewide races, especially gubernatorial campaigns, do see contributors “limit out.” Marguerite Herman of the League suggested the state could consider creating tiers of contribution limits. In South Dakota and a number of others states, a higher limit is mandated for statewide offices. Lower limits are imposed on legislative races.
The committee did not discuss the possibility of considering tiers of limits before it backed the measure on a 4-1 vote. You can read the Wyoming Tribune-Eagle story here. The Casper Star-Tribune story is here.
A political flashpoint?
There was an interesting exchange during Thursday’s Senate Corporations Committee meeting between Chairman Cale Case of Lander and Deputy Secretary of State Pat Arp. Under pointed questioning from Sen. Case, Ms. Arp revealed that the state attorney general ruled last year that donors can give a candidate $2,000 prior to the primary election so long as they do not contribute again during the general election campaign.
That’s a big change from past practice. Typically, campaigns presumed they could not accept more than $1,000 during any single election from a contributor.
A peeved Sen. Case believes the AG’s decision is contrary to legislative intent. “The legislature writes $1,000 and the AG doubles that,” he said. Ms. Arp did not disagree.
The $2,000 checks apparently were written to Democratic Party legislative candidates. Watch for the Wyoming GOP to make a big stink about this, assuming it can be certain that no Republican candidates accepted similar $2,000 contributions in either the 2008 primary or general elections.
Sen. Jennings misses hearing of own bill
Sen. Kit Jennings failed to appear before the Senate Revenue Committee Thursday to explain and advocate for his property tax deferral bill, SF-53. I’m sorry I wasn’t there to see the committee’s reaction myself. It is poor form for a legislator not to show up when a committee hears his or her bill. The Revenue Committee did not vote on Sen. Jennings bill.
(Editor's note, (Jan. 20): Sen. Jennings says he arranged to be called to this hearing, but was not contacted for the committee meeting. Read Dan Neal's note on this here.)
Amendments to Wyoming’s workers’ compensation program that would improve benefits to injured workers and give employers big premium credits were approved Friday afternoon.
We’ve talked about the measure before. One key element is including Cost of Living Adjustments on payments received by people who are permanently totally disabled. The bill, hammered out by the Joint Labor, Health and Social Services Committee over the past seven months, offers a COLA of up to 3% to those injured people.
But Rep. Lisa Shepperson of Casper, who was just appointed to the committee and thus missed all those deliberations, tried to cut the COLA to just 2%. The average recipient of such benefits gets only about $30,000 per year, according to division administrators. With the cost of living going up for everyone around them, it seemed a hard-hearted message to send to the just 184 people who get such permanent benefits.
Fortunately, the committee refused to go along with the Casper representative. We’ll have to watch the coming floor action, however, for similar efforts to reduce the proposed COLA.
ESPC joins in creation of new freedom of information organization
The Equality State Policy Center and other groups Thursday announced the creation of the Wyoming Coalition for Open Government (WyCOG), an organization designed to promote open, accountable government in Wyoming.
The ESPC joined the Wyoming League of Women Voters, venerable press institutions like the Casper Star-Tribune,the Wyoming Tribune-Eagle, and The Associated Press, and interested individuals to form WyCOG, which will educate the public about the importance of government transparency to the function of our democratic institutions.
WyCOG also intends to hold government institutions accountable for keeping their meetings and records open to the public. As part of that effort, the group plans to hand out awards each year to those individuals or organizations most dedicated to open government. And it will shine a light on public institutions that shut the public out of their deliberations.
On Thursday, WyCOG declared Casper attorney Mike Krampner its “First Amendment Hero” for his many years of work with the Freedom of Information Hotline, established in 1986 by Sigma Delta Chi, the society of professional journalists. Krampner has helped many reporters fighting to gain access to public meetings and documents.
ON the flip side, WyCOG gave its “Black Hole Award” to the Building Code Board of Appeals for the City of Cheyenne. The board has shut the public out of deliberations that led to the demolition of historic homes in Cheyenne.
Senate measure more than doubles campaign contribution limits
Individual contributions to political campaigns would more than double under legislation backed Thursday by the Senate Corporations Committee.
The bill, SF-12, is sponsored by Sen. Bruce Burns and Reps. Kermit Brown of Laramie and House Corporations Committee Chairman Pete Illoway of Cheyenne. It will hike the state’s limits on individual campaign contributions from $1,000 per election to $2,300. A well-heeled donor could give a candidate a total of $4,600 during an election cycle: $2,300 for a primary election and another $2,300 for a general election.
The bill maintains existing law that restrict a single individual’s total campaign contributions to $25,000 during a two-year election cycle.
The ESPC and the League of Women Voters oppose the hike. Contested Wyoming legislative races rarely exceed $15,500 for a Senate seat or $7,500 - $9,500 for a House seat. With the proposed limits, one couple basically could fund a House race. The ESPC believes candidates should have to appeal to many residents of their districts.
Statewide races, especially gubernatorial campaigns, do see contributors “limit out.” Marguerite Herman of the League suggested the state could consider creating tiers of contribution limits. In South Dakota and a number of others states, a higher limit is mandated for statewide offices. Lower limits are imposed on legislative races.
The committee did not discuss the possibility of considering tiers of limits before it backed the measure on a 4-1 vote. You can read the Wyoming Tribune-Eagle story here. The Casper Star-Tribune story is here.
A political flashpoint?
There was an interesting exchange during Thursday’s Senate Corporations Committee meeting between Chairman Cale Case of Lander and Deputy Secretary of State Pat Arp. Under pointed questioning from Sen. Case, Ms. Arp revealed that the state attorney general ruled last year that donors can give a candidate $2,000 prior to the primary election so long as they do not contribute again during the general election campaign.
That’s a big change from past practice. Typically, campaigns presumed they could not accept more than $1,000 during any single election from a contributor.
A peeved Sen. Case believes the AG’s decision is contrary to legislative intent. “The legislature writes $1,000 and the AG doubles that,” he said. Ms. Arp did not disagree.
The $2,000 checks apparently were written to Democratic Party legislative candidates. Watch for the Wyoming GOP to make a big stink about this, assuming it can be certain that no Republican candidates accepted similar $2,000 contributions in either the 2008 primary or general elections.
Sen. Jennings misses hearing of own bill
Sen. Kit Jennings failed to appear before the Senate Revenue Committee Thursday to explain and advocate for his property tax deferral bill, SF-53. I’m sorry I wasn’t there to see the committee’s reaction myself. It is poor form for a legislator not to show up when a committee hears his or her bill. The Revenue Committee did not vote on Sen. Jennings bill.
(Editor's note, (Jan. 20): Sen. Jennings says he arranged to be called to this hearing, but was not contacted for the committee meeting. Read Dan Neal's note on this here.)
Wednesday, January 14, 2009
Citizen Lobbyist Training attracts scores
And, do Workers’ Comp COLA estimators smoke crack?
We staged our Citizen Lobbyist Training at the Plains Hotel today. It’s a one-day short-course we offer every year to explain the legislature’s elegant and sometimes complex process and describe at least some of the human motivations that drive it.
Nearly 70 people registered for the training, close to record participation. Our own Sarah Gorin explained how a bill becomes law and noted some of the myths about our “citizen legislature.” Suzan Pauling of the Coalition Against Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault dispelled fears of involvement with tales of her own steps and missteps as a novice lobbyist.
Marcia Shanor detailed the challenges of testifying before a legislative committee. Like Pauling, her talk was salted with practical advice, like getting to committee hearings early if you want a chair in one of those tiny committee rooms, dressing well, and staying aware of your own demeanor while other people talk.
Former Sweetwater state Sen. Rae Lynn Job and five sitting legislators, including Reps. Bernadine Craft, Tom Lubnau, Jeb Steward, Mary Throne and Sen. John Schiffer, offered perspectives on their own motivations for serving in the legislature, the best methods for lobbying them, and looked to challenges ahead. Sen. Schiffer suggested balancing the state budget won’t be a problem. Dealing with big issues facing Wyoming residents, like health care, is a greater problem, Schiffer said.
Positive responses from many of the participants have stirred thoughts at the ESPC of trying to conduct similar training sessions in a few communities around the state in an effort to connect Wyoming’s far-flung residents with the important doings here in Cheyenne.
Actuaries on drugs???
The House Labor, Health and Social Services Committee lost no time in picking up a critical bill on Wyoming’s Workers’ Compensation program. House Bill 54 – Workers’ compensation amendments contains the first increases in benefits for injured workers since the early 1990s.
We support the bill. It includes a significant hike in death benefits paid to surviving dependents, eliminates the gap between the shut-off of Temporary Total Disability payments and the payment of permanent benefits, and for the first time gives cost-of-living-adjustments (COLA) to beneficiaries. The bill is the product of considerable interim work by the joint committee in 2008. Changes in the make-up of the committee have brought four new members, however, who did not participate in the interim work.
The new members did not have the chance to hear the many injured workers who testified at a hearing in Casper in June. Those workers expressed considerable frustration with the administration of the program and its treatment of them. They also pointed out many problems with the way it pays out benefits that have left many of them devastated economically, losing homes, cars, and sometimes marriages.
The bill comes with a fiscal note that estimates the increased benefits carry an annual cost between $11 million and $12 million. But Cheyenne attorney George Santini challenged the $3.5 million annual price tag the note puts on the COLA for recipients of Permanent Total Disability payments.
The estimators had to have been “smoking crack,” he said. He noted that only 184 people receive PTD benefits from the Wyoming program. A COLA that costs $3.5 million a year would mean each person’s benefit would be increased by about $20,000, a number he said challenges reason.
Most COLAs are in a range of 3% to 5% annually, Santini said. Simple arithmetic reveals that for a 5% COLA to reach $20,000, an injured worker would have to receive benefits of $400,000 yearly. Workers’ Comp benefits are not that good.
Committee Chairman Jack Landon of Sheridan asked Workers’ Compensation Division administrators to supply an explanation of the $3.5 million estimate of COLA costs. None of the Worker’s Comp honchos denied Santini’s “smoking crack” charge One said he did not know exactly how the division’s actuary calculated them.
Ultimately, the numbers show that the Workers’ Comp fund holds the money needed to provide the benefits, which may be considerably less than indicated by the fiscal note on the bill.
There’s a question of fairness, too. Employers recently got a 15% premium credit that saved them nearly $40 million. There was little or no debate of that cost to the fund. It’s time injured workers got their due.
There was minimal opposition to the measure. Tom Jones, a former legislator who lobbies for the National Federation of Independent Business, expressed concern about the impact of the COLAs on the long-term health of the fund. Coal industry lobbyist Marion Loomis backed the bill, though he also asked the committee to look hard at the impact of the COLAs. No other industry lobbyists commented on the bill.
Kim Floyd of the AFL-CIO, Jon Narva of the Federated Fire Fighters of Wyoming, and Mark Aronowitz, an attorney with the Spence Law Firm’s nonprofit arm, joined Santini in support of the bill.
The ESPC likewise backed the bill but called for additional language that would make clear to the division administrators that the primary purpose of the program is not controlling its costs. The legislature should tell the division to focus first on restoring injured workers to productive life as quickly as possible and provide adequate indemnity benefits to permanently disabled workers. Cost control should be secondary. The cost of the program, as Floyd said, should not be forced on injured workers by paying them inadequate benefits.
No one should go broke because they went to work one day and got hurt.
We staged our Citizen Lobbyist Training at the Plains Hotel today. It’s a one-day short-course we offer every year to explain the legislature’s elegant and sometimes complex process and describe at least some of the human motivations that drive it.Nearly 70 people registered for the training, close to record participation. Our own Sarah Gorin explained how a bill becomes law and noted some of the myths about our “citizen legislature.” Suzan Pauling of the Coalition Against Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault dispelled fears of involvement with tales of her own steps and missteps as a novice lobbyist.
Marcia Shanor detailed the challenges of testifying before a legislative committee. Like Pauling, her talk was salted with practical advice, like getting to committee hearings early if you want a chair in one of those tiny committee rooms, dressing well, and staying aware of your own demeanor while other people talk.
Former Sweetwater state Sen. Rae Lynn Job and five sitting legislators, including Reps. Bernadine Craft, Tom Lubnau, Jeb Steward, Mary Throne and Sen. John Schiffer, offered perspectives on their own motivations for serving in the legislature, the best methods for lobbying them, and looked to challenges ahead. Sen. Schiffer suggested balancing the state budget won’t be a problem. Dealing with big issues facing Wyoming residents, like health care, is a greater problem, Schiffer said.
Positive responses from many of the participants have stirred thoughts at the ESPC of trying to conduct similar training sessions in a few communities around the state in an effort to connect Wyoming’s far-flung residents with the important doings here in Cheyenne.
Actuaries on drugs???
The House Labor, Health and Social Services Committee lost no time in picking up a critical bill on Wyoming’s Workers’ Compensation program. House Bill 54 – Workers’ compensation amendments contains the first increases in benefits for injured workers since the early 1990s.
We support the bill. It includes a significant hike in death benefits paid to surviving dependents, eliminates the gap between the shut-off of Temporary Total Disability payments and the payment of permanent benefits, and for the first time gives cost-of-living-adjustments (COLA) to beneficiaries. The bill is the product of considerable interim work by the joint committee in 2008. Changes in the make-up of the committee have brought four new members, however, who did not participate in the interim work.
The new members did not have the chance to hear the many injured workers who testified at a hearing in Casper in June. Those workers expressed considerable frustration with the administration of the program and its treatment of them. They also pointed out many problems with the way it pays out benefits that have left many of them devastated economically, losing homes, cars, and sometimes marriages.
The bill comes with a fiscal note that estimates the increased benefits carry an annual cost between $11 million and $12 million. But Cheyenne attorney George Santini challenged the $3.5 million annual price tag the note puts on the COLA for recipients of Permanent Total Disability payments.
"Simple arithmetic reveals that for a 5% COLA to reach $20,000, an injured worker would have to receive benefits of $400,000 yearly. Workers’ Comp benefits are not that good."
The estimators had to have been “smoking crack,” he said. He noted that only 184 people receive PTD benefits from the Wyoming program. A COLA that costs $3.5 million a year would mean each person’s benefit would be increased by about $20,000, a number he said challenges reason.
Most COLAs are in a range of 3% to 5% annually, Santini said. Simple arithmetic reveals that for a 5% COLA to reach $20,000, an injured worker would have to receive benefits of $400,000 yearly. Workers’ Comp benefits are not that good.
Committee Chairman Jack Landon of Sheridan asked Workers’ Compensation Division administrators to supply an explanation of the $3.5 million estimate of COLA costs. None of the Worker’s Comp honchos denied Santini’s “smoking crack” charge One said he did not know exactly how the division’s actuary calculated them.
Ultimately, the numbers show that the Workers’ Comp fund holds the money needed to provide the benefits, which may be considerably less than indicated by the fiscal note on the bill.
There’s a question of fairness, too. Employers recently got a 15% premium credit that saved them nearly $40 million. There was little or no debate of that cost to the fund. It’s time injured workers got their due.
There was minimal opposition to the measure. Tom Jones, a former legislator who lobbies for the National Federation of Independent Business, expressed concern about the impact of the COLAs on the long-term health of the fund. Coal industry lobbyist Marion Loomis backed the bill, though he also asked the committee to look hard at the impact of the COLAs. No other industry lobbyists commented on the bill.
Kim Floyd of the AFL-CIO, Jon Narva of the Federated Fire Fighters of Wyoming, and Mark Aronowitz, an attorney with the Spence Law Firm’s nonprofit arm, joined Santini in support of the bill.
The ESPC likewise backed the bill but called for additional language that would make clear to the division administrators that the primary purpose of the program is not controlling its costs. The legislature should tell the division to focus first on restoring injured workers to productive life as quickly as possible and provide adequate indemnity benefits to permanently disabled workers. Cost control should be secondary. The cost of the program, as Floyd said, should not be forced on injured workers by paying them inadequate benefits.
No one should go broke because they went to work one day and got hurt.
Tuesday, January 13, 2009
And, they’re off …
The 60th Wyoming Legislature opened today and new House Speaker Colin Simpson, R-Cody, quickly made clear that he intends to pursue property tax relief for Wyoming citizens despite declining projects of state revenues.
“I fully support property tax relief” to reduce the burden on private, commercial and agricultural taxpayers, he said.
Simpson noted the relief will be for one year only, giving legislators time to see if the fall in property tax values hitting many parts of the nation will reach Wyoming.
The new Speaker said he expects to see progress on carbon sequestration legislation aimed at protecting Wyoming’s fossil fuel industry and the state revenues they generate.
Health care issues are a key concern for the Equality State Policy Center. The legislative leadership wants action, though what that will be remains unclear. Simpson called for setting up some sort of health policy organization to succeed the Wyoming Healthcare Commission, which is set to go out of business June 30. And new Senate President John Hines told the Senate in his opening remarks that health care woes plague many state residents.
Simpson also acknowledged that legislators will take considerable time to consider changes to the Wyoming workers’ compensation program, another priority of the ESPC, the AFL-CIO, and the Wyoming Trial Lawyers Association. We continue to push for changes in administration to make certain that workers get the benefits they’re entitled to receive and to authorize cost of living adjustments in settlements so that people, especially those who suffer permanent disabilities on the job, maintain the value of their settlements over time.
One other note from Simpson’s speech was his announcement of his plans to introduce a bill that would establish the “Western States Energy Task Force.” The task force would organize a big conference later this year to explore many energy issues facing the West and potential options to address them.
Old man Al
Speaker Simpson’s father, former state representative and Wyoming U.S. Sen. Al Simpson, his mother, wife Deb, kids and a raft of cousins, uncles and family friends attended his official ascension to the speakership. Old Al talked, as he often has over the years, about the “rough and tumble” of politics and described legislating as a “contact sport.” Perhaps his sagest comment to the members of the House came when he urged the legislature to avoid “getting bogged down in social issues.” He noted its difficult to sway anyone from their deeply held beliefs about such matters and the debate spawns heated, divisive debate.
It’s wise advice but it won’t be followed unless the leadership decides to keep some of the most contentious ideas off the table. The proposed resolution for a constitutional amendment to enable Wyoming to ignore valid marriage licenses obtained in other states by gays and lesbians is just the most obvious. There are others.
“I fully support property tax relief” to reduce the burden on private, commercial and agricultural taxpayers, he said.
Simpson noted the relief will be for one year only, giving legislators time to see if the fall in property tax values hitting many parts of the nation will reach Wyoming.
The new Speaker said he expects to see progress on carbon sequestration legislation aimed at protecting Wyoming’s fossil fuel industry and the state revenues they generate.
Health care issues are a key concern for the Equality State Policy Center. The legislative leadership wants action, though what that will be remains unclear. Simpson called for setting up some sort of health policy organization to succeed the Wyoming Healthcare Commission, which is set to go out of business June 30. And new Senate President John Hines told the Senate in his opening remarks that health care woes plague many state residents.
Simpson also acknowledged that legislators will take considerable time to consider changes to the Wyoming workers’ compensation program, another priority of the ESPC, the AFL-CIO, and the Wyoming Trial Lawyers Association. We continue to push for changes in administration to make certain that workers get the benefits they’re entitled to receive and to authorize cost of living adjustments in settlements so that people, especially those who suffer permanent disabilities on the job, maintain the value of their settlements over time.
One other note from Simpson’s speech was his announcement of his plans to introduce a bill that would establish the “Western States Energy Task Force.” The task force would organize a big conference later this year to explore many energy issues facing the West and potential options to address them.
Old man Al
Speaker Simpson’s father, former state representative and Wyoming U.S. Sen. Al Simpson, his mother, wife Deb, kids and a raft of cousins, uncles and family friends attended his official ascension to the speakership. Old Al talked, as he often has over the years, about the “rough and tumble” of politics and described legislating as a “contact sport.” Perhaps his sagest comment to the members of the House came when he urged the legislature to avoid “getting bogged down in social issues.” He noted its difficult to sway anyone from their deeply held beliefs about such matters and the debate spawns heated, divisive debate.
It’s wise advice but it won’t be followed unless the leadership decides to keep some of the most contentious ideas off the table. The proposed resolution for a constitutional amendment to enable Wyoming to ignore valid marriage licenses obtained in other states by gays and lesbians is just the most obvious. There are others.
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