October 29, 2021 |
In Cheyenne, lawmakers took up second reading of bills on Day 3 of the special session. In the senate, legislation that would make discriminating for against the vaccinated or unvaccinated in restaurants or other public accommodations illegal, passed quietly with amendments.
SF1003 was hotly debated during first reading on Wednesday, and likely will be a battleground during third reading today. On Thursday, discussion focused on two amendments, especially one that makes vaccine status a protected class, like race, religion or sex.
A second amendment reclassified the penalty portion of the bill, moving it from the domain of the Health Department to Title 6 of state code—Crimes and offenses. The penalty for barring an unvaxxed person, for instance, from eating at a lunch counter would carry a penalty of six months in jail and a fine of up to $750. Both amendments passed but not without some displeasure.
Republican Senator Jim Anderson of Natrona County voted for the amendment despite his objection. Anderson and others in the chamber green lighted the amendments with the promise they will try to defeat the bill on third reading, or change it through more amendments. The debate begins Friday morning at 10:00 a.m.
The real action was in the House yesterday during the debate over HB 1001 — COVID 19 employer mandates. Lawmakers wrangled over 18 amendments to the bill brought by House Speaker Pro Tem Mike Grear. The body of the bill would prohibit employers from requiring a COVID-19 jab as a condition of employment. It would also allow for exemptions and other alternative workarounds if an employer was facing a federal penalty for requiring the shot. The debate over an amendment that would have removed an exemption for those who have recovered from COVID drew heavy incoming and was ultimately defeated. The debate was lively and informative. Representative Tim Hallinan, a medical doctor, referred to a study from Israel, where COVID cases surged over the summer despite a 78 percent vaccination rate.
Pictured above: Screenshot of livestream from the House Chamber during day three of the special session. Courtesy Wyoming State Legislature. Click here to watch replays and streams of the session.
House Minority Leader Cathy Connolly, who opposed the session and the challenge it poses to the White House mandate, spoke for the amendment and against natural immunity. Connolly argued that natural immunity from a prior infection is not a reason to be exempted from the jab. .
Connolly did not offer any scientific evidence or offer any explanation why, if the Big Pharma drugs work, how the vaccinated are at risk from the unvaccinated. Representative Clarence Syvner of Laramie County stood as defiantly against the amendment as Connoly was for it. Syver said some people are at risk from the vaccine itself.
Styver then ran afoul of House rules when he apparently read through a list of those in the Washington Beltway who have been granted exemptions from the jab by the Biden White House. Speaker Eric Barlow interrupted Styver before he finished his list.
The job of working through the amendments lasted well into the afternoon. Amendment 4 was the most complex. In some ways, it is poison pill for the bringers of HB 1001, but it provides relief for hospitals and other health care facilities that depend on federal Medicaid and Medicare dollars. The bill allows companies to comply with both state and federal laws, but the concern over what happens if a court case between Wyoming and the White House becomes hostile. Even state agencies like WYDOT, which rely on federal contracts, could see their revenues dry up quickly.
Representative Chuck Gray of Casper opposed the amendment to his bill, saying even the bureaucrats in Washington are not so callous that they would risk hurting the sick and the old by denying money for health care. Representative Landon Brown said Washington is exactly that callous.
Rep. Brown of Cheyenne said Washington would be happy to sink Wyoming by withholding federal dollars. Sue Wilson, another Laramie County Republican, also took a pragmatic approach to dealing with the Biden administration’s threat to the state’s health care system.
The message was clear. No matter what Washington says to the contrary in warm and fuzzy tones, Big Government is not the state’s friend. The White House is ready and willing to flex power in a way that will hurt Wyoming people. The message resonated in the chamber and the amendment was defeated.
After nearly five hours of debate, the outcome was too close to be determined by a voice vote. After a head count, the “ayes” won and the amendment carried with 36 votes. Both chambers returned to business Friday morning to consider bills on third reading. The approved bills will then cross chambers and the process will start again on Monday.
