Bills of AARP Members' Interest in 2023

AARP Wyoming advocated for its members on a variety of other bills during the 2023 Legislative session. Here are a few of those bills, what they do and why AARP Wyoming followed them. For more information or if you have questions on why AARP Wyoming was watching or engaging on these bills, email Tom Lacock at:  tlacock@aarp.org.

Bills that Passed
SF10 - Licensed Professional Counselor Compact and SF26 - Psychological Interjurisdictional Compact - This law will now allow licensed counselors and psychologists to practice across state lines, which is important for Wyoming, which has a lack of counselors and psychologists. This should make it easier for Wyomingites to access mental health care.

HB18 - Missing Person Alert Systems - If you have seen the Amber Alerts, you will likely soon see similar “silver alerts,” for older adults who have dementia or could struggle cognitively without medication, thanks to HB18.

SF43 - EMS Districts - This bill allows counties to set up their own EMS districts and tax themselves to better serve that area with ambulance services.

HB144 - Senior Citizen District Programs - There are some Senior Citizen Districts which have large pots of money they wish to spend on facility builds or remodels. While right for every community, in some this change makes a lot of sense and will be well-received.

SF 37 - Podiatry Medical Services/Medicaid and SF 10 - Pharmacists Medical Services/Medicaid - These two bills were brought by the same sponsor, Sen. Fred Baldwin, a Physician Assistant who understands the medical field better than anyone else in the legislature. His bills allow podiatrists and pharmacists to be paid for their work on Medicaid patients. 

HB74 - Outdoor Recreation Trust Fund - Wyoming is known the world over for its outdoor rec opportunities. The Legislature put $6 million into a trust to help fund projects in the future that key on Wyoming’s outdoor recreational opportunities for citizens and tourists alike.

Did Not Pass
SF89 - Insurance Coverage for Hearing Aids - The Dan Furphy-sponsored bill would have required health insurance companies to cover one set of hearing aides and the accompanying work of healthcare professionals to fit them every three years. The issue came when insurance companies pointed out there would be a large cost to the state as hearing aids aren’t essential benefits. Look for more discussion on this in the interim. 

HB121 - Property Tax Deferral Program - There is currently a deferral program on the books, but to defer taxes, it requires you go to your county treasurer (and perhaps neighbor) to ask for the deferral. Worland Freshman Representative Martha Lawley shrewdly wondered if moving the program under the State Revenue Department would make it easier to ask for the deferrals.

HB49 - Municipal Non-Partisan Rank Choice Voting - This “instant runoff,” bill was offered by the interim Corporations Committee and would have allowed communities to try out rank choice voting in races such as mayoral or city council races, though not require anyone to use this method of voting if they didn’t want to.

HB54 - Homestead Exemption - Rep. Albert Sommers’ bill would have allowed Wyoming citizens to exempt the first $100,000 in fair market value from their property tax bills. Scuttlebutt around the Capitol was the bill’s fiscal note (impact to the state’s funding) of around $75 million was a bit too much for some to vote for.

HB98 - Property Tax Exemption - Similar to HB54, this bill would have exempted the first $50,000 in fair market value from a taxpayer’s property tax bill. Once again, the preference of the body seemed to be a smaller hit to state tax rolls.

SF104 - Mill Levy Adjustment - The idea behind this bill is counties and other tax collecting agencies would collect less in years that were good for property tax collections. 

HB80 - Medical Treatment Opportunity Act - This is the state’s latest effort to expand Medicaid in Wyoming. The bill passed out of the House Revenue Committee on a 6-3 vote before it died in House Majority Floor Leader Chip Neiman’s drawer.