Property Tax Relief Takes The Stage In The Capitol

Tom Lacock/AARP Wyoming

Welcome to this week’s Legislative update. Each week during the session, AARP Wyoming will give you three things that happened at the Capitol that could impact members age 50 and over. While those things might not be the biggest newsmakers, they will be items that bear watching. Let’s get started.

Property Tax Relief - There wasn’t much in the media about property tax relief heading into the session, AARP Wyoming did take multiple phone calls from lawmakers expressing an interest in this subject. Two weeks ago, we visited with the State Revenue Department Director, Brenda Henson to learn more and she said it is common for property values to be rising 15-20% a year in Wyoming. That leads to higher property taxes that impact everyone’s wallet, especially older adults on fixed incomes.

Things got really bizarre on the topic of property tax relief, Friday. Senate President Dan Dockstader (pictured above) had come to the Senate with SJ002- a bill to force a vote to amend the state constitution to offer property tax relief for those age 65 and older who have been in their home for at least 10 years. Before the bill was voted on, Dockstader stepped to the podium and announced he was going to withdraw the bill, saying there were other options and he hoped to have a conversation around the issue in the interim.

Senator Cale Case actually objected to Dockstaders’ request to withdraw his own bill (never seen that before) and Dockstader allowed a vote on SJ002. Apparently, others in the Senate agreed with Case and a 25-4 vote, moved the bill to a second read.  While the state has a few programs available for those seeking tax relief, none of them are funded right now.

The most likely remedy rests in the hands of lawmakers. The Joint Revenue Committee has proposed SF19- County Optional Sales Tax Refund , which would allow counties to decide if they want to run a tax relief program and be reimbursed by the state for lost revenue. Sen. Cale Case has suggested for $3 million in state funds, that program could, and maybe should, just go statewide.

After Case introduced the bill to the Senate, Casper lawmaker Bill Landen told the body that property tax relief was the one subject he heard the most about from his constituents. SF19 will continue down the path next week. Senator Tim Salazar also brought SF69 that would not allow the taxable value of property to go up more than 5% in a year. That bill also advanced.

Elections - A group of lawmakers is continuing to suggest the state's election security needs to be shored up and are bringing a few bills that our members may want to follow. SF96- Collection of Ballots-Prohobited would make it illegal for someone to bring another person’s absentee ballot to the county clerk without written consent.

The bill’s sponsor, Sen. Bo Biteman assured AARP Wyoming yesterday that he is working with the Secretary of State to develop the form to offer that permission and make sure those go into absentee ballots. Absentee ballots will still be allowed to be mailed or taken and dropped off at the county clerk’s office if this bill passes.  Biteman brought another bill, SF97- Change in Party Affiliation, on Thursday to move the date for citizens to change their party affiliation to vote in a primary election. Currently, you can change party affiliation any time. SF97 would not allow for changes in party affiliation starting the day applications are taken for candidates to announce their run for a state or federal office. That’s a big change. 

A resolution on a constitutional amendment involving runoff elections was discussed on Wednesday in the House of Representatives.  HJ003 would have bumped up reapportion of its membership (i.e. redistricting) in order to make a runoff election possible. The bill failed the 2/3 introductory vote needed and runoffs appear unlikely in our next election. 

Visitation in healthcare facilities - During the COVID-19 pandemic, there has been continuing debate over who should be in charge of determining who can visit a loved one in the hospital. HB27 would suggest no one has the right to refuse entry into a nursing home or hospital. That bill passed first reading this week. AARP has kept a close eye on nursing home impacts of COVID through its COVID-19 Nursing Home Dashboard and disagrees. We believe hospitals and nursing homes should be allowed to make these decisions, especially in light of another upswing in nursing home resident cases of COVID and nursing home deaths attributed to COVID. 

Last thing - On Friday, 25 at 4 p.m., AARP Wyoming will be joined by Governor Mark Gordon for a TeleTown Hall. We will start calling members about 3:50 p.m. If you aren’t called and want to know what the state’s chief executive had to say, check out our Facebook page at facebook.com/aarpwy on Saturday, Feb. 26.