Wyoming Legislature update

Tuesday morning, Senator Wyatt Agar reported House Bill 295 “never made it out of committee and the steam behind the subject seems to have dissipated,” meaning the bill was, in essence, killed for the current session.

The bill was introduced last week as another attack on the Wyoming Pioneer Home, which had previously survived two legislative attempts to privatize the facility, and this late session bill took a different tactic with attempting to eliminate its annual state subsidy. The bill was referred to the Appropriations Committee, of which Agar is a member, and according to the State of Wyoming Legislature website there was no report prior to the Committee of the Whole cutoff.

Under the conditions for admission and charges for care of House Bill 295, revenues received from residents of the home shall, on June 30 of each year, equal or exceed all operational costs of the home which are borne by the State of Wyoming. Those unable to pay may still be provided care at the Pioneer Home, but it would be under guidance of the Department of Health.

Agar said the desire to come after the Pioneer Home seems to have shifted, and he speculated the House realized they didn’t have the support needed behind the bill so they pulled it.

The senator is hopeful that the facility is left alone over the next couple years, in order for people to see the benefits of the path being created by Lisa Osvold, the senior administrator for the Aging Division of the Wyoming Department of Health. He noted he’s spent a lot of time working with Osvold, and they are in the process of capturing more federal dollars and doing a mild rate increase. He further explained if the rate increases happen they would be done in a manner so as not to shock the residents.

Another piece of the path is that the Department of Health has decided to advertise for the home in order to increase the census. Agar said it was previously believed such advertising couldn’t be done but it was found there are no statutes restricting it.

As far as the budget, Agar said at this point in time “there is a 70 million dollar difference between the house and senate budget bills and we are working on the differences and trying to find common ground. However, in many areas they just appropriated more funds than the Senate side.” He noted one of the areas is a $1.5 million appropriation for a housing development in Cheyenne. With there being a $350 million structural deficit in education expected next year, he said, the Senate is working to more prudent with funds. Setting funds aside also helps to safeguard against tax increases.

Agar also noted Representative Winter’s joint resolution on the delisting of the grizzly bear was read in on the Senate floor Tuesday morning and as the Senate prime sponsor he will be presenting it in the next few days.