Friday marked the deadline for bills to be introduced for consideration during the Wyoming Legislature’s 2022 budget session.
Advocates for affordable healthcare access have been working hard for months to convince lawmakers to support House Bill 22 – The Medical Treatment Opportunity Act, which would have expanded Wyoming Medicaid.
The Legislature’s Joint Revenue Committee sponsored the bill.
Indeed, a majority of members of the Wyoming House favored the HB-20, including nearly all members of House leadership. A nearly identical bill passed in 2021 with a 32 – 28 vote. Statewide grassroots efforts have increased that margin in the meantime.
But because the Legislature’s 2022 session is a “budget session,” non-budget bills like HB-20 required a two-thirds majority vote to be introduced. They require 40 “aye” votes from the chamber’s 60 members.
Despite the strong legislative support, grassroots pressure, tireless lobbying, and a historic rally on the steps of the Wyoming Capitol, Medicaid expansion advocates could not secure enough votes for HB-20 to clear the two-thirds majority threshold.
Knowing the bill lacked the support it needed to be introduced, House leadership decided to hold the bill back.
It never got a vote.
Plan B
At Monday’s rally, Sen. Cale Case (R-Lander), a strong Medicaid expansion supporter, suggested that he anticipated this potential situation.
He alluded to a “Plan B,” just in case.
The decision by House leadership to hold back HB-20, instead of putting it up for a vote it could not pass, may have factored into this plan. Some lawmakers still see avenues for enacting Medicaid expansion in the coming weeks, as the Legislature debates the 2023 – 24 state budget.
There is still opportunity to make Medicaid expansion a reality during the 2022 session. Healthy Wyoming leaders will be working at the capitol and coordinating grassroots efforts in support of any and all efforts that will result in this outcome.
Tens of thousands of people without healthcare access depend on it.
