Key Issues & bills

our Key Issues

The Wyoming Women’s Foundation selects bills based upon key issues determined in their Advocacy Plan set forth by the board and staff of the organization.

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Childcare & Workplace Policies

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Wyoming Legislative Bills Impacting Self-Sufficiency of Women and Opportunities for Girls

Bills that are alive and that WYWF opposes or supports can be found first on the page. Scroll down to see failed bills and our watch list.

Education

PASSED HB 4 – Property Tax Refund Program

Support

Why It Matters

Property taxes are the primary source of funding for our schools. Community colleges, senior centers, hospital districts, and many more of our local services important to women also receive funding from property taxes. This bill amends and expands the qualifications for the property tax refund program. This bill has a lower impact on resources important to women and girls, while also providing relief to those most in need in our community. Anticipated expenditures from the general fund would be $1.48M (2025), $1.56M (2026) and $1.6M (2027).

PASSED! SF 19 – Developmental Preschool Funding

Support

Why It Matters

Child Development Centers (CDCs), most of which are staffed by women, play a critical role in the special education of our zero to five year olds who need therapy/therapies to address developmental delays and disabilities. CDCs also provide preschool for children which supports working mothers. The state is required by law, under IDEA, to provide services to children with developmental needs, and funding of the state's 14 Child Development Centers has not kept up with the cost to provide services, leaving many CDCs on the brink of closure.
This bill also came through as a budget amendment. The amendment passed and caps the funding at $12M, which is a substantial increase from previous years.

Healthcare

PASSED! HB 14 – Prior Authorization Regulations

Support

Why It Matters

Access to timely healthcare is important to prevention of illness and to prevent the advancement of illness or injury. This bill requires prior authorization requirements are made easily accessible for consumers, and for insurers to provide written notice of new or amended prior authorization requirements within 72 hours, among other things.

PASSED SF 9 – Parental Rights in Education-1

Oppose

Why It Matters

Access to healthcare is important to girls. Schools play a critical role in ensuring our children's health is addressed during school hours. This bill has been improved by allowing federal screenings to occur without parental approval. However, the bill would still require parents to opt-in to allow their children to receive health services at school and puts undue pressure on nurses and teachers as they choose to care for students.

Representation

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Childcare & Workplace Policies

PASSED! SF 19 – Developmental Preschool Funding

Support

Why It Matters

Child Development Centers (CDCs), most of which are staffed by women, play a critical role in the special education of our zero to five year olds who need therapy/therapies to address developmental delays and disabilities. CDCs also provide preschool for children which supports working mothers. The state is required by law, under IDEA, to provide services to children with developmental needs, and funding of the state's 14 Child Development Centers has not kept up with the cost to provide services, leaving many CDCs on the brink of closure.
This bill also came through as a budget amendment. The amendment passed and caps the funding at $12M, which is a substantial increase from previous years.

PASSED! HB 126 – Child Care Is A Residential Use of Property

Support

Why It Matters

Working mothers need childcare and Wyoming has a childcare shortage. Facilities can be a barrier for entry to providers. This bill would allow child care in a family day care home (up to 10 children) as a non-commercial use in an HOA or convenant. City and county regulations would prevail.

Income & Asset Development

PASSED! HB 74 – Public Health Nursing-Budget Requests

Support

Why It Matters

The majority of public health nurses in Wyoming are women, so ensuring that a process for increased compensation within the Department of Health's budget is in place is important to sustaining and recruiting our nursing workforce. The state currently pays 65% of a public health nurses' salary and the county pays 35%. Currently the county salary at which a public health nurse enters into contract does not adjust. This bill states that when compensation to state public health nursing employees is increased, there will be a corresponding increase to county amounts.

PASSED! SF 6 – Nursing Home Administrators Temporary Licenses

Support

Why It Matters

Nursing homes play a vital role in our communities in terms of the population they serve and the population they employ - both of which are majority women. This bill would allow administrators, the majority of which are women, to be issued temporary licenses while they pursue permanent licensure. This measure not only allows access to administrative wages, but helps fill a shortage for nursing homes.

PASSED! SF 45 – Vulnerable Adults-Civil Cause of Action-2

Support

Why It Matters

Vulnerable adults are those who are easily susceptible to manipulation, coercion, or exploitation due to a number of factors. While vulnerable adults' ages vary, often vulnerable adults are our elder friends and neighbors, many of whom are women. Research also suggests that more women are impacted by financial exploitation. This bill would provide a civil cause of action in instances where a vulnerable adult has been exploited.

BUDGET BILLS & AMENDMENTS

Budget amendments can have big impact and can almost be thought of as bills-within the budget bill. The Joint Conference Committee’s 2nd budget passed!

HB 0001 – House Budget Bill

2nd JCC Decisions on House Budget Amendments

H0001HB2078 – was removed from the budget. This amendment would have increased funding for the Wyoming Home Services (assistance to keep people living in their homes longer).

HB0001H2031 – was removed from the budget. This amendment would have appropriated $1,150,000.00 for the state’s share of costs related to the electronic benefit transfer (EBT) to feed kids during the summer.

HB001H2033 -stayed in the budget but was reduced to $10M, rather than the original $40M allocation to fund the 988 Suicide Hotline Trust Fund. This amendment replaces HB 186 – 988 Suicide Hotline which the majority floor leader did not bring to be heard by committee of the whole.

HB0001H3057.01 – was removed from the budget. It would have required the Joint Education Interim Committee, with help from the Dept of Education, to study early childhood education and the establishment of a half-day prekindergarten program available to all children statewide. This will likely continue to be studied in the interim.

HB0001H2053 – was included in the budget and was an item WYWF watched. It notes that the Dept of Health funds may not be used for gender reassignment procedures or abortions.

HB0001H3050 – was reduced in the budget, from $18.5M to $15M from the School Foundation Account to the Department of Education to establish a grant program, within the education resource block grant model, for districts to address the mental health of K-12 students.

SF 0001 – Senate Budget Bill

2nd JCC Decisions on Senate Budget Amendments

SF0001S2022 – reduced an allocation from $16M+ to $12M+ for services to preschool children with disabilities (still an increase from the past).

SF0001S3013 – was removed from the budget bill. It would have defunded the Gender and Women’s Studies Program at the University of Wyoming.

SF0001S3014 – was included in the budget and defunds the office of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion and prohibits any spending on any DEI programing at the University of Wyoming.

SF0001S3030 – Funds the Wyoming’s Tomorrow Scholarship Fund with an allocation of $20M. This scholarship supports nontraditional students, primarily in community colleges, where the majority population is female.

SF0001S3006 – mirrors the House amendment and was an amendment WYWF watched. It says that Dept of Health funds may not be used for gender reassignment procedures or abortions