Next week, the Wyoming Legislature will have a special session to counter President Joe Biden’s proposal to require COVID-19 vaccination for certain workers.
The special session will take place Tuesday through Thursday. Tuesday morning, lawmakers will vote on rules to speed up the legislative process.
The rules need two-thirds approval from both the House and Senate. If the rules aren’t approved, the leaders plan to adjourn, according to a memo from Senate President Dan Dockstader, R-Afton, and House Speaker Eric Barlow, R-Gillette.
All but one of Campbell County’s legislators voted in favor of the special session.
Barlow said he has “concerns about the impact of the federal mandates on our employers and their employees,” as well as the effects the mandates have on people’s freedom and liberties.
It’s not a “slam dunk,” Barlow said, and the Legislature will have to walk a “narrow path” in order to come out of the special session with policy that is meaningful and respective of Wyoming residents’ interests.
Barlow said he expects there will be debate on “a spectrum of ideas,” and he hopes it’s respectful and productive.
“Some will be specific to individual rights, some will be focused on what employers can or should be able to do, some will be general pushback on federal government,” he said.
Sen. Jeff Wasserburger, R-Gillette, said he voted against meeting for the special session because it seems premature, given that the federal vaccine mandate guidelines have not been finalized or announced yet.
“We’re going to have a special session without knowing what the rules are,” he said. “I’m not sure what we’re going to accomplish with doing that. I think you need to know the rules first and then have the special session. The other part of it is, at that point in time, how soon can we act on the president’s mandates on vaccines?”
He said that the next legislative session is in February and that bills passed in the special session may have to be fixed during that winter session anyways.
“Until we know what the rules are, I’m not sure what we’re going to get done,” he said.
Leading up to previous special sessions, committees already would have met and bills would already be written and prepared, Wasserburger said.
“We’re actually going to have a special session with bills that have never seen a committee, never been reviewed by the public, never had input from the professionals or industries,” Wasserburger said. “So essentially, at least in my mind, the bills haven’t had public scrutiny. I think by calling a special session, we are getting dangerously close to making our citizen legislature a professional legislature that meets year round.”
In his more than 15 combined years as a state representative and senator, Wasserburger said he never saw a special session called in this manner.
“It doesn’t have anything to do with not supporting people’s constitutional rights or that, what it has to do with is the process,” Wasserburger said. “Essentially, we are usurping the committee process by not going through committees.”
Rep. Timothy Hallinan, R-Gillette, said he’s not opposed to the vaccine, and that he’s gotten the vaccine himself. Throughout his career as a doctor, he’s supported vaccines.
But he doesn’t believe the COVID-19 vaccine is for everyone, specifically children and young adults.
He said it’s crucial that lawmakers protect Wyoming residents from the mandates.
“A lot of people are going to have their jobs threatened by not having the vaccine,” he said. “I thought it was urgent to address the issue.”
He’s sponsoring a bill that would allow for exemptions from the vaccine mandate for religious reasons, medical reasons or if a person has previously had COVID. It also states that if an employer forces an employee to get the vaccine and the employee gets sick, the employer would have to pay for the medical bills.
Hallinan called this a more “middle-of-the-road” approach compared to some other bills that are “stronger.”
Rep. Chuck Gray, R-Casper, is sponsoring two bills. One bill would ban vaccine passports, and another would impose a $500,000 fine for firing, demoting, promoting, compensating or refusing to hire employees based on vaccination status.
Hallinan said there are bills that would prevent businesses from requiring vaccines.
“I think that would be a difficult issue to get put in place,” he said. “I’m for that, but I just don’t think that the governor would support that item.”
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