Casper lawmaker sponsors bill that would prohibit CDC, WHO regulation in Wyoming

CHEYENNE — Members of the Wyoming Freedom Caucus signed onto a House bill that would prohibit the Centers for Disease and Control and the World Health Organization from having any jurisdiction in Wyoming.

House Bill 91 was received for introduction on Thursday, sponsored by Rep. Jeanette Ward, R-Casper, and co-sponsored by 14 other Republican lawmakers, ten in the House and four in the Senate.

Ward said this version of the bill is similar to a previous House bill she introduced in the 2023 general session, HB 143, which failed to pass on third reading. The Casper representative said she anticipates more pushback from lawmakers against the bill, primarily over concerns about how the bill’s passage would jeopardize federal funding.

“I expect some of my legislative colleagues to argue that this bill will result in a loss of federal funds for the state of Wyoming,” Ward told the Wyoming Tribune Eagle in an email. “To them, I would say that the medical freedom of the people of Wyoming is not for sale — for any price.”

She added that her constituents should pay attention to which lawmakers “value Wyomingites’ medical freedom.”

“The federal government simply doesn’t have the constitutional power to enact ‘public health’ measures,” Ward wrote in the email. “Wyoming citizens should never have to obey unconstitutional federal dictates. This legislation makes sure of that.”

At the peak of the COVID19 pandemic, Wyoming had some of the least restrictive regulations in the country. Gov. Mark Gordon did his best to appease Wyomingites who rallied against mask mandates and COVID vaccinations by lifting mask mandates when other states still had them enacted. However, the governor put his foot down when hospitalization rates of patients infected with the virus started to soar.

“Gordon tried diligently to thread the needle and got us through the pandemic with [fewer] restrictions than a lot of other states put on their citizens,” Rep. Dan Zwonitzer, R-Cheyenne, told the WTE. “He had people saying we were still doing too much and a lot of people saying we weren’t doing enough.”

Zwonitzer, who is co-chairman of the Legislature’s Joint Labor, Health and Social Services Committee, said he didn’t think the bill’s passage would make a big difference in how things already work.

“If the bill passed, we would still rely on the federal guidance, regardless of what [state] law says,” Zwonitzer said. “Every health care facility and public accommodation would likely adhere to CDC standards.”

The Cheyenne lawmaker said he didn’t think HB 91 is likely to pass, with so many other bills related to health care on the table, such as public health nursing budget requests, health insurance for volunteer emergency responders and parental rights in minor child’s health care.

Zwonitzer added that, should the bill pass, it wouldn’t be a direct loss in federal funding. The bill’s language only says the state isn’t held to CDC and WHO mandates, not that it must resist them entirely.

If the bill were amended to just mandates set by WHO, and not the CDC, Zwonitzer said it might stand a stronger chance.

“I think maybe the whole state could get behind that,” Zwonitzer said.

HB 91 will be considered during the upcoming budget session, which begins on Feb. 12.