Out-of-State Dark Money Is Behind a Bill to Take Away Wyoming Workers’ Freedom to Decide What They Do with Their Own Paychecks
HB 178 passed the Senate Committee of the Whole 18–12. The Senate takes its final vote Thursday and the House votes on concurrence Friday. Wyoming’s legislators still have time to kill this bill. If they don’t, we ask the Governor to veto it.
Cheyenne — Corporations and wealthy special interest groups from outside Wyoming spend millions of dollars every year to quietly push legislation that undermines working families. HB 178 is their latest effort — a national template bill that some Wyoming politicians are carrying on behalf of out-of-state dark money organizations. At the root of this bill is an attack on the freedom of hardworking, tax-paying Wyoming citizens to decide what they can and can’t do with their own paychecks.
We would welcome the opportunity for you to write in opposition to HB 178. People from across the state have spoken out against this bill, and we’d like to help make their voices heard on your editorial page.
The people of Wyoming want their legislature focused on the issues that matter to them — education, roads, affordability, and public safety. Instead, some politicians in Cheyenne are pushing a bill written by lobbyists and out-of-state millionaires that singles out public employees and takes away a freedom every other worker in this state still has: the ability to set up a simple, voluntary payroll deduction for their own professional organizations.
THREE REASONS HB 178 SHOULD NOT BECOME LAW
1. This is an attack on freedom — bought and paid for by outsiders.
HB 178 wasn’t written to solve a Wyoming problem. It was written by wealthy, out-of-state special interest groups pushing a national agenda, and some politicians here are carrying their water. Wyoming is already a right-to-work state. Every payroll deduction for dues is already voluntary — every worker who has this deduction chose it, signed the form, and opted in. This bill doesn’t protect anyone from anything. It tells hardworking, tax-paying Wyoming citizens what they can and can’t do with their own paychecks. That’s not small government. That’s not freedom. That’s the opposite.
2. This bill is legally doomed — and Wyoming taxpayers will foot the bill.
HB 178 carves out public safety employees — firefighters, law enforcement, first responders — while targeting every other public worker. Courts call this an equal protection violation, and they’ve already struck down the same approach in Missouri (Supreme Court voided a nearly identical law), Wisconsin (Act 10’s public safety carve-out ruled unconstitutional), and Arizona (federal judge blocked a bill with the same exemption structure). Wyoming’s own constitution has equal protection guarantees our Supreme Court has called “more robust” than federal standards. Signing this bill means signing Wyoming up for a lawsuit we’re likely to lose — on the taxpayer’s dime.
3. Real people get hurt — including retirees who earned their benefits.
This isn’t abstract. Organizations like the Wyoming Public Employees Association have provided group-rate dental, vision, and hearing insurance to retired state employees since 1962. Hundreds of retirees depend on those plans today. Weaken the organizations that provide them and retirees lose access to affordable coverage they’ve counted on since leaving state service. If this bill isn’t about solving a real problem and it’s already headed for costly litigation, why would we additionally risk public employees’ and retirees’ ability to access vital services like affordable health insurance?
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THE BOTTOM LINE HB 178 is not a Wyoming bill. It is a national template pushed by out-of-state dark money interests to weaken working families. It attacks the freedom of hardworking Wyoming citizens. It is legally doomed in court. And it puts real people at risk — including retirees who depend on the affordable insurance plans these organizations provide. We are asking our legislators to vote NO on Senate 3rd Reading Thursday and House concurrence Friday. If they fail to respond to the will of the people they were elected to represent, we ask Governor Gordon to veto this bill. Wyoming doesn’t need out-of-state billionaires making decisions for our workers. |
This bill reaches its final legislative votes in the next 48 hours. We are available immediately to discuss it with you and can connect you with public employees, retirees, and trade workers across the state who can speak firsthand to what this legislation means for them and their families.
We also invite members of the press to a joint press conference on Friday, March 6 at 11:00 AM in the Capitol Extension (near the Chief Washakie statue), where representatives from the Wyoming State AFL-CIO, Wyoming Education Association, and Wyoming Public Employees Association will deliver prepared statements and be available for questions.
Marcie Kindred, Executive Director
Wyoming State AFL-CIO
mkindred@wyomingaflcio.org | (307) 631-5649