CHEYENNE —A bill to create a new program to help deaf people is in legislative limbo right now.
It was third on the priority list of interim studies by the Joint Appropriations Committee.
The committee met for two days last week, but could not vote on any issue because of a lack of a quorum.
The House committee members had a quorum, but the Senate committee did not.
Three of the five senators on the committee were excused - Senators Ogden Driskill of Devils Tower; Mike Gierau of Teton County and Dan Laursen of Powell.
The two who attended were Senators Tim Salazar of Riverton and Tim French of Ralston in Park County.
Gierau is the only Democrat on the Senate committee.
Lacking a quorum is rare, but not too unusual in any committee that realizes all of its work can be junked by the new Legislature.
This year there is a pall over many of the end-of-year committee meetings, because the election defeat of so many Freedom Caucus members changed the makeup of the Legislature. It could have made their work useless.
At any rate, two years ago the Legislature made its first attempt to aid the hard of hearing who could not afford the thousand of dollars it costs to get professionally-prescribed hearing aids.
“The Adult Hearing Aid Program” sponsored by former legislator Dan Furphy of Casper, had the support of Gov. Mark Gordon.
At that time, Wyoming was the only state in the nation that lacked a program to represent the deaf community.
Consequently, the Department of Health developed a limited program for people making less than 20 percent of the federal poverty level, who have substantial hearing loss and have no other way to obtain hearing aids.
The 2026 interim study by the Joint Appropriations Committee was to be the next step.
It resulted in a move to establish an independent commission for the deaf and blind that would put all the scattered assistance programs under one entity.
Research by various state agencies uncovered a host of problems, according to memos from the Legislative Service Office.
The Department of Family Services found a shortage of sign language interpreters, particularly in rural areas.
The increased demand, the memo said, stems from “the high financial cost of obtaining hearing devices.”’
The state has been using contract sign language interpreters as needed, but wanted a change.
The Department of Workforce Services advertised a new position of “statewide sign language interpreter” who would be available to site agencies in person or through video.
Despite 13,000 views of the position vacancy notice, the state could not fill the position because the pay offered, $24.78 per hour, was too low, the memo said. Hiking it to $38.24 was recommended.
The Department of Family Service, meanwhile, with $75,000 in a budget footnote from last winter, recruited a sign language interpreter organization, Partner Interpreting LLC, out of seven applicants.
The organization proceeded to develop a statewide network of sign language interpreters for on-site and remote assignments for the deaf and blind.
It recommended the Legislature appropriate $3.6 million to start the new commission.
Appearing last week before the committee, the executive director of the organization, Scott Foor, also recommended the state look at Nebraska and Colorado for commission models.
“You don’t need to reinvent the wheel,” he told the committee.
Essential to the new venture, he said, is education of the public regarding laws that protect disabled people like the deaf and blind.
After Foor finished his report, Salazar, the Senate chairman, said, “This is the beginning of the discussion. This is something that is incredibly important.”
Rep. Trey Sherwood, a Laramie Democrat and committee member, said there is a bill drafted to create the commission.
The committee, she said, can discuss the bill at its next and last meeting in December.
Contact Joan Barron at 307-632-2534 or jmbarron@bresnan.net
