Wyoming Congressional delegation wants rules reversed, sponsors Title IX legislation

SHERIDAN — Congress is through about four months of its yearlong calendar and Wyoming’s delegation has taken action during the session on anti-transgender legislation and rules imposed by federal departments and the Biden administration.

Hageman cosponsors legislation

U.S. Rep. Harriet Hageman, R-WY, cosponsored legislation that would require athletes to compete with teams that match their sex assigned at birth.

“It’s amazing, but telling, that the same people who scolded us about following the science during COVID have attempted to do anything but follow actual science when it comes to men and boys in women’s sports,” Hageman said.

The Protection of Women and Girls in Sports Act amends Title IX to require a person’s sex to be based solely on their reproductive organs when determining compliance with the rule. 

Title IX was passed in 1972 and prohibits discrimination on the basis of sex in education programs and activities; sports are the primary example used when discussing Title IX.

The U.S. House passed the act by a party-line vote of 219-203 April 20. The act was sent to the Democrat-controlled U.S. Senate where it is likely to be killed or die.

The Wyoming Legislature passed a similar bill during this year’s session. Gov. Mark Gordon allowed the bill to become law despite referring to it as “draconian.”

“I am concerned that the ban included in this legislation is overly draconian, is discriminatory without attention to individual circumstances or mitigating factors, and pays little attention to fundamental principles of equality,” Gordon wrote in a letter to Wyoming Secretary of State Chuck Gray.

Dr. Joshua D. Safer, an expert retained by the American Civil Liberties Union for a case in Idaho, said reproductive organs do not necessarily determine an individual’s athletic prowess.

“A person’s genetic makeup and internal and external reproductive anatomy are not useful indicators of athletic performance…” Safer said, according to an ACLU legal document.

Senate delegation opposes new rules

Wyoming’s Senatorial delegation is aiming to utilize the Congressional Review Act to overturn rules enacted by the Biden administration and the U.S. Department of Labor.

The new Department of Labor rule changes the H-2A visa program and the Adverse Effect Wage Rate. The visa program allows qualified employers to bring foreign nationals to the United States to temporarily fill agricultural jobs. AEWR is the minimum payment that the Department of Labor requires employers to pay H-2A workers. The average AEWR rate increased by about 7% from 2022 to 2023.

The new Biden administration rule changes emission standards for heavy-duty trucks. The Environmental Protection Agency estimated the cost per vehicle will be between $2,568 and $8,304.

“The government’s top priority right now needs to be finding ways to lower costs and a massive Green New Deal tax on truckers is going to do the exact opposite,” Sen. Cynthia Lummis, R-WY, said in a news release. “...This tax is especially brutal for people in rural Wyoming who rely on trucks to bring them groceries, gas and supplies because a price hike on truckers means a price hike on consumers.”

S. J. Resolution 11 was passed by a party-line vote in the U.S. Senate by a vote of 50-49 April 26; Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-CA, did not vote.

The Senate will return May 1 for its third consecutive week while the U.S. House will return May 9 after a weeklong break.