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2004 Budget Session
2004 Budget Session
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HJ 2 and SJ 5 were identical bills that proposed an amendment to the Wyoming Constitution that would allow the Legislature to limit compensation for non-economic losses suffered by victims of medical malpractice.
Currently, the Constitution (Article 10, Section 4) prohibits the Legislature from limiting the amount of damages that may be recovered for causing personal injury or death of any person.
In addition to giving the Legislature the authority to limit the amount that could be recovered from a health care provider for non-economic loss resulting from the death or injury to a patient, HJ 2 and SJ 5 also would have given the Legislature the ability to require alternative dispute resolution or review by a medical review panel before a civil action could be filed against a health care provider.
HJ 2/SJ 5 did not specify the amount to which the Legislature could limit non-economic damages.
Non-economic damages include damages for disfigurement, amputation, paralysis, disability, pain, loss of ability to have children, etc.
Supporters of HJ 2 and SJ 5 believed that the lack of limits on the amount of damages a victim can recover causes medical malpractice insurance rates to go up, and that increasing insurance rates are causing some doctors to stop practicing in Wyoming or to stop offering certain high-risk medical specialties such as obstetrics. They noted that some states that have legislatively capped damages have seen less sharp increases in medical malpractice rates for doctors.
Opponents argued that there is no evidence that limiting non-economic damages keeps insurance rates down, that there are many other factors that influence insurance premiums, and that different rates of insurance rate increases between states cannot be attributed to any single cause.
Opponents argued that, especially in Wyoming, there is no apparent connection between malpractice insurance rates and legal settlements in malpractice cases. They pointed out that the number of malpractice claims and the amount paid per claim has remained stable at the same time that insurance rates have risen dramatically. They also noted that in 12 years, from 1989 through 2001, 31 medical malpractice cases were filed in Wyoming, only five of those 31 were won by injured patients, and that none of the five settlements were over a million dollars.
Opponents also pointed out that limits on non-economic damages discriminate against individuals whose earning power is low or nonexistent (i.e., children, senior citizens and women). Since these people's economic position was poor when the injury or death occurred, their economic damages may be quite small, despite a life-changing injury. If their potential non-economic damages are also minimized, they easily may end up with little compensation in total.
To amend the Wyoming Constitution, an identical resolution must pass both the House and Senate by a two-thirds majority, and then must be passed by a majority of electors who vote in the next general election. While both HJ 2 and SJ 5 passed their respective chambers by a simple majority, neither managed to get the necessary two-thirds majority (40 votes in the House and 20 in the Senate). HJ 2 failed the House third reading vote, 35-22 (2 excused, 1 conflict-of-interest). SJ 5 failed the Senate third reading vote, 18-12.
The votes listed below are the House and Senate third reading votes on HJ 2 and SJ 5.
A YES vote means the legislator supported putting the proposed constitutional amendment to allow the Legislature to limit compensation for non-economic damages in medical malpractice cases on the general election ballot next November.
A NO vote means the legislator did not support putting this proposed constitutional amendment on the ballot in November.
| Bighorn Basin Legislators | House 3rd - HJ2 2/25/04 | Senate 3rd - SJ5 2/25/04 |
|
| S 18 | Hank Coe (R) | No | |
| H 24 | Colin Simpson (R) | Yes | |
| H 50 | Pat Childers (R) | Yes | |
| S 19 | Laness D. Northrup (R) | Yes | |
| H 25 | Alan Jones (R) | Yes | |
| H 26 | Elaine Harvey (R) | Yes | |
| S 20 | Gerald E. Geis (R) | Yes | |
| H 27 | Jane Wostenberg (R) | Yes | |
| H 28 | Micheal Baker (R) | Yes | |
| Casper-Area Legislators | House 3rd - HJ2 2/25/04 | Senate 3rd - SJ5 2/25/04 |
|
| S 27 | John Barrasso (R) | Yes | |
| H 35 | Roy Cohee (R) | Yes | |
| H 36 | Liz Gentile (D) | No | |
| S 28 | Keith Goodenough (D) | No | |
| H 56 | Tom Walsh (R) | Yes | |
| H 57 | Thomas A. Lockhart (R) | Yes | |
| S 29 | Bill Hawks (R) | Yes | |
| H 37 | Steve Harshman (R) | No | |
| H 59 | Mary Gilmore (D) | No | |
| S 30 | Charles K. Scott (R) | Yes | |
| H 38 | Bob Brechtel (R) | Yes | |
| H 58 | Ann Robinson (D) | No | |
| Cheyenne-Area Legislators | House 3rd - HJ2 2/25/04 | Senate 3rd - SJ5 2/25/04 |
|
| S 4 | April Brimmer Kunz (R) | Yes | |
| H 7 | Tony Ross (R) | No | |
| H 41 | Becket Hinckley (R) | No | |
| S 5 | John Hanes (R) | No | |
| H 8 | Larry Meuli (R) | Yes | |
| H 42 | Pete Illoway (R) | Yes | |
| S 6 | Rich Cathcart (D) | Yes | |
| H 9 | Wayne Johnson (R) | No | |
| H 10 | Rodney "Pete" Anderson (R) | Yes | |
| S 7 | Kathryn Sessions (D) | No | |
| H 11 | Wayne Reese (D) | No | |
| H 43 | Ed Prosser (R) | Yes | |
| S 8 | E. Jayne Mockler (D) | No | |
| H 12 | Layton Morgan (D) | Yes | |
| H 44 | Floyd Esquibel (D) | No | |
| Gillette-Area Legislators | House 3rd - HJ2 2/25/04 | Senate 3rd - SJ5 2/25/04 |
|
| S 23 | John Hines (R) | Yes | |
| H 31 | Jene Jansen (R) | Yes | |
| H 52 | George McMurtrey (R) | Yes | |
| S 24 | Richard A. Erb (R) | Yes | |
| H 32 | Jeff Wasserburger (R) | No | |
| H 53 | Frank Latta (R) | No | |
| Lander/Riverton-Area Legislators | House 3rd - HJ2 2/25/04 | Senate 3rd - SJ5 2/25/04 |
|
| S 25 | Cale Case (R) | Yes | |
| H 33 | Harry Tipton (R) | Excused | |
| H 54 | Del McOmie (R) | Yes | |
| S 26 | Robert A. Peck (R) | No | |
| H 34 | Frank Philp (R) | No | |
| H 55 | David Miller (R) | Yes | |
| Northeast/East Central WY Legislators | House 3rd - HJ2 2/25/04 | Senate 3rd - SJ5 2/25/04 |
|
| S 1 | C.L. Townsend (R) | Yes | |
| H 1 | Mark Semlek (R) | Yes | |
| H 2 | Ross Diercks (D) | Yes | |
| S 2 | Jim Anderson (R) | Yes | |
| H 5 | James C. Hageman (R) | Yes | |
| H 6 | Dave Edwards (R) | Yes | |
| S 3 | Curt Meier (R) | No | |
| H 3 | Deborah Alden (R) | Yes | |
| H 4 | Edward A. Buchanan (R) | Yes | |
| Sheridan-Area Legislators | House 3rd - HJ2 2/25/04 | Senate 3rd - SJ5 2/25/04 |
|
| S 21 | Bruce Burns (R) | No | |
| H 29 | Jerry Iekel (R) | Yes | |
| H 51 | Rosie Berger (R) | No | |
| S 22 | John Schiffer (R) | Yes | |
| H 30 | Jack Landon (R) | Yes | |
| H 40 | Doug Osborn (R) | Yes | |
| South Central WY Legislators | House 3rd - HJ2 2/25/04 | Senate 3rd - SJ5 2/25/04 |
|
| S 9 | Mike Massie (D) | No | |
| H 13 | Jane Warren (D) | No | |
| H 45 | Lorna Johnson (D) | Excused | |
| S 10 | Irene Devin (R) | Yes | |
| H 14 | Phil Nicholas (R) | No | |
| H 46 | James Slater (R) | No | |
| S 11 | Bill Vasey (D) | Yes | |
| H 15 | George Bagby (D) | No | |
| H 47 | Kurt Bucholz (R) | Yes | |
| Southwest WY Legislators | House 3rd - HJ2 2/25/04 | Senate 3rd - SJ5 2/25/04 |
|
| S 12 | Rae Lynn Job (D) | No | |
| H 48 | Marty Martin (D) | No | |
| H 16 | Pete Jorgensen (D) | Yes | |
| S 13 | Tex Boggs (D) | No | |
| H 17 | Fred Parady (R) | No | |
| H 60 | Bill Thompson (D) | No | |
| S 14 | Larry Caller (D) | Yes | |
| H 18 | Mick Powers (R) | Yes | |
| H 39 | John Hastert (D) | No | |
| S 15 | Ken Decaria (D) | No | |
| H 19 | Owen Petersen (R) | No | |
| H 49 | Saundra Meyer (D) | Conflict | |
| West Central WY Legislators | House 3rd - HJ2 2/25/04 | Senate 3rd - SJ5 2/25/04 |
|
| S 16 | Delaine Roberts (R) | Yes | |
| H 20 | Stan Cooper (R) | Yes | |
| H 21 | Randall Luthi (R) | Yes | |
| S 17 | Grant Larson (R) | Yes | |
| H 22 | Monte Olsen (R) | Yes | |
| H 23 | Clarene Law (R) | Yes | |
See Southwest Region for H 16 and S 12 | |||