The Wyoming Legislature has been working for years to improve how the criminal justice system deals with people who commit crimes while suffering from mental illness.

That progress hit a wall in 2025 when Rep. Jayme Lien cast the deciding vote in a 4 - 5 split to kill a bill that would have prioritized treatment for people with mental illness who are convicted of minor crimes, rather than having them sit in jail (HB-49).

Rep. Lien also voted against increased funding for mental healthcare, even though Wyoming suffers from nation-high rates of suicide and substance abuse (HB-1-2016).

She voted against funding for maternal healthcare, even though our state has many “maternity deserts” where women have functionally no access to OB-GYN care (HB-1 2015). 

Both of these funding proposals were supported by Gov. Gordon, but shot down by Rep. Lien and her colleagues in the Freedom Caucus. Now, our Natrona County neighbors will deal with the consequences.

Rep. Lien also voted for a bill that would have decreased unemployment benefits from Natrona County workers who do hard seasonal jobs.

Bad for librarians, schools, and students

Rep. Lien co-sponsored a bill that would have resulted in jail time for educators and librarians who are accused of distributing “obscene” materials—i.e. library books that reference sex, or even sex education (HB-194). 

She also voted for a bill to take money away from public schools and divert it to a “voucher” program that funds private and internet schools with no accountability or oversight (HB-199).

Rep. Lien voted against another bill that would have ensured that hungry Natrona County kids who can’t afford food have access to school lunch during the summer.