Unlike Congress, the small size of Wyoming's legislature means that a lot of bills get introduced.
I was going to comment on several that were floating around, but they died or were withdrawn before I could do that.
Which brings this up.
This year there's been a lot of angst over certain bills, some of which is fully justified. The proposed amendment to the state Constitution, for example, was one to definitely worry about.
But most of the odder or controversial bills in the state legislature go nowhere. People get up in arms about them, but they expire.
The wind tax, for example, went nowhere. A bill to attempt to address potential discrimination against government employees who find it unconscionable to participate in some fashion, in their official roles, in homosexual unions, was withdrawn by its sponsor. That one received such attention that you'd have thought it authorized burning at the stake, or something, but it didn't, and the fact that its a difficult topic and the law is difficult to draft was acknowledged by the author in its withdrawal. One pending right now that would require people to use only the bathroom of the gender reflected on their birth certificate is likely not going to go anywhere, even though its still pending.
This serves, I guess, as a reminder that a person really needs to take a wait and see, sometimes, view towards the legislature.
Not always, of course.
But unlike Congress, which has a highly decentralized and anti democratic method of drafting, folding and mutilating legislation, a lot more stuff gets down on the floor of the legislature before it evaporates.
And actually, Congress would function better if it functioned more that way. At least it would let you know what your representation was really doing, and it'd mean there were more consequences for them for what they were doing at that.
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