What's most remarkable about the bills that have made it to the Governor's desk so far is that you probably haven't heard of them. And that's a good thing. They reflect a collection of bonafide work type bills that address the nuts and bolts of the law. There's been some revision, for example, of the Trust code. That's not very glamorous, but its important. And what tells us is that in spite of the big news items we hear about, a lot of real daily work a day pieces of legislation are being addressed.
As of February 14, these bills had been signed:
If that doesn't seem like a lot of them are exciting, well they don't have to be.
The Governor vetoed House Bill 38 on legislative per diem rates, noting the following when he did.:
Dear Speaker Harshman,
In considering House Bill 38, I want to recognize the Legislature’s diligence in scrutinizing its expenses and providing for a reasonable recognition of the changing costs associated with serving in the Legislature. Wyoming is blessed to have a citizen legislature made up of individuals willing to serve her for the benefit of her people. In doing so, it is important that we balance the commitment of a citizen’s willingness to serve with the personal financial obligations involved. Wyoming always seeks to enable any of her citizens to serve, not just those with substantial means. Moreover, Wyoming has balanced compensation so as not to discourage citizen service while simultaneously discouraging a culture of “professional politician.”
I believe it should be recognized that this per diem discussion further applies to those who have agreed to serve on Wyoming’s boards and commissions. Therefore, consideration of this topic is timely and important to the proper continued functioning of Wyoming government. While compensation is arguably modest and well within the parameters discussed above, the legislature is to be applauded for looking for ways to be ever more frugal while seeking to appropriately remunerate the service of citizens serving on boards, commissions, and in the legislature.
House Bill 38 is in my estimation flawed, however. It seeks to raise the per diem rate for legislative duty in general, and then reduces that compensation by half during a legislative session for those serving within a 25-mile radius of the Wyoming capitol building. It would seem the radius selected for special reduction was arbitrary to some extent not fully examining, as a basis, who might or might not regularly commute from their homes during a session, for example. Moreover, while the apparent intent of the bill seeks to admit that those living proximate to the State capitol building most likely do not have to absorb the additional costs of temporary accommodation because they can stay in their homes, the bill does not recognize that other legislators might also be able to avoid those same additional costs by staying with friends or family, for example.
Another inherent inconsistency with HB 38 is that the same factor applied to those within the delineated 25-mile radius is not applied for legislative work elsewhere in the state when that activity might occur in a legislator’s home town. As such the bill seems solely prejudiced against legislators living within a 25-mile radius of the State capitol.
I am, therefore, vetoing House Bill 38. In doing so I again commend the legislature for their consideration of this topic and recommend reconsideration in the intervening year.
If such a bill is eventually passed, the Legislature might consider implementing such changes at the beginning rather in the middle of a legislator’s term of office, thus providing predictability for those weighing whether or not to run for office.
Sincerely,
Mark Gordon
Governor
Again, not very exciting, but it shows some careful attention to what he's dong.
The following should have been signed into law yesterday, and likely were.
HEA No. 0025
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Bill Title
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Enrolled Act #
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Bill Title
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SEA
No. 0008
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Banking
technology and stock revisions.
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SEA
No. 0010
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Lottery
revisions.
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SEA
No. 0012
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Cooperative
utilities-bylaws.
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SEA
No. 0013
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School
district personnel definitions.
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SEA
No. 0014
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Wyoming
energy authority.
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SEA
No. 0015
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Tobacco
tax equivalence.
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SEA
No. 0017
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Public
purpose investments.
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SEA
No. 0018
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LSRA
investments.
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SEA
No. 0019
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Modification
of probation.
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HEA
No. 0020
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Family
medicine residency program.
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HEA
No. 0022
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Federal
natural resource policy account-amendments.
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HEA
No. 0023
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Collection
of sales tax by marketplace facilitators.
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HEA
No. 0024
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Education
major maintenance funding.
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HEA
No. 0025
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School finance interfund loans. |
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HEA
No. 0026
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Uniform
Trust Code amendments.
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HEA
No. 0027
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Midwife
services-Medicaid.
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HEA
No. 0028
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Principal
and income act-principal place of administration.
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HEA
No. 0029
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Rule
against perpetuity amendments.
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And the following had signature dates reqwuested, whcih doesn't mean that they'll acdtually be signed.
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Bill Title
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Enrolled Act #
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Bill Title
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SEA
No. 0011
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Grizzly
bear hunts.
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SEA
No. 0020
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Hathaway
scholarship eligibility.
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HEA
No. 0017
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Expungement
of juvenile court records.
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The bear one was news to me, here's what it provides:
ORIGINAL SENATE ENGROSSED
FILE NO. SF0093
ENROLLED ACT NO. 11, SENATE
SIXTY-FIFTH LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WYOMING
2019 GENERAL SESSION
AN ACT relating to wildlife; making legislative findings regarding the need for the game and fish commission to conduct a grizzly bear hunt as specified; authorizing the game and fish commission to hold a grizzly bear hunt or facilitate a relocation as specified; and providing for an effective date.
Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Wyoming:
Section 1.
(a) The legislature finds that:
(i) The grizzly bear population in the greater Yellowstone ecosystem has recovered by all measurable recovery criteria, since at least 2003, with approximately seven hundred (700) grizzly bears currently living in the ecosystem;
(ii) The recovery of the grizzly bear population in the greater Yellowstone ecosystem can be attributed to the efforts of the state of Wyoming, the Wyoming game and fish commission and the citizens of the state;
(iii) The United States secretary of the interior announced in June 2017 that the Yellowstone population of grizzly bears had been recovered and no longer needed federal protections under the Endangered Species Act and that overall management of the population could be returned to the states and tribes;
(iv) In response to the final rule that the United States secretary of the interior and the United States fish and wildlife service promulgated, the Wyoming game and fish commission scheduled a limited grizzly bear hunt for August 2018;
(v) In September 2018, the United States District Court for the District of Montana issued an order vacating the final rule issued by the United States fish and wildlife service, which effectively restores Endangered Species Act protections to the Yellowstone population of grizzly bears;
(vi) The state of Wyoming continues to bear the costs of grizzly bear management in the state but, because of the district court order, again lacks any authority to make decisions necessary to manage the grizzly bear population in a way that protects the people of the state of Wyoming and that conserves Wyoming's wildlife;
(vii) The district court's order precluded the Wyoming game and fish commission from holding the grizzly bear hunt as scheduled;
(viii) The district court's order impedes the state of Wyoming's ability to protect the safety of its citizens, particularly in light of grizzly bear attacks on workers and other citizens and tourists of the state;
(ix) The tenth amendment to the United States constitution guarantees to the states and their people all powers not granted to the federal government elsewhere in the constitution and reserves to the state and the people of Wyoming certain powers as they were understood at the time that Wyoming was admitted to statehood in 1890. The guaranty of those powers is a matter of contract between the state and people of Wyoming and the several states comprising the United States as of the time the Act of Admission was agreed upon and adopted by Wyoming and the several states in 1889;
(x) In enacting the Endangered Species Act, the United States congress requires the United States secretary of the interior to cooperate to the maximum extent practicable with the states in conserving and managing any endangered or threatened species;
(xi) The district court's order hinders the state of Wyoming's ability to work with the United States secretary of the interior to cooperate in the management of the Yellowstone grizzly bear population and thus threatens the safety of Wyoming workers and other citizens and tourists of the state;
(xii) The grizzly bear hunt that the Wyoming game and fish commission had previously scheduled for August 2018 and the grizzly bear hunt authorized in section 2 of this act is necessary and intended to conserve resident wildlife and ensure that:
(A) The Yellowstone grizzly bear population residing in Wyoming continues to recover through effective population management; and
(B) The state of Wyoming can effectively protect its citizens, workers and tourists from dangerous and deadly grizzly bear encounters in the state of Wyoming.
Section 2.
(a) If the game and fish commission determines under the laws of the state of Wyoming that a grizzly bear hunt would be beneficial for managing Wyoming's wildlife and for protecting Wyoming workers and other citizens and tourists of the state, the game and fish commission may conduct a grizzly bear hunt and shall issue licenses as provided in W.S. 23‑1‑302(p) and in the rules of the commission, which shall provide for the dates, times and locations of the hunts.
(b) Grizzly bears are trapped and relocated in Wyoming and in some cases are euthanized for livestock depredation, property damage or endangerment of human life. If the game and fish commission determines under the laws of the state of Wyoming that extraterritorial relocation would be beneficial for managing Wyoming's wildlife and protecting Wyoming workers and other citizens and tourists of the state, the game and fish commission may relocate to the state of California, to states with a grizzly bear population below the threshold for Endangered Species Act protection or to other willing states with suitable habitat all grizzly bears trapped for relocation or that would otherwise be euthanized.
Section 3. This act is effective immediately upon completion of all acts necessary for a bill to become law as provided by Article 4, Section 8 of the Wyoming Constitution.
(END)
Speaker of the House
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President of the Senate
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Governor
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TIME APPROVED: _________
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DATE APPROVED: _________
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I hereby certify that this act originated in the Senate.
Chief Clerk
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Some bills big and small, including some that were in the news, have failed.
Repeal of the Death Penalty passed the House, but failed in the Senate by six votes. I though it was up against long odds but then it really gained steam and it looked for a time like it might pass.
House Bill 230, which sought to make illegal discrimination in the workplace based upon sexual orientation failed. Prior version of this bill, which were not as tight in the language, were controversial but this one did not seem to be. It failed at any rate, but not before it engendered a surprising controversy over comments that were made, or not, by Lynn Hutchings, a Senator.
Hutchings is the old black, female, Republican Senator in Wyoming's history, so the controversy comes in a really odd context. She holds conservative social views and made some comments to a student group that supports gay rights in a context in which you have to feel that she was somewhat set up. What she said isn't clear, but the spectacle of a minority of a minority being accused of prejudice is unusual to say the least.
An odd bill that passed, so far, sought to regulate the use of Prexy's Pasture at the University of Wyoming.
2019
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STATE OF WYOMING
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19LSO-0367
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HOUSE BILL NO. HB0091
Patching Prexy's Pasture parallelogram problem.
Sponsored by: Representative(s) Crank, Clausen, Connolly, Furphy, Haley and Henderson and Senator(s) Baldwin and Rothfuss
A BILL
for
AN ACT relating to the University of Wyoming; correcting the legal description of Prexy's Pasture on the University of Wyoming campus; and providing for an effective date.
21‑17‑401. Certain portions of campus restricted to park or recreational purposes; construction of buildings or structures prohibited thereon.
(b) In order to preserve the natural and open beauty of that portion of the University of Wyoming campus commonly known and referred to as "Prexy's Pasture", no structures, other than ornamental improvements, or buildings of any kind or type shall be located or constructed upon the portion of the campus described as follows:
(i) All that portion of the East 1/2 of Section 33, Township 16 N, R 73 W, of the 6th PM, Albany county, Wyoming, bounded as follows:
(A) Beginning at a point from which the East 1/4 corner of said Section 33 bears, South 83 degrees 15' East a distance of 803 feet; thence South 5 degrees 45' West a distance of 410 feet; thence North 84 degrees 15' West a distance of 578 feet; thence North 5 degrees 45' East a distance of 410 feet; thence North South 84 degrees 15' East a distance of 578 feet, more or less, to the point of beginning. Said parcel of land containing 5.44 acres, more or less.
What brought this up is a bit of a mystery, but it can't help but be noted that a bill that sought to define things on Prexy's Pasture managed to get the description of the walkway incorrectly.
The bill that sought to make age 18 the lowest age a person could marry failed, as I may have mentioned before. I had predicted that it would.
A bill giving private citizens standing to file declaratory judgment actions to determine the meaning of a law failed.
The legislature is over half way through its session now, so thing should start to wrap up. Some big bills remain undecided, and of course we're just starting to see how Governor Gordon responds to the bills that reach his desk.
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