Governor Gordon Takes Action on 30 Bills on Monday, February 27
CHEYENNE, Wyo. – Governor Mark Gordon took action on 30 bills on Monday, February 27. The Governor signed the following bills into law:
Enrolled Act Bill # Bill Title
HEA0053 HB0101 Uniform trust code-amendments.HEA0054 HB0180 Brucellosis testing-notification requirements.HEA0056 HB0047 Election equipment-federal certification.HEA0057 HB0229 Electronic payment of sales and use taxes.HEA0058 HB0284 Collection agency regulation-debt buyers.HEA0059 HB0016 State land leasing-improvements.HEA0065 HB0188 Wolf depredation compensationHEA0066 HB0108 Sale of THC vaping devices and edibles to minors-prohibitedHEA0067 HB0199 License plate decal-breast cancer awareness.HEA0069 HB0128 Voyeurism within enclosed spacesSEA0045 SF0021 High occupancy vehicle lanes.SEA0046 SF0178 Mountain lion pursuit seasons.SEA0047 SF0038 Special license plates-organ donations.SEA0048 SF0016 State employee-moving expenses.SEA0049 SF0087 Natural resource funding-large project threshold increase.SEA0050 SF0106 2023 large project funding.SEA0051 SF0102 Food Freedom Act-amendments.SEA0052 SF0091 Creation of tenancy by the entirety.SEA0053 SF0009 Medicaid coverage-licensed pharmacists.SEA0054 SF0075 Decentralized autonomous organizations-amendments.SEA0055 SF0129 Background checks-governor's office.SEA0056 SF0148 Preemption of local firearms regulation.SEA0058 SF0052 School finance-special education funding.SEA0060 SF0056 Prohibiting travel across private land for hunting purposes.SEA0061 SF0067 Multipurpose vehicles-disabled license plates.SEA0062 SF0098 Education-certificate of completion.SEA0063 SF0113 Architects practice act-amendments.SEA0064 SF0128 Transfer of state lands-exchange.SEA0065 SF0157 Weed and pest mitigation-tribal inclusion-2.The Governor allowed the following enrolled act to go into law without his signature. The Governor’s letter is attached and linked below:HEA0055 HB0100 Acquisition value study.
ORIGINAL SENATEFILE NO. SF0056ENROLLED ACT NO. 60, SENATESIXTY-SEVENTH LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WYOMING2023 GENERAL SESSIONAN ACT relating to game and fish; expanding the prohibition for entering private property without permission for hunting purposes to also prohibit traveling through the private property; and providing for an effective date.Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Wyoming:Section 1. W.S. 23‑3‑305(b) is amended to read:23‑3‑305. Hunting from highway; entering or traveling through private property without permission; penalty; hunting at night without permission prohibited.(b) No person shall enter upon, travel through or return across the private property of any person to take wildlife, hunt, fish, collect antlers or horns, or trap without the permission of the owner or person in charge of the property. Violation of this subsection constitutes a low misdemeanor punishable as provided in W.S. 23‑6‑202(a)(v). For purposes of this subsection "travel through or return across" requires physically touching or driving on the surface of the private property.Section 2. This act is effective July 1, 2023.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE | February 26, 2023Contact: Albert.Sommers@wyoleg.govSpeaker of the House: I’m Focused on Wyoming Solutions, Not Out-of-State InfluencesThroughout the last decade serving as a Representative in the Wyoming State Legislature, I have consistently used the following metric to assess legislation: does it solve a Wyoming problem with a Wyoming solution? Some bills that come to the Legislature do not come from Wyoming but instead from another state, or they are templates from a national organization. Bills not crafted in Wyoming often take a one-size-fits-all approach that demands the Wyoming Legislature’s due diligence to ensure a bill solves a problem and does not create a new one.As Speaker of the House, I have the added responsibility of keeping the House of Representatives focused on getting work done for the people of Wyoming. Part of this leadership responsibility is choosing which standing committee a bill goes to and whether it gets sent to a committee at all. I take this responsibility seriously; bad policy can create major consequences for Wyoming. Bills that are unconstitutional, not well vetted, poorly written, duplicate bills or debates, and bills that negate local control, restrict the rights of people, or risk costly litigation financed by the people of Wyoming should not become law.I depend heavily on two particular committees. The Appropriations and Revenue Committees work on many of the most important bills during the session and are comprised of seasoned legislators with critical expertise. Their members currently hold a combined 106 years of experience in the Legislature. I rely on those bodies to scrutinize weighty legislation because they understand the repercussions of legislation on Wyoming's citizens. These two committees are led by four chairmen and other pillars of the Legislature. The members of Appropriations and Revenue are workhorses who use their experience to critically examine tough issues without letting rhetoric and intimidation get in the way.As an example, bills like SF0172 - Stop ESG-State funds fiduciary duty act, in theory, have merit. However, it's our job to determine how bills will play out in Wyoming's reality. I sent SF0172 to the Appropriations Committee to ensure it was evaluated on its substance. The bill bans Wyoming government officials from contracting with businesses that have boycotted fossil fuels or are considering climate change in their investments. Members of the Appropriations Committee identified significant gaps in the language. The Treasurer's Office raised questions about how this bill may impact Wyoming’s investment portfolio. This bill is not worth risking our state's fiscal future just to send a message. I am hopeful that the language in this policy can be tightened up in the interim to allow us to support our base industries while preserving our investment strategies.Keeping bills in my drawer is another way to ensure we stay focused on solving pressing issues for Wyoming. Here is a list of the bills I currently have in my drawer and why.SF0086 - Voter identification-concealed carry permit. The bill allows Wyomingites to use their concealed carry permits as voter identification. I like this idea, but House Bill 79 is a mirror bill that has already passed through the Legislature and became law this Session. Consideration of this bill would have wasted time with duplicate debate.SF0117 - Parental rights in education. This bill disallows public school teachers from teaching sexual orientation and gender identity themes to children from kindergarten through the third grade and directs school boards how to interact with parents. This type of teaching is not happening in Wyoming schools; moreover, the bill strips local control. Regardless of the issue, I've always fought against taking authority away from local school boards, town councils, and county commissions. Additionally, I believe this bill is unconstitutional as it violates the single-subject rule.SF111 – Child Abuse- change of sex is one of two bills that take on the subject of gender change in children. I sent a similar bill, SF144 - Chloe's law-children gender change prohibition out to a committee. I did not see the need to spend time debating two similar bills. I thought SF144 had a more appropriate policy position, and I sent it to the Appropriations Committee to be vetted. The bill was passed out of committee with a Do Not Pass recommendation, but is available for debate if the Majority Floor Leader chooses.SF143 – Wyoming Freedom Scholarship Act is virtually the same bill as HB194, which would have created an education savings account. An ESA account is similar to a school voucher system, giving parents state money to put their children in private schools or homeschool. However, HB194 died in the House Education Committee. The Committee heard that bill once, and it failed. There was no need to waste time hearing the bill twice. I do not support this bill because I believe it is unconstitutional, and it is a major policy shift for the state of Wyoming. I do believe this issue will be taken up as an interim topic in the Joint Education Committee, where the idea can be fully vetted.SJ0001 Amending Wyoming's act of admission for leases and earnings. This resolution would request that Congress introduce a bill and enact a law to amend Wyoming's Act of Admission. It changes the very language that made Wyoming a state, and I have serious concerns about its consequences. I believe it is a bad precedent to alter the document that created our statehood.Bills that I also did not send to committee included: HB0162 - County optional tax-affordable housing, which would have allowed a county to impose a real-estate transfer tax; HB0193 - Carbon capture energy standards-repeal, which would have gutted Wyoming’s carbon capture policy; and HB0115 - Elections administration, which would have taken away election administration authority from the Secretary of State.The Wyoming Constitution allows the Legislature to meet in Session for only 60 working days over two years. This time constraint is by design and helps curtail frivolous bills being debated over a lengthy period. I will continue to do my best to keep us focused in the brief time remaining in the Session.
This is really pretty remarkable as the Speaker is basically accusing the far right Freedom Caucus legislators of being in the service of out of staters, taking a page out of a well-read Wyoming book, and also a page out of the far right's own campaign manual.
Governor Gordon Takes Action on 10 Bills on Tuesday, February 28
CHEYENNE, Wyo. – Governor Mark Gordon took action on 10 bills on Tuesday, February 28. The Governor signed the following bills into law:
Enrolled Act Bill # Bill Title
HEA0060 HB0118 Volunteer firefighter pension-funding.
HEA0061 HB0081 Hospital supplemental payments-statutory fix.
HEA0062 HB0067 Special license plate decals-women veterans.
HEA0063 HB0059 Wyoming national guard tuition benefits.
HEA0064 HB0038 Wyoming national guard member referral.
HEA0068 HB0140 Mental Health care Access-Collaborative Care Model.
SEA0057 SF0140 Building code requirements-refrigerants.
SEA0059 SF0053 Wyoming national guard medical insurance premiums.
SEA0066 SF0123 Military dependents-school choice.
SEA0067 SF0032 Prohibiting drones over penal institutions.
It’s very clear that the Freedom Caucus voted with the Democrats to end debate and thus killed nine bills that were on the bottom of general file, including Chloe’s Law, two ESG bills and the last remaining bill that would have provided property tax relief. That’s on their shoulders, not ours.
Speaker of the House, Sommers.
Oddly, this is true. Those on the left and the right joined to shut down debate at 8:00, killing nine bills in the House.
The following bills remain alive:
HB0004 Medicaid twelve month postpartum coverage.
HB0014 Civil case filing fees-amendments.
HB0022 State land lease deficiencies-cure process.
HB0033 School finance-career technical education grants.
HB0052 Revisor's bill.
HB0064 Legislative stabilization reserve account-obligations.
HB0076 Licensing boards amendments.
HB0093 Omnibus water bill-construction.
HB0144 Senior citizen district programs and services.
HB0152 Life is a Human Right Act.
HB0171 State land leases.
HB0195 American rescue plan act appropriations-amendments.
HB0208 School foundation program reserve account-investments.
HB0222 Colorado River advisory committee.
SF0042 Taxation of cigars.
SF0048 Education-suspension and expulsion model policies.
SF0051 School finance-regional cost adjustment.
SF0061 Legislator per diem.
SF0066 School capital construction funding.
SF0072 Employees-forced microchip implantation prohibited.
SF0076 Wyoming digital asset registration act.
SF0080 Visitation rights.
SF0094 Federal Indian Child Welfare Act codification.
SF0096 Omnibus water bill-planning and administration.
SF0099 Witnessing of wills-remote methods.
SF0101 Wyoming legal tender act amendments.
SF0107 Acquisition, exchange and sale of trust lands.
SF0109 Prohibiting chemical abortions.
SF0120 Restoration of civil rights.
SF0127 Wyoming Stable Token Act.
SF0133 Student eligibility in interscholastic sports.
SF0137 Subdivisions-fencing requirements.
SF0146 State funded capital construction.
SF0147 Government contracts-labor organization.
SF0151 Wyoming prescription drug transparency act.
SF0152 Occupational therapist criminal history.
SF0153 Election security.
SF0164 Public improvement contract requirements-amendments.
SF0167 Domestic violence protection hearings-remote appearance.
SF0174 Wyoming charter school authorizing board.
SF0181 Drug induced homicide.
SJ0003 Property tax exemption for the elderly and infirm.
The legislature is really down to a handful of bills now, most of which should not be too controversial, although a couple may be.
March 1, cont.
March 2, 2023
Yesterday we noted that Bouchard was reprimanded. What we didn't note is that he called the person he insulted with profanity the same thing again on his Facebook page, where he stated:
I stand by what I said - F***king Idiot.
Dr. James testimony was extremely misleading. As she testified about WPATH being the ‘so-called’ safe standard that supposedly protects minors from Sex Change procedures.
Dr. James omitted a very important detail from her testimony.
All of the so called medical professionals have been lying about, Sex Changes on Minors.
They don’t want you to know the TRUTH— that Europe is breaking away from the ‘standard of care’ that Dr. James cited in her testimony to Appropriations Committee last week.
As it turns out, the evidence in favor of sex changes on minors — just isn’t there.
What does all of this really say about the medical community that is still supporting the butchering of children?
He is correct about Europe pulling away from allowing the mutilation of children in this area.
Bouchard's two Facebook pages are a trip through the extreme far right wing, fully of attacks on other Republicans, including Keven McCarthy and Harriet Hageman, and including attacks on COVID vaccines and the like. He's made a name for himself by being extreme, which is unfortunate, as it probably doesn't help a rare piece of deserving legislation that he sponsors, such as this one, get through. Republican moderate columnist Rod Miller correctly tapped into his own self-immolation when he noted, in response to this story:
Don't interrupt your enemy when they are attempting suicide.
Sun Tzu
Bouchard's Facebook comment would have been perfectly legitimate, and indeed not without merit, if he hadn't repeated the profanity, granted that profanity has become very common in our era. That aside, he's made such a name for himself being brash and aggressive that he's actually pretty ineffectual. Most people experiencing that would pause and reflect on it, rather than take their own causes down with them.
The far right fantasy bill SF 72 died in the House. The bill prohibited employers from requiring their employees to be microchipped, something that isn't happening in the US to start with.
HB 152, the Life Is A Human Right Act, passed the Senate and is back at the House for reconciliation. It's been significantly amended, so it is not as broad as it once was. It's one of the very few conservative bills that has survived so far in this legislature.
SF109 banning chemical (pharmaceutical) abortions has passed the legislature, making it one of the few which has actually passed.
Efforts to amend the bill banning students claiming transgender status from competing in sports of the opposite gender failed, and the bill is advancing.
Governor Gordon to Hold Public Bill Signing Thursday, March 2
CHEYENNE, Wyo. – Governor Mark Gordon will hold a formal bill signing ceremony Thursday, March 2 beginning at 1:30 pm in the Governor's Ceremonial Conference Room in the State Capitol Building. The ceremony is open to the public.
The Governor will sign the following bills:
Enrolled Act # Bill# Bill Title
HEA0075 HB0099 Property tax refund program.
HEA0076 HB0276 Shed antlers and horns conservation stamp.
HEA0077 HB0123 Collection of antler or horns by residents and nonresidents.
SEA0069 SF0079 Plan of safe care-newborns.
SEA0072 SF0169 State shooting complex task force.
SEA0073 SF0154 Energy authority project financing-refineries.
SEA0074 SF0108 Court reporter fees-district court discretion.
SEA0075 SF0112 Peer support counseling-confidentiality.
Governor Gordon Signs Bills Focused on Strengthening Wyoming FamiliesCHEYENNE, Wyo. – Property tax relief, providing a plan of safe care for at-risk newborns, protecting Wyoming outdoors and supporting energy development were among the bills Governor Mark Gordon signed on Thursday.
Last year, in an effort to help Wyoming households impacted by rapidly rising home prices and property tax bills, Governor Gordon’s supplemental budget request included an additional one million dollars to be appropriated for the Property Tax Refund Program. House Bill 99–Property Tax Refund Program expanded the qualifications for the state’s Property Tax Refund Program, delivering relief for more homeowners than ever before. The Legislature also followed through on the Governor’s request for additional funds for the program. Brenda Henson, Director of the Wyoming Department of Revenue, estimates that HB 99 will allow at least 6,000 additional households in Wyoming to receive property tax relief. Property owners may apply at their local County Treasurer's office or online at wptrs.wyo.gov beginning April 1st.
“This bill is one important step towards addressing the concerns of those impacted by the combination of rising inflation and increasing property tax bills,” Governor Gordon said. “I’m grateful that the Legislature saw fit to deliver a bill that provides a measure of targeted relief for those that need it most, especially our senior citizens and those living on fixed incomes.”
Governor Gordon also signed Senate File 79–Plan of safe care-newborns sponsored by Senator Baldwin. The bill requires healthcare providers to develop plans of safe care for infants born with prenatal substance use exposure. The Governor said he views the bill as a truly pro-life bill, consistent with his view that caring for newborns and mothers is critical to ensuring the best health outcomes for both.
The Governor also signed a pair of bills–House Bill 123 and House Bill 276–sponsored by freshmen Representatives Wylie and Berger (House Districts 39 and 49, respectively), ensuring Wyoming residents have the first opportunity to enjoy the long-held tradition of shed antler hunting. Governor Gordon congratulated the freshman on their legislative success and thanked the representatives for focusing on legislation that reflected Wyoming solutions for Wyoming problems.
Senate File 154–Energy Authority Project financing-refineries, sponsored by Senator Cooper (Senate District 6), was in direct response to Governor Gordon’s Gas and Diesel Working Group that came together in the summer of 2022 to find ways to bring down the cost of gas and diesel. Limited refining capacity in the U.S. was repeatedly identified as part of the dramatic increase in petroleum products. Senator Cooper recognized an opportunity to help Wyoming families and our energy industries by developing and constructing oil and gas refineries in Wyoming.
Additionally, Governor Gordon signed the following bills into law today:Enrolled Act Bill # Bill TitleHEA0071 HB0009 Juvenile courts-concurrent jurisdiction clarificationHEA0072 HB0011 State park rangers-retirement.HEA0073 HB0200 Nonresident hunting licenses-application fees.HEA0074 HB0002 Town officers-salary waiver.SEA0072 SF0169 State shooting complex task force.SEA0074 SF0108 Court reporter fees-district court discretion.SEA0075 SF0112 Peer support counseling-confidentiality.
Governor Notes Minor Flaws and Allows Crossover Voting Bill to Become LawCHEYENNE, Wyo. –CHEYENNE, Wyo. – Governor Mark Gordon notified Speaker of the House Albert Sommers that he will allow House Bill 103 to take effect without his signature. There were no constitutional concerns raised with this bill, and it had a near super-majority of support in the Legislature. Still, the Governor notes the crossover voting legislation may create confusion for voters. But, the flaws were not sufficient to issue a veto.Governor Gordon had hoped to receive legislation that would strengthen the closed primary system because he believes Republicans should vote in Republican Primaries and Democrats should vote in Democratic primaries. He made this case in his State of the State Address in 2022.Nearly three-quarters of Wyoming voters were registered Republicans for the 2022 elections. From this, Governor Gordon noted this perhaps makes the presumed changes more academic than real. “I urge voters to learn about these changes so that they may vote for their desired major party ballot in 2024, stated Governor Gordon.”Governor Gordon also secured a commitment from the bill’s sponsor to clarify the bill’s ambiguity before the next primary election.Please see the full Governor’s letter here.
Governor Gordon to Hold Public Bill Signing Today, Friday March 3CHEYENNE, Wyo. – Governor Mark Gordon will hold a formal bill signing ceremony today Friday, March 3 beginning at 1:45 pm in the Governor's Ceremonial Conference Room in the State Capitol Building. The ceremony is open to the public.The Governor will sign the following bills:Enrolled Act # Bill# Bill Title
HEA0084 HB0004 Medicaid twelve month postpartum coverage.SJ0003 SJ0003 Property tax residential property class.
No comments:
Post a Comment