The 2019 Wyoming legislature, more bill that became law. Beer Freedom, Hunting Technology, Electric Vehicles, Illegitimacy, and more.

Some more recently passed bills that Governor Gordon has signed.

BILLS BEING SIGNED FROM 12:30 PM - 1:30 PM ON TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 26
A formal bill signing has been requested for the following bills:
Bill No.	Enrolled Act #		Bill Title
SF0113	SEA No. 0038		Retail purchases of alcoholic liquors for resale.
SF0127	SEA No. 0041		Felony fleeing or eluding police.
SF0080	SEA No. 0042		Passing stopped school bus-recorded images.
SF0077	SEA No. 0044		2019 large project funding.
SF0072	SEA No. 0047		Sexual assault biological evidence reporting.
SF0060	SEA No. 0051		Protection of children-child endangerment amendments.
SF0096	SEA No. 0053		Repeal-hospital records and information statutes.
SJ0009	SEJR No. 0003		Medal of Honor highway.
HB0095	HEA No. 0037		Special purpose tax-excess funds.
HB0133	HEA No. 0039		Hathaway expand Wyoming scholarships.
HB0152	HEA No. 0042		Wyoming Underground Facilities Notification Act-amendments.
HB0246	HEA No. 0055		Volunteer pension account-search and rescue.
HB0022	HEA No. 0061		Teacher accountability.
HB0086	HEA No. 0062		Summary probate procedures.
BILLS BEING SIGNED FROM 2:00 PM - 3:00 PM ON TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 26
A formal bill signing has been requested for the following bills:
Bill No.	Enrolled Act #		Bill Title
HB0028	HEA No. 0064		Regulation of shed antler and big game horn collection.
HB0257	HEA No. 0065		Clubhouse-based psychosocial rehabilitation programs.
HB0157	HEA No. 0066		Termination of parental rights-standing.
HB0116	HEA No. 0071		New vehicle dealer claims.
HB0090	HEA No. 0073		Community college police officer retirement.
The governor will take action on the following bills:
SJ0010	SEJR No. 0002	Multiple use of public lands.
SF0125	SEA No. 0039	Digital assets-existing law.
SF0151	SEA No. 0040	Judicial salary increases.
SF0041	SEA No. 0043	County fair endowment.
SF0081	SEA No. 0045	Electric bicycles-regulation.
SF0085	SEA No. 0046	Wyoming Medicaid Fraud Control Act.
SF0068	SEA No. 0048	Meat from harvested livestock or poultry.
SF0044	SEA No. 0049	Multiple employer welfare arrangements.
SF0038	SEA No. 0050	Limitation on length of probation.
SF0129	SEA No. 0052	Education reporting requirements.
SF0096	SEA No. 0053	Repeal-hospital records and information statutes.
SF0140	SEA No. 0054	Alcoholic beverages-direct sales.
SF0045	SEA No. 0055	Emergency administration of opiate antagonist-revisions.
SF0102	SEA No. 0056	Circuit court bank accounts.
HB0301	HEA No. 0036	WRS board member qualifications.
HB0081	HEA No. 0038	Omnibus water bill-planning.
HB0076	HEA No. 0041	Wyoming Beer Freedom Act.
HB0023	HEA No. 0043	Education accountability.
HB0041	HEA No. 0044	UW board of trustees-chairman.
HB0109	HEA No. 0045	Advanced psychiatric nurse practitioner program-amendment.
HB0131	HEA No. 0046	Build Wyoming-amendments.
HB0074	HEA No. 0047	Special purpose depository institutions.
HB0216	HEA No. 0048	Wyoming children's trust fund-amendments.
HB0185	HEA No. 0049	Corporate stock-certificate tokens.
HB0070	HEA No. 0050	Commercial filing system.
HB0063	HEA No. 0052	Pharmacy benefit managers-prescription cost notification.
BILLS BEING SIGNED FROM 3:30 PM - 4:30 PM ON TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 26
The governor will take action on the following bills:
Bill No.	Enrolled Act #		Bill Title
HB0053	HEA No. 0053		Probation and parole-incentives and sanctions.
HB0002	HEA No. 0054		Regulation of hunting methods.
HB0091	HEA No. 0056		Patching Prexy's Pasture parallelogram problem.
HB0159	HEA No. 0057		Volunteer reserve officers-liability coverage.
HB0269	HEA No. 0058		Illegitimate persons descent-repeal.
HB0097	HEA No. 0059		Taxation of broadband internet infrastructure.
HB0049	HEA No. 0060		Reversion of funds-emergency fire suppression account.
HB0166	HEA No. 0063		Electric vehicle fee.
HB0280	HEA No. 0067		Funeral service practitioners.
HB0247	HEA No. 0068		Broadband development program-amendments.
HB0219	HEA No. 0069		Alcoholic beverages-24 hour permit.
HB0175	HEA No. 0070		Wyoming insurance guaranty association-revisions.
HB0101	HEA No. 0072		Joint powers boards-natural gas service.
HB0009	HEA No. 0074		Antifreeze and petroleum standards enforcement.
HJ0002	HEJR No. 0002		Funding sewage systems.

Some interesting ones.

Highway 20 is becoming the Medal of Honor Highway:

A JOINT RESOLUTION designating United States Highway 20 as the Medal of Honor Highway.

WHEREAS, the Medal of Honor is our nation's highest award for valor presented to veterans of the Armed Forces of the United States for acting with conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity above and beyond the call of duty at the risk of one's life during combat with an enemy of the United States; and

WHEREAS, the Medal of Honor is widely respected by the military and public alike; and

WHEREAS, Wyoming has been home to seventeen (17) Medal of Honor recipients from the United States Army, United States Navy and United States Marine Corps who served in five (5) wars from the Civil War to the Vietnam War, over a period of one hundred seven (107) years; and

WHEREAS, the following Medal of Honor recipients are connected with Wyoming: William Doolen, Civil War; Thomas Harding, Civil War; Allen Thompson, Civil War; Francis Warren, Civil War; Charles Bessey, Indian War Campaigns; William Bryan, Indian War Campaigns; Thomas Forsyth, Indian War Campaigns; William Lewis, Indian War Campaigns; John McLennon, Indian War Campaigns; John Merrill, Indian War Campaigns; Patrick Rogan, Indian War Campaigns; Edward Baker Jr., Spanish American War; Charles Roberts, Spanish American War; Vernon Baker, WWII; Charles Carey Jr., WWII; Donald Ruhl, WWII and William Adams, Vietnam War; and

WHEREAS, Wyoming's seventeen (17) Medal of Honor recipients resided in, entered service from, or were laid to rest in seven (7) Wyoming cities including Casper, Cheyenne, Greybull, Laramie, Powder River and Rock Springs; and

WHEREAS, during 2017 the nonprofit Bend Heroes Foundation and the Oregon Legislature created a law designating all four hundred fifty-one (451) miles of the border to border U.S. Highway 20 in Oregon as the Oregon Medal of Honor Highway, a first in our nation to honor all of a state's Medal of Honor recipients; and

WHEREAS, the Oregon Medal of Honor Highway with twelve (12) signs already installed is located on U.S. Highway 20, the longest highway in our nation between the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans and which crosses twelve (12) states including Wyoming; and

WHEREAS, the Oregon law suggested a first ever national Medal of Honor Highway would be created if all twelve (12) states through which U.S. Highway 20 traverses designate border to border Medal of Honor Highways in their states; and

WHEREAS, Wyoming has not dedicated a border to border highway to honor all of Wyoming's Medal of Honor recipients or other veterans; and

WHEREAS, a five hundred thirty-two (532) mile border to border Wyoming Medal of Honor Highway on U.S. Highway 20 would honor Wyoming's current and future Medal of Honor recipients and also facilitate a National Medal of Honor Highway across America honoring nearly sixty percent (60%) of all three thousand five hundred five (3,505) recipients of the Medal of Honor since it was created by the U.S. Congress and President Abraham Lincoln one hundred fifty-six (156) years ago; and

WHEREAS, Wyoming deeply appreciates the service and sacrifice of its Medal of Honor recipients and the positive roles they have played in their communities for more than one hundred (100) years; and

WHEREAS, Wyoming's veterans have offered to pay the cost to create and install the "Wyoming Medal of Honor Highway" signs.

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE MEMBERS OF THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WYOMING:

Section 1. The entire portion of U.S. Highway 20 beginning at the Montana/Wyoming border and ending at the Wyoming/Nebraska border shall also be known as the Wyoming Medal of Honor Highway, honoring current and future Medal of Honor recipients.

Section 2. The Wyoming Department of Transportation shall place and maintain suitable markers, including display of the three (3) versions of Medal of Honor medal along U.S. Highway 20 that designate the highway as the Wyoming Medal of Honor Highway.

Section 3.  The Wyoming Department of Transportation may accept monies from and may enter into agreements with veterans and other groups to create, install and maintain the signs.

Section 4.  That the Secretary of State of Wyoming transmit copies of this resolution to the Wyoming Department of Transportation, the Wyoming Veterans' Commission, the Federal Highway Administration and the Purple Heart Foundation.

(END)

Speaker of the House			President of the Senate

	Governor
	TIME APPROVED: _________
	DATE APPROVED: _________

I hereby certify that this act originated in the Senate.

Chief Clerk

There's been an expansion in the Hathaway scholarships:

ORIGINAL HOUSE ENGROSSED

BILL NO. HB0133

ENROLLED ACT NO. 39, HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

SIXTY-FIFTH LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WYOMING

2019 GENERAL SESSION

AN ACT relating to education; providing for scholarships to out-of-state students to attend Wyoming institutions of higher education; specifying scholarship amounts, eligibility requirements and other elements of the scholarships; providing for resident tuition for scholarship recipients; creating a selection committee; creating accounts; making the award of scholarships contingent on funding as specified; and providing for an effective date.

Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Wyoming:

Section 1.  W.S. 21‑16‑1312 is created to read:

21‑16‑1312.  Hathaway expand Wyoming scholarship; eligibility requirements and conditions; selection.

(a)  There is created the Hathaway expand Wyoming scholarship. The scholarship shall be administered by the department in accordance with this section and rules adopted by the department. Hathaway expand Wyoming scholarship recipients shall be selected by a committee comprised of the governor, state superintendent of public instruction, president of the University of Wyoming and executive director of the community college commission, or their designees.

(b)  Each year up to two (2) students from each state contiguous to Wyoming may be awarded a Hathaway expand Wyoming scholarship, not to exceed an aggregate of twenty-four (24) active awards at any time. Awards of Hathaway expand Wyoming scholarships shall be contingent on available funds and anticipated revenue to the Hathaway expand Wyoming scholarship expenditure account. Minimum initial qualifications for a Hathaway expand Wyoming scholarship shall be all initial requirements applicable to a Hathaway honor scholarship, other than Wyoming residency and graduation from a high school located in Wyoming. In addition to those requirements, recipients shall have:

(i)  A minimum cumulative high school GPA of 3.75 and a score equal to or greater than the 2015‑2016 national percentile rank of ninety‑seven (97) on an examination administered throughout the United States and relied upon by institutions of higher education to determine acceptance of students for attendance;

(ii)  At the time of graduation, be a resident of a state contiguous to Wyoming and have successfully completed a curriculum at least as stringent as that imposed under W.S. 21‑16‑1307 for Hathaway honor scholarships.

(c)  A Hathaway expand Wyoming scholarship shall be for the student's cost of attendance at an eligible institution, but not to exceed the maximum dollar amount provided to students receiving a trustee scholarship at the University of Wyoming and subject to reduction in accordance with W.S. 21‑16‑1309(a). No student shall be eligible for a Hathaway expand Wyoming scholarship for more than the equivalent of eight (8) full‑time semesters.  Minimum continuing eligibility and reinstatement eligibility requirements for a Hathaway expand Wyoming scholarship shall be the same as requirements for a Hathaway honors scholarship.  These minimum requirements may be increased by rule of the department to requirements no more stringent than those imposed by the University of Wyoming for recipients of a trustee scholarship.  Hathaway expand Wyoming scholarships may be reduced in the same manner and to lower levels as provided for Hathaway honor scholarships for failure to meet continuing eligibility requirements.

(d)  Hathaway expand Wyoming scholarships shall not be subject to the provisions of W.S. 21‑16‑1308, but shall be administered by the department in accordance with the provisions of this section and the following:

(i)  The department shall, in consultation with University of Wyoming and community college admissions officers and financial aid officers, promulgate rules necessary to implement this section. The consultation shall include development of a means for informing students in contiguous states of the availability of Hathaway expand Wyoming scholarships;

(ii)  Eligible institutions shall provide information required by the department as necessary to fulfill its duties under this section;

(iii)  Students shall apply for Hathaway expand Wyoming scholarships with the department at the time of applying for admission or at an earlier time as established by rule of the department.  The application shall contain information required by rule of the department. The application shall require each applicant to verify under penalty of false swearing under W.S. 6‑5‑303, that the applicant has not been convicted of a felony in this state or another jurisdiction;

(iv)  The department shall determine and certify to the state treasurer the amount of scholarships awarded under this section for attendance at each eligible institution not later than September 1 for the fall semester and not later than January 15 for the spring semester.  Upon receipt of the certification the state treasurer shall pay from the scholarship expenditure account the amount certified by the department;

(v)  The same information required to be reported under W.S. 21‑16‑1308 for Hathaway opportunity, performance and honor scholarships shall be reported for Hathaway expand Wyoming scholarships awarded.

(e)  Before awarding a Hathaway expand Wyoming scholarship, the department shall obtain an agreement from each student, or the student's guardian, under which the student agrees to:

(i)  Actively engage in work in Wyoming for one (1) year or attend graduate school at the University of Wyoming for one (1) year, for every four (4) academic semesters or portions thereof in which a Hathaway expand Wyoming scholarship was received. The department shall establish by rule the commencement of the period for undertaking the requirements of this paragraph, which period shall begin not later than one (1) year after the completion of the last semester in which a Hathaway expand Wyoming scholarship was received; or

(ii)  Repay all Hathaway expand Wyoming scholarship amounts, together with interest which shall begin accruing four (4) years after execution of the agreement. However, interest shall begin to accrue immediately upon the department determining that the student has withdrawn from the Wyoming institution of higher education or is otherwise not making satisfactory academic progress toward completion of a degree or program.  Money expended under this section shall accrue at an annual interest rate equal to that charged for federal direct student loans at the time interest begins to accrue, which rate shall be adjusted annually to match the federal direct student loan rate.  In no event shall the interest rate be greater than eight percent (8%).  Any amountsrepaid by Hathaway expand Wyoming scholarship recipients shall be deposited to the Hathaway expand Wyoming scholarship endowment fund created by W.S. 9‑4‑204(u)(viii).

(f)  The Hathaway expand Wyoming scholarship expenditure account is created to consist of earnings from the Hathaway expand Wyoming scholarship endowment fund created by W.S. 9‑4‑204(u)(viii) and such other funds appropriated by the legislature to the expenditure account. No state funds shall be appropriated to the expenditure account or used for scholarships under this section. The monies deposited to the expenditure account under this subsection shall be available for scholarships under this section. Monies within the expenditure account are continuously appropriated to the state treasurer for distribution to eligible institutions based on scholarships awarded under this section. All unexpended and unencumbered monies within the expenditure account at the end of each fiscal year shall be deposited by the state treasurer to the Hathaway expand Wyoming scholarship endowment fund.

Section 2.  W.S. 9‑4‑204(u) by creating a new paragraph (viii), 9‑4‑714(a)(v), 21‑17‑105 by creating a new subsection (h) and 21‑18‑202(a)(iii) are amended to read:

9‑4‑204.  Funds established; use thereof.

(u)  Other funds defined as follows shall be classified by the state auditor pursuant to subsections (s) and (t) of this section:

(viii)  Hathaway expand Wyoming scholarship endowment fund – to consist of funds appropriated or designated by law, or by gift from whatever source. In accordance with Wyoming Constitution Article 15, Section 20, monies within the fund shall not be expended and may be invested in the same manner as other permanent funds of the state. Earnings from investment of monies within the fund shall be distributed and expended as provided by law. No state funds shall be appropriated or deposited into the fund.

9‑4‑714.  Definitions.

(a)  As used in this act:

(v)  "Permanent funds" means the permanent Wyoming mineral trust fund under W.S. 9‑4‑204(u)(iii), the Wyoming permanent land fund under W.S. 9‑4‑204(u)(iv), the excellence in higher education endowment fund under W.S. 9‑4‑204(u)(vi), and the Hathaway student scholarship endowment fund under W.S. 9‑4‑204(u)(vii) and the Hathaway expand Wyoming scholarship endowment fund under W.S. 9‑4‑204(u)(viii);

21‑17‑105.  Tuition to be as nearly free as possible; number, qualifications and selection of students for reduced tuition; tuition for veterans, their spouses and children; reciprocal residency.

(h)  Trustees shall through regulation provide that students receiving a Hathaway expand Wyoming scholarship in any amount shall qualify for resident tuition at the university each semester the student receives the scholarship.

21‑18‑202.  Powers and duties of the commission.

(a)  The commission shall perform the following general functions:

(iii)  Establish residency requirements, which shall include provisions for military veterans, eligible individuals and covered individuals as described in 38 U.S.C. 3679(c)(2) consistent with the requirements of W.S. 21‑17‑105(e). The commission shall provide that students receiving a Hathaway expand Wyoming scholarship in any amount shall qualify for resident tuition each semester the student receives the scholarship;

Section 3.  Notwithstanding W.S. 21‑16‑1312 as created by this act, no Hathaway expand Wyoming scholarships shall be awarded until the state treasurer certifies to the department of education the balance of the Hathaway expand Wyoming scholarship endowment fund is equal to or greater than ten million dollars ($10,000,000.00). Once that threshold has been reached Hathaway expand Wyoming scholarships shall be awarded pursuant to W.S. 21‑16‑1312.

Section 4.  Notwithstanding W.S. 21‑16‑1312(f) as created by this act, earnings from the Hathaway expand Wyoming scholarship endowment fund under W.S. 9‑4‑204(u)(viii), as created by this act, shall be deposited in the Hathaway expand Wyoming scholarship endowment fund until the state treasurer certifies to the department of education the balance of the Hathaway expand Wyoming scholarship endowment fund is equal to or greater than ten million dollars ($10,000,000.00).

Section 5.  This act is effective July 1, 2019.

(END)

Speaker of the House			President of the Senate

	Governor
	TIME APPROVED: _________
	DATE APPROVED: _________

I hereby certify that this act originated in the House.

Chief Clerk

Related to a story we ran here the other day, electric bicycles must be an oncoming thing as now they're being regulated more heavily.

ORIGINAL SENATE ENGROSSED

FILE NO. SF0081

ENROLLED ACT NO. 45, SENATE

SIXTY-FIFTH LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WYOMING

2019 GENERAL SESSION

AN ACT relating to the regulation of traffic on highways; defining and regulating electric bicycles; establishing classes of electric bicycles; requiring a label on an electric bicycle; specifying applicability; making conforming amendments; and providing for an effective date.

Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Wyoming:

Section 1.  W.S. 31‑5‑707 is created to read:

ARTICLE 7

BICYCLES AND ELECTRIC BICYCLES

31‑5‑707.  Electric bicycles.

(a)  The operator of an electric bicycle is subject to W.S. 31‑5‑702 and is not subject to the provisions of this title relating to financial responsibility, driver's licenses, registration, certificates of title or off‑road recreational vehicles. An electric bicycle shall not be a motor vehicle.

(b)  On and after January 1, 2020, every manufacturer or distributor of an electric bicycle shall ensure that a label is permanently affixed in a prominent location on each electric bicycle sold or distributed by the manufacturer or distributor. The label shall indicate the class number as defined in W.S. 31‑1‑101(a)(xxxiv), the top assisted speed and motor wattage of the electric bicycle and shall be printed in at least nine (9) point font.

(c)  A person shall not modify an electric bicycle to change the motor‑powered speed capability or motor engagement of the electric bicycle, unless the person replaces the label required in subsection (b) of this section indicating the classification.

(d)  An electric bicycle shall comply with United States consumer product safety commission equipment and manufacturing requirements for bicycles, 16 C.F.R. 1512.

(e)  An electric bicycle shall operate according to class so that when the rider stops pedaling, applies the brakes or the electric motor is disengaged, the electric motor assist ceases to function.

(f)  A local authority or state agency with jurisdiction may regulate the use of any class of electric bicycles on trails, including nonmotorized trails, under its jurisdiction. For purposes of this paragraph, "nonmotorized trail" means a trail with a natural surface made by clearing and grading the native soil with no added surfacing materials.

Section 2.  W.S. 31‑1‑101(a)(xv)(intro), (C), (E), (xxix) and by creating a new paragraph (xxxiv), 31‑5‑102(a)(xxi) through (xxiv) and by creating a new paragraph (lxviii), 31‑5‑109(a)(vii), 31‑5‑119(a) and (b), 31‑5‑203(c), 31‑5‑702 and 31‑5‑901(c) are amended to read:

31‑1‑101.  Definitions.

(a)  Except as otherwise provided, as used in this act:

(xv)  "Motor vehicle" means every vehicle which is self‑propelled except vehicles moved solely by human power, electric bicycles or motorized skateboards.  The term includes the following vehicles as hereafter defined:

(C)  "Moped" means a vehicle equipped with two (2) or three (3) wheels, foot pedals to permit muscular propulsion by human power, an automatic transmission and a motor with cylinder capacity not exceeding fifty (50) cubic centimeters producing no more than two (2) brake horsepower, which motor is capable of propelling the vehicle at a maximum speed of no more than thirty (30) miles per hour on a level road surface. "Moped" does not include an electric bicycle;

(E)  "Motorcycle" means every motor vehicle having a seat or saddle for the use of the rider and designed to travel on not more than three (3) wheels in contact with the ground but which may have attached thereto a sidecar for the purpose of transporting a single passenger.  For the purpose of registration and titling "motorcycle" includes motorized bicycles and scooters, but excludes mopeds, motorized skateboards, multipurpose vehicles, electric bicycles and off‑road recreational vehicles as defined in subparagraph (K) of this paragraph;

(xxix)  "Motorized skateboard" means a self‑propelled device which has a motor or engine, a deck on which a person may ride and at least two (2) wheels in contact with the ground and which is not otherwise defined in this act as a "motor vehicle", "motorcycle","electric bicycle", "motor‑driven cycle" or "pedestrian vehicle";.

(xxxiv)  "Electric bicycle" means a bicycle or tricycle equipped with fully operable pedals, a seat or saddle for the rider's use and an electric motor of less than seven hundred fifty (750) watts that meets the requirements of one (1) of the following three (3) classes:

(A)  "Class 1 electric bicycle" means an electric bicycle equipped with a motor that provides assistance only when the rider is pedaling and that ceases to provide assistance when the bicycle reaches a speed of twenty (20) miles per hour;

(B)  "Class 2 electric bicycle" means an electric bicycle equipped with a motor that may be used to propel the bicycle without pedaling and that is not capable of providing assistance when the bicycle reaches a speed of twenty (20) miles per hour;

(C)  "Class 3 electric bicycle" means an electric bicycle equipped with a motor that provides assistance only when the rider is pedaling and that ceases to provide assistance when the bicycle reaches a speed of twenty‑eight (28) miles per hour.

31‑5‑102.  Definitions.

(a)  Except as otherwise provided, as used in this act:

(xxi)  "Moped" means a motor‑driven cycle both with foot pedals to permit muscular propulsion by human power and with a motor which produces no more than two (2) brake horsepower and which is capable of propelling the vehicle at a maximum speed of no more than thirty (30) miles per hour on a level road surface. If an internal combustion engine is used, the displacement shall not exceed more than fifty (50) cubic centimeters and the moped shall have a power drive system that functions directly or automatically without clutching or shifting by the driver after the drive system is engaged. "Moped" does not include an electric bicycle;

(xxii)  "Motorcycle" means any motor vehicle having a seat or saddle for the use of the rider and designed to travel on not more than three (3) wheels in contact with the ground, excluding off‑road recreation vehicles as defined in W.S. 31‑1‑101(a)(xv)(K) and electric bicycles, but including a motor vehicle designed as a recreational vehicle primarily for off‑road use to be ridden astride and to travel on four (4) wheels;

(xxiii)  "Motor‑driven cycle" means any motorcycle, including motor scooters and motorized bicycles having an engine with less than one hundred fifty (150) cubic centimeters displacement or with five (5) brake horsepower or less but does not include motorized skateboards or electric bicycles;

(xxiv)  "Motor vehicle" means every vehicle which is self‑propelled except vehicles moved solely by human power, electric bicycles and motorized skateboards as defined by paragraph (a)(lxii) of this section;

(lxviii)  "Electric bicycle" means as defined in W.S. 31‑1‑101(a)(xxxiv).

31‑5‑109.  General powers of local authorities.

(a)  This act does not prevent local authorities with respect to streets and highways under their jurisdiction and within the reasonable exercise of the police power from:

(vii)  Regulating the operation of bicycles and electric bicycles and requiring the registration and licensing of bicycles and electric bicycles, including the requirement of a registration fee;

31‑5‑119.  Clinging to vehicles.

(a)  No person riding upon any bicycle, electric bicycle, coaster, roller skates, sled or toy vehicle shall attach it or himself to any vehicle upon a roadway.

(b)  This section does not prohibit attaching a bicycle trailer or bicycle semitrailer to a bicycle or electric bicycle if the trailer or semitrailer was designed for the attachment.

31‑5‑203.  Rules governing overtaking on the left.

(c)  The driver of a motor vehicle overtaking and passing a bicycleor electric bicycle, which is operating lawfully, proceeding in the same direction shall, when space allows, maintain at least a three (3) foot separation between the right side of the driver's motor vehicle, including all mirrors and other projections from the motor vehicle, and the bicycle or electric bicycle.

31‑5‑702.  General rights and duties of riders.

Every person propelling a vehicle by human power or riding a bicycle or electric bicycle has all of the rights and all of the duties applicable to the driver of any vehicle under this act, except as to special regulations in this act and except as to those provisions which by their nature can have no application.

31‑5‑901.  General requirements; applicability of provisions.

(c)  The provisions of W.S. 31‑5‑901 through 31‑5‑970 and regulations of the superintendent with respect to equipment required on vehicles shall not apply to vehicles moved solely by human power, motorcycles, autocycles, motor‑driven cycles, mopeds, electric bicycles, multipurpose vehicles, implements of husbandry, highway construction machinery or farm tractors except as specifically made applicable.

Section 3.  This act is effective July 1, 2019.

(END)

Speaker of the House			President of the Senate

	Governor
	TIME APPROVED: _________
	DATE APPROVED: _________

I hereby certify that this act originated in the Senate.

Chief Clerk

The Beer Freedom Act passed, allowing microbreweries to more easily sell their product off site.

ORIGINAL HOUSE ENGROSSED

BILL NO. HB0076

ENROLLED ACT NO. 41, HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

SIXTY-FIFTH LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WYOMING

2019 GENERAL SESSION

AN ACT relating to alcoholic beverages; authorizing appropriate licensing authorities to issue twenty-four hour malt beverage permits to microbreweries; making conforming amendments; and providing for an effective date.

Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Wyoming:

Section 1.  W.S. 12‑4‑103(a)(vi) and 12‑4‑412 by creating a new subsection (j) are amended to read:

12‑4‑103.  Restrictions upon license or permit applicants and holders; license limitation per person.

(a)  A license or permit authorized by this title shall not be held by, issued or transferred to:

(vi)  A manufacturer of alcoholic beverages or wholesaler of malt beverages, except as provided in W.S. 12‑4‑412(j);

12‑4‑412.  Microbrewery and winery permits; authorized; conditions; dual permits and licenses; satellite winery permits; direct shipment of wine; fees.

(j)  In addition to the one (1) additional license or permit authorized under paragraph (b)(iii) of this section, the holder of a microbrewery permit under this section may also hold a malt beverage permit under W.S. 12‑4‑502(a) for the purpose of selling its own brewed malt beverages.

Section 2.  This act is effective July 1, 2019.

(END)

Speaker of the House			President of the Senate

	Governor
	TIME APPROVED: _________
	DATE APPROVED: _________

I hereby certify that this act originated in the House.

Chief Clerk

Reflecting a change in society, illegitimacy is no longer an estate obstacle.

ORIGINAL HOUSE 

BILL NO. HB0269

ENROLLED ACT NO. 58, HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

SIXTY-FIFTH LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WYOMING

2019 GENERAL SESSION

AN ACT relating to decedent's estates; repealing the rule of descent for an illegitimate person; making a conforming amendment; specifying applicability; and providing for an effective date.

Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Wyoming:

Section 1.  W.S. 2‑1‑301(a)(v) is amended to read:

2‑1‑301.  Generally.

(a)  When used in this code, unless otherwise defined or required by the context, the following words and phrases shall be construed as follows:

(v)  "Child" includes an adopted child but does not include a grandchild or other more remote descendent;, nor, except as provided in Chapter 4, an illegitimate child;

Section 2.  W.S. 2‑4‑102 is repealed.

Section 3.  This act applies to all probate matters filed or commenced on or after the effective date of this act.

Section 4.  This act is effective July 1, 2019.

(END)

Speaker of the House			President of the Senate

	Governor
	TIME APPROVED: _________
	DATE APPROVED: _________

I hereby certify that this act originated in the House.

Chief Clerk

And also reflecting the march of technology, the state will now regulate technology in hunting, as well it should.

ORIGINAL HOUSE ENGROSSED

BILL NO. HB0002

ENROLLED ACT NO. 54, HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

SIXTY-FIFTH LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WYOMING

2019 GENERAL SESSION

AN ACT relating to game and fish; providing rulemaking authority for the regulation of methods of taking wildlife; and providing for an effective date.

Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Wyoming:

Section 1.  W.S. 23‑1‑302(a) by creating a new paragraph (xxxii) is amended to read:

23‑1‑302.  Powers and duties.

(a)  The commission is directed and empowered:

(xxxii)  To adopt rules regulating, limiting or prohibiting the use of hunting technologies and the selling of wildlife geographic locations. "Hunting technologies" shall be limited to those technologies specified in subparagraphs (A) through (C) of this paragraph. No rule adopted pursuant to this paragraph shall apply to the taking of predatory animals as defined in W.S. 23‑1‑101(a) or to the use of hunting technologies by USDA APHIS wildlife damage management personnel when acting in their official capacity.  Nothing in this paragraph shall be interpreted to limit any other authority of the commission provided in this act to regulate the taking of wildlife. Before promulgating any rule under this paragraph, the commission shall submit the proposed rule in writing to the joint travel, recreation, wildlife and cultural resources interim committee and appear before the committee upon request. Rules promulgated under this paragraph shall only apply to:

(A)  Thermal or infrared imaging or other imaging outside the normal visible light spectrum;

(B)  Real time video photography equipment or video imaging viewable remotely; or

(C)  The selling of wildlife geographic locations.

Section 2.  This act is effective July 1, 2019.

(END)

Speaker of the House			President of the Senate

	Governor
	TIME APPROVED: _________
	DATE APPROVED: _________

I hereby certify that this act originated in the House.

Chief Clerk

February 26, 1919. Grand Canyon and Acadia National Parks established, Soldiers and Sailors Club finds home in Casper, Mexican Federal Troops take positions up in Juarez, Dry Frontier Days

On this day in 1919, President Wilson passed legislation creating the Grand Canyon and Lafayette National Parks.  Lafayette National Park in Maine would be renamed Acadia National Park a decade later.

A Park Service item on the act and parks:

Unlikely SiblingsAcadia National Park, Grand Canyon National Park

Lots of strife was reported on in the Casper paper, but we've added this one to note the formation of the Soldiers and Sailors Club with temporary housing in the Oil Exchange Building.

That building, renamed the Consolidated Royalty Building, is still a prominent downtown Casper office building.  It was a new building at that time, having been built in 1917.

In Cheyenne, Frontier Days was announced to be "Dry" for 1919.

Mexican Federal troops were reported to be taking up positions to guard American interests around Juarez.

And in Cheyenne Carey was signing new legislation as the Wyoming State Tribune was making fun of human nature and the occupation of Germany.

The further demise of the local news

Last year, as folks who stop by here know, the Casper Star Tribune decided to quit printing their paper in Casper.  It prints now in Cheyenne.

Or, rather, it contracts to have it printed in Cheyenne.  And from its Cheyenne printed newspaper it recently related this bit of local news:

Casper’s KCWY will combine with Cheyenne’s KGWN station, rebranding under a new name, drastically cutting back the number of newscasts here and leaving just four of its reporters in the Oil City, the station and its parent company confirmed Thursday. 

In separate emails, KCWY general manager Jim Beck and Gray Television Executive Vice President Kevin Latek confirmed the “significant change.” By April 9, the two stations will rebrand as “Wyoming News Now” and will run out of Cheyenne. Casper will maintain four employees who will produce a unique newscast at 5 p.m. The other productions — morning, noon, late and weekend — will be simulcast for both Cheyenne and Casper, Beck said in a statement. 

The 6 p.m. newscast will be eliminated and “Jeopardy!” will replace it. It’s unclear if any Casper reporters or staff will move to Cheyenne. Beck wrote that the station “will make every effort to offer impacted employees new positions in Gray stations in larger markets across the country.”

This means that two of Casper's major media outlets are now centered in Cheyenne in some fashion, with the shift in television being more radical than that made in the print media.  The Tribune still writes from Casper, but prints, via a contractor, in Cheyenne.  KCWY, however broadcasts from Cheyenne.

What a radical shift from not even all that long ago.  The other television channel, KTWO, was for some time the only local television station and its news department was a big deal when I was a kid.  Locals, for whatever reason, welcomed it when they got competition, but now they're back to being the only local broadcast station.  Both stations, for some time, have had the feeling to them of being training grounds for television news folks who are moving on to elsewhere, however, with those younger broadcasters being of varying qualities, sometimes great (like sportscaster Taylor McGregor who is now back in her native Denver and broadcasts particularly for the Rockies, at which she is excellent) and sometimes not so much.

The company that owns KCWY has stations all over the United States, and so this can't be regarded as really surprising.  Quite a change, however, from the infancy of television, which isn't really all that old, when television stations were very local, but affiliated with national broadcasters.  Indeed, at one time, KTWO, as it was the only local station, was affiliated with more than one national broadcaster.

Oh well.  I like Jeopardy.

Lex Anteinternet: Dare we, and should we, Wyomingites that is, ponde...

The question we asked last week.

Lex Anteinternet: Dare we, and should we, Wyomingites that is, ponde...: It's a scary thought for a lot of folks. Burkburnett Texas, February 17, 1919.  Clearly a boom was on when this photograph was tak...

In the Sunday Tribune, the paper was asking the same thing.

Or rather featuring miners from Kemmerer where mining has been a feature of local life, and employment, for generations but where that seems to be rapidly passing away.

Passing away with it, it seems, are pension plans that a bankrupt mining company has received permission from a bankruptcy court to apparently dishonor.

Kemmerer was in the news locally due to a couple of generators in a coal fired power plant being shut down, which is part of what consumes the locally mined coal.  It's also been in the news as a solar energy farm is going to be established there.  It seems, accordingly, to be the sharp focal point of a lot of economic evolution in the state, something that isn't fun at all for those enduring it.

February 25, 1919. Oregon becomes the first state to enact a gasoline tax.

The tax was .01 per gallon.

The average 1919 price per gallon was .25, but adjusted for inflation, that price would now be $3.42, so at least locally, the average price per gallon, in real terms, is lower now than it was in 1919.  For that matter, the position of the average American in the economy has been upward so that the average American has more disposable income in 2019 than he or she did in 1919.

At any rate, Oregon brought gasoline taxes into the national picture on this day, and its spread everywhere since then.  .01 doesn't sound like much, but in the context of 1919, it was a rational and not unsubstantial tax.

Monday, February 24, 1919. Wyoming National Guardsmen in Berlin? Woodrow on the Commons, Wobblies in detention. Working Children result in taxation, temporarily, Wimpy in alcohol. Women in film.

Woodrow Wilson on the Boston Commons.

President Wilson was back in the US and took in some adulation on the Boston Commons. He was about to step into the fight for the League of Nations and the Versailles Treaty that would ultimately kill him.

Spanish anarchists arrested by the  New York police under suspicion of harboring a plot to assassinate President Wilson.

At the same time, a group of IWW anarchists were oddly plotting to assassinate Wilson.  Exactly why a century later, is unclear, as he was certainly less unsympathetic to labor and the rights of at least small nations than others in U.S. politics, although he certainly wasn't sympathetic with anarchists or communists as a group.

Child laborers in a furniture factory in 1908.  These boys would have all been of military age in World War One, which may explain the stoicism that seems to have been so common with American soldiers of that conflict.

Speaking of work, Congress passed the Child Labor Tax of 1919 which imposed a 10% income tax on those companies using child labor.  The Supreme Court would strike the law down as unconstitutional in 1922, something that isn't surprising as this was in the pre Lochner era.

The papers were reporting on those events.  And on a rumor that the 148th Field Artillery, which contained Wyoming National Guardsmen, was in Berlin.

It wasn't.

Meanwhile the Federal Prohibition bill was down to .05% being the top allowable level, less than Wyoming's 1% which had just Quixotically passed.

Releasing movies on Monday had become a thing.

Female heroins, both comedic and dramatic, were in vogue.

Sunday Morning Scene: Nigerian soldier priest conducting the Benediction for his fellow soldiers

Best Posts of the Week of February 17, 2019

The best post of the week of February 17, 2019.

Sunday Morning Scene: Churches of the East: Near Reims

Churches of the East: Near Reims

Near Reims

Dare we, and should we, Wyomingites that is, ponder a near term world in which coal and oil use decline? Part I.

Where have all the classifieds gone?

Some Gave All: Memorial to the men of Hallay Champagne who lost their lives in World War One.

Some Gave All: Memorial to the men of Hallay Champagne who lost t...:

Memorial to the men of Hallay Champagne who lost their lives in World War One.

A town memorial to the dead of World War One in the Champagne region.

Working With Animals

Sultans of Swing (metal cover by Leo Moracchioli featuring Mary Spender)

Lex Anteinternet: Is Beer the Most Distributist Product Ever? It would appear so.

Some Gave All: Henri Guillaumet, Pilot from Ligne

Some Gave All: Henri Guillaumet, Pilot from Ligne:

Henri Guillaumet, Pilot from Ligne

A memorial in Ligne, France, to Henri Guillaumet, a pilot who lost his life in World War Two.

The memorial was placed on the 50th anniversary of his death.



MKTH photograph.

Agriculture du vendredi: Les Moutons

The 2020 Election, Part 1

But then. . was Lex Anteinternet: And in the end, it didn't even come to the floor. And some appointments.

We ran this item about the demise of House Bill 220, which would have imposed an income tax on out of state big retailers operating in the state, earlier this week:

Lex Anteinternet: And in the end, it didn't even come to the floor.: Lex Anteinternet: Opposition to the Big Box Tax, and to Lifting the ... : One of the bills that did well in the state House was the bill t...

That item reported on the bills demise.  Perhaps we reported too soon.

Discussions are underway in the Senate to pull the bill from the committee and put it in one that will put it on the Senate floor.  The bill has the support of Senate GOP leadership and it appears that efforts are underway to revive it.

Stay tuned.

Governor Gordon, meantime, has been making a lot of appointments to various agencies and board.  Retiring Gen. Luke Reiner, who was a lieutenant in the Guard back when I was a Sergeant, has been appointed to be the Director of the Wyoming Department of Transportation.  Reiner is a good sharp guy and will do a good job.  Mary Throne, Gordon's Democratic opponent in the recent Governor's race, was appointed to the Democratic slot on the Wyoming Public Service Commission.

February 23, 1919. Villa advances on Juarez

Which is news that would have seemed current a couple of years ago, and then seemed impossible, only to be current again.

The 2019 Legislative Session, Cross Over Bill dies in the Senate, Private School Bill gets sick in the House. No to drunken boating.

The cross over bill, the bill designed to stop late primary season party switching, died  11 to 14, with five Senators absent.

The bill was a priority for the Republican Party this year, to my surprise, and before I realized that I had predicted its failure.  I proved to be correct, but it did a lot better than I would have supposed quite frankly.

The bill sparked a really interesting counter bill for truly open primaries which would have been a uniquely democratic (small d) move which also failed, which is a bit of a shame.  It was radical, but it was radically democratic and would have caused Wyomingites to have to rethink the nature of these party elections, which is all that a primary actually is. Freed of the need to run in a party primary and freed of the requirement to vote only for the party you registered with, its pretty clear some recent Wyoming elections would have turned out differently while others, of course, would not have.  I can't see that any of the recent elections would have been impacted, but the two finalist going head to head in the general would have been different in almost all of the races, I suspect, for good or ill.

As it was, the bill that the GOP advanced would have been the second strictest primary registration bill in the United States had it passed, second only to New York.  As my other recent posts here have made pretty plain, I'm hugely unkeen on the recent selection of New Yorker politicians that have been constantly in the news one way or another so I can't say that I'd regard whatever their primary system to be to give me a whole lot of hope about things political.

Anyhow, the bill ran into trouble right off the bat and the leader of the Senate had to walk it through three or four committees before he found one that would introduce it to the Senate floor. That might have been a signal about it being in trouble.  Now its failed, although its not impossible that political maneuvering could reintroduce it.  If it is reintroduced, it will say a lot about current party control over the process.

One thing that may have occurred to some Senators is not only what UW kept pointing out. . . there was no evidence of a Democratic party switching tsunami in the last election and no evidence that it had an impact on the election. . . but that if UW is wrong what the bill would actually do is cage RINOs, as some call them, in the party.  People wouldn't have gotten back around to switching back into the Democratic Party prior to the next election, in all likelihood.  And Democrats worried about a Republican general move to the right would just move over early, given the lack of viable Democratic candidates as a rule.  The impact, in other words, would have made the center of the GOP larger.  At least that would have been what I feel likely to occur.  Talking to two non GOP folks who registered i the primary as Republicans both pretty much confirmed that if it passed, they were Republicans for life, and not in the way that those in the Republican right might be gladdened by.

Drunken boating is the topic of a bill that advanced.  Drunken boating is a real problem, and it appears that the state is really going to clamp down on it.

The bill designed to take certain considerations concerning private schools away from counties and vest them in the State's School Facility Board barely passed its first reading in the House.  If it doesn't get more votes than it did on its first reading, it will die.

This bill appears to have broken out into a really lively and unexpected debate in the House.  Indeed, the House has seen a lot of unexpected debate this year, which is a good sign.  One member raised the home rule issue and wondered why a bill was being passed that really addressed what was a local issue.  He suggested that those unhappy with the county of origin's actions, that being Teton County, ought to take that up in the next County Commissioner contest, a point that's hard to argue with.

But the really surprising challenged came from the right. . . that is, to the right of those who are backing this bill that addresses the concerns of the Friess sponsored school that got this topic rolling.  A Representative who home schools her children wondered if the state should deem it necessary to get involved in the facilities of private schools, would it sooner or later get involved with the same for home schooling, with curriculum being the specific thing mentioned.

I'll be frank that I know very little about home schooling in general and while I know good people and highly intelligent people who do it, I frankly wonder about its real viability for the most part in this modern age.  The topics that have to be addressed by schools are so vast that I don't know how a parent could frankly begin to do it, in most instances.  And I frankly thought that there was some state control over home schooling, in terms of what children must be educated in, but now that I think of it, I'm just assuming that and don't really know about it.  I've heard that.

Anyhow, the Representatives point is a good one as people like me do feel that there are certain topics, i.e, curricula, that people must be educated in and I would not be very sympathetic to a parent who chose to omit one for a philosophical reason.  So her fear is real.  Once you start going down a road, you are going down it.

Another point raised by a different House members is that schools sell.  Looking around the state and region, I see old schools from time to time that aren't schools any longer. Roosevelt isn't a school any more in my area, and up in O'Fallon County Montana, where I was the other day, an old grade school is now a brewery.

The reason that's important is if private schools get a pass on size, what's to keep them from later selling?  Nothing.  Indeed, I could see a crafty developer who wanted to build something big, build it in the pretext of it being a school, run it for a decade or less, and then sell it.  So much for planning then.

Anyhow, the session is wrapping up soon, and soon the stories on the 2019 Legislative Session will end.  Most folks here, I'm sure, won't miss them. 

February 22, 1919. Marching home, Germany ablaze and no Carey County.

The Saturday Evening Post featured a Rockwell portrayal of a stout looking American veteran marching with admiring young boys.  The hyper patriotic and hyper romantic portrayal doesn't portray the veteran as bemused by the display, which in reality would have been the likely reaction.

The stout child in the lead is wearing the type of service coat that the Boy Scouts still did at that time.

It's odd to think that in any such real world crowd, the children depicted here would have had a fairly high chance of seeing service in the Second World War.

While soldiers were returning, newspapers all over the country carried the frightening news that Germany seemed to be descending again into full scale civil war.

That sudden revived slide was caused by the assassination of Kurt Eisner in Bavaria, after which radical socialist and communists took action to seize the Bavarian government, only lately a monarchy, and proclaim it to be a "Soviet" republic that following April. Eisner was a socialist himself but was in the process of resigning his role in government when a right wing assassin took his life.  Government in Bavaria became chaotic as a result and for approximately one month the large important German state was ruled by a communist cabal in Munich until the Freikorps put it down in their characteristic fashion.

A communist revolution in Bavaria was always a highly odd thing in the first place as the state itself was quit conservative and heavily Catholic.  Munich was the exception, and would prove the exception again as the center of Nazi activity only shortly later.

At the same time as it appeared an internecine war was about to break out in Germany, the League of Nations was gaining real opposition in the United States.

Wyomingites also read that the legislature was wrapping up, which is usually a time of relief for all.  The legislature did not get around to approving a Carey County and therefore Governor Carey didn't have the opportunity to sign into law a county named after his father.  Indeed, such a county would never come into being.

Agriculture du vendredi: Les Moutons

MKTH Photographs

Some Gave All: Henri Guillaumet, Pilot from Ligne

Some Gave All: Henri Guillaumet, Pilot from Ligne:

Henri Guillaumet, Pilot from Ligne

A memorial in Ligne, France, to Henri Guillaumet, a pilot who lost his life in World War Two.

The memorial was placed on the 50th anniversary of his death.



MKTH photograph.

Lex Anteinternet: Is Beer the Most Distributist Product Ever? It would appear so.

I posed that question here:

Lex Anteinternet: Is Beer the Most Distributist Product Ever?: Eh? Okay, let's start off with a definition refresher, as for many folks the term "Distributist" is a mystery. ...

And apparently the answer is yes.

 6-5-4 Recreational Ale by Old Skool Brewery in Baker Montana.

I was in Baker Montana earlier this week.  First time I've been there.

Baker is a tiny town even though its the county seat of Fallon County.  I'll post more about my observations regarding it here, but one thing that seemed to be the case (and which I'll mention in more detail later) is that the highly isolated very small farming town seems to be doing pretty well.  It lacks some of those things like access to big box stores and the like that small towns nearer larger ones have, and at least by observation, it's doing well without them . . . maybe because of not having access to them.

Anyhow, one thing about Baker is that, at least in my short tour de Baker, is that it lacks restaurants that are open at night (again, more in a moment), but its bars all serve food and at least the one I ate in the one night I ate there had a decent menu.

And it also had what turned out to be local brews.

I drove post the brewery, located in an old grade school, the next day and was stunned to see a town of this tiny size with a brewery/brew pub.  It turned out that the ale that I and everyone else in the bar had poured the prior evening (and there were a lot of people in the bar) was one of their brews.

I've noted this a lot in Wyoming.  In bars and restaurants its really common to find the local brews featured and people will order them over the big brewery beverages.  That's small "d" distributism in action. . . subsidiarity in suds.  People were doing that in Baker as well.

But that Baker, a highly isolated town a long. long ways from any even small sized city, would have a brewery. . . that's amazing.

Mueller Musings

On the television news today there was a report that special investigative attorney Mueller's report "may be released in a matter of days."

On the internet news the headline is that "Bombshell Mueller report may never be fully released.

I guess I should withhold judgement until whatever happens, if it happens, happens, but at this point a couple of comments:

1.  After all of this lead up, the entire freaking report should be released in full no matter what.

It should be released as putting the country through all of this and then just teasing the public with whatever it says would be cruel and stupid.  Cruel for obvious reasons, and stupid for the well known evidence of history that even pretending something is withheld leads to endless speculation.  Some are still speculating on the Kennedy assassination, for goodness sakes.  When I was a kid, a few still were speculating on the Lincoln murder.

And I don't care if its devastating to anyone.  The result of failing to disclose what was known about one person or another has given us entirely false histories on some thing, the internal history of the United States and the United Kingdom during the Cold War for one.   Were you aware that one of the leaders of the British Labor Party was known to have been a KGB informant until 1968 (this was learned after 1968) but British intelligence chose to keep it to themselves until fairly recently?  They shouldn't have.  Even now its denied, a la Alger Hiss style.

2.  I don't care if Mueller is the greatest lawyer on earth, this investigation is a good example of why you don't give special attorney generals open ended commissions or assign projects to lawyers who are 74 years old.  Commissions of this type should have a reasonable time limit to them in which they expire absent an extension so that the people assigned to them don't take two years to get a single investigation completed, if not longer than that.  If that's too much for the person assigned, it should go to somebody who can get it done.  If its too complicated to get done, as it turns out, report on that and why.  If commissions of the type issued by the United States were issued in ancient Rome, the report of the special investigator looking into the murder of Julius Caesar would be coming out "soon".

By saying all of this I'm not commenting on the quality of the investigation or its results.  It may be great work.  But if its work that would require or even suggest requiring impeachment, it's taken so long that the work will have been nearly completely pointless in this term (although it would certainly have some impact on a campaign for reelection) and even if Congress got rolling on that it would be literally all they would do for the next two years.  If it doesn't suggest that, whatever it has suggested, and its lead to an impressive number of indictments so far, its taken far too long to get there and its added endlessly to news cycle drama that's been dramatic enough as it was.