March 3, 2021
Sometimes you learn of these bills in surprising ways.
A bill has been introduced and advanced in the legislature which seeks to adjust the percentages of licenses between natives and out of staters. I'm sure I wasn't in the intended audience, as I'm an instater.
It reads:
2021 | STATE OF WYOMING | 21LSO-0423 |
SENATE FILE NO. SF0103
Resident and nonresident hunting license issuance and fees.
Sponsored by: Senator(s) Hicks, Kolb, McKeown and Schuler and Representative(s) Burkhart, Harshman, Henderson, Laursen, Stith, Styvar and Wharff
A BILL
for
AN ACT relating to game and fish; modifying provisions governing resident and nonresident hunters; modifying resident and nonresident license reservations; increasing resident and nonresident fees as specified; repealing nonresident license reservation requirements for elk, deer and antelope; making a conforming amendment; and providing for an effective date.
Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Wyoming:
Section 1. W.S. 23‑1‑703(e), 23‑2‑101(e), (j)(intro), (xv), (xvii), (xix), (xxi), (xxiii), (xxv), (xxvii), (xxix), (xxxi), (xxxiii), (xxxviii), (xxxix) and (k) and 23‑2‑107(c)(intro) and (e) are amended to read:
23‑1‑703. Limitation of number of certain licenses; reservation of certain licenses; reservation of certain unused licenses.
(e) The commission shall reserve eighty percent (80%) of the moose and seventy‑five percent (75%) of the ram and ewe and lamb bighorn sheep, mountain goat not less than ninety percent (90%) of the limited quota big game animal, wild bison and grizzly bear licenses to be issued in any one (1) year for resident hunters in the initial license drawings. In any hunt area with less than ten (10) licenses available, the commission shall not issue any licenses to nonresident hunters under this subsection. The commission shall determine the allocation of resident and nonresident mountain lion harvest.
23‑2‑101. Fees; restrictions; nonresident application fee; nonresident licenses; verification of residency required.
(e) Resident and nonresident license applicants shall pay an application fee in an amount specified by this subsection upon submission of an application for purchase of any limited quota drawing for big or trophy game license or wild bison license. The resident application fee shall be five dollars ($5.00) seven dollars ($7.00) and the nonresident application fee shall be fifteen dollars ($15.00) seventeen dollars ($17.00). The application fee is in addition to the fees prescribed by subsections (f) and (j) of this section and by W.S. 23‑2‑107 and shall be payable to the department either directly or through an authorized selling agent of the department. At the beginning of each month, the commission shall set aside all of the fees collected during calendar year 1980 and not to exceed twenty‑five percent (25%) of the fees collected thereafter pursuant to this subsection to establish and maintain a working balance of five hundred thousand dollars ($500,000.00), to compensate owners or lessees of property damaged by game animals and game birds.
(j) Subject to W.S. 23‑2‑101(f), 23‑1‑705(e) and the applicable fee under W.S. 23‑1‑701, the following hunting licenses and tags may be purchased for the fee indicated and subject to the limitations provided:
(xv) Nonresident deer license; one (1) deer
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 372.00 655.00
(xvii) Nonresident youth deer license; one (1) deer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 110.00 150.00
(xix) Nonresident elk license; one (1) elk, fishing privileges . . . . . . . . . . . . 690.00 1,100.00
(xxi) Nonresident youth elk license; one (1) elk, fishing privileges . . . . . . . . . . . 275.00 300.00
(xxiii) Nonresident bighorn sheep license; one (1) bighorn sheep . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,318.00 3,000.00
(xxv) Nonresident mountain goat license; one (1) mountain goat . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,160.00 2,750.00
(xxvii) Nonresident moose license; one (1) moose
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,980.00 2,750.00
(xxix) Nonresident grizzly bear license; one (1) grizzly bear . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6,000.00 7,500.00
(xxxi) Nonresident antelope license; one (1) antelope . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 324.00 600.00
(xxxiii) Nonresident youth antelope license; one (1) antelope . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 110.00 125.00
(xxxviii) Resident turkey license . 14.00 20.00
(xxxix) Nonresident turkey license . 72.00 75.00
(k) Any resident qualified to purchase a moose or ram big horn sheep hunting license under subsection (j) of this section may pay a fee of seven dollars ($7.00) ten dollars ($10.00) in lieu of applying for a moose or ram big horn sheep hunting license. Payment of the fee for a particular species under this subsection shall authorize the person to accumulate points under W.S. 23‑1‑703(b) for that year in the same manner as if he had unsuccessfully applied for a hunting license for that species. Payment of the fee shall be made in compliance with application dates.
23‑2‑107. Wild bison licenses.
(c) Subject to the limitations imposed by W.S. 23‑1‑703(e), the commission shall promulgate reasonable rules and regulations regulating wild bison licenses and the management of wild bison. The rules shall provide for:
(e) A resident applicant shall pay a license fee of four hundred twelve dollars ($412.00) for a license to harvest any wild bison or two hundred fifty‑eight dollars ($258.00) for a license to harvest a female or calf wild bison and shall pay the fee required by W.S. 23‑2‑101(e). A nonresident applicant shall pay a license fee of four thousand four hundred dollars ($4,400.00) six thousand dollars ($6,000.00) for a license to harvest any wild bison or two thousand seven hundred fifty dollars ($2,750.00) for a license to harvest a female or calf wild bison and shall pay the fee required by W.S. 23‑2‑101(e). The fee charged under W.S. 23‑1‑701 shall be in addition to the fee imposed under this subsection.
Section 2. W.S. 23‑2‑101(f) is repealed.
Section 3. This act is effective January 1, 2022.
(END)
As can be seen, it dramatically increases the costs of out of state licenses, in some categories as well.
Well so be it.
I learned of this bill when an outfitter that I really don't know except by business name sent an email "alert" to my email on this, noting that it would supposedly destroy my ability to hunt in Wyoming, by which it meant a state that it though that I, as a visitor living elsewhere, would only be visiting to hunt, and wouldn't be able to.
This taps into a long running slow burn cultural battle in the state that really began in the 1970s. Prior to that time outfitting wasn't really a statewide business and may not have been a full time business of any category at all. In that timeframe, however, there was an effort basically to attempt to stabilize the business, more or less at their request, by requiring they be hired in certain areas for those who came from out of state.
Since that time, the business has really grown and there have been real efforts to directly aid them, including even granting them some licenses to be sold directly. For native Wyomingites this has been a huge issue as natives don't use guides at all and the feeling is that these efforts directly impinge on a sort of native right. This feeling has increased as some outfitters have locked up ranch lands in deals which reserve the lands for the outfitters clients. There's various arguments on this on both side, some of which they will not commit to in print but will openly voice. The printed one, form the outfitters, is that out of state hunters bring in a lot of revenue to the state.
For native hunters the counter is that they largely don't care. They don't benefit economically from it, and indeed, the opposite is true in that they loose opportunities to hunt. The past few years this loss has been keenly felt as licenses that were once easy to get now no longer are. Indeed, I haven't drawn an antelope license for two years running at this time.
With an influx of outdoorsmen of all types due to the Coronavirus pandemic, this has been all the more the case.
An interesting aspect of this bill is the absence of sponsoring names that appear on the "hot" topics this year.
On other matters, a bill a bill has advanced allowing the holders of real property to remove racially restrictive covenants from their deeds.
Such restrictions are void in any event, so this bill simply allows such restrictions to be officially removed. As few people read their deeds and as people likely generally don't repeat the illegal
March 4, 2021
SF80, which would limit the Governor's and Public Health officers authority in a pandemmic, narrowly passed from committee. It's operative language reads:
(b) No public health emergency declared by the governor under paragraph (a)(i) of this section that results in requirements or orders of the closure of public or private buildings, facilities or other places, limits in‑person restaurant dining or forbids or otherwise limits in‑person gatherings shall be effective for a period exceeding thirty (30) days unless the order is ratified by the legislature through legislative order, with each house voting separately. Any order ratified by legislative order shall be effective for a maximum of thirty (30) days after the ratification. Public health emergencies subject to this subsection may be ratified more than one (1) time.
Three of Governor Gordon's nominees to environmental commissions were rejected. They were Democrats, and traditionally such bodies are bipartisan.
March 5, 2021
Bills that would have increased the tax burden on solar and wind power generation failed.
March 6, 2021
Senate File 103, on hunting licenses, failed in committee. The vote was as follows:
ROLL CALL
Ayes: Senator Schuler
Nays: Senator(s) Ellis, Gierau, Landen, Salazar
Ayes 1 Nays 4 Excused 0 Absent 0 Conflicts 0
A bill to abolish the death penalty in Wyoming has advanced.
March 7, 2021
A bill to repeal gun free zones has advanced.
March 8, 2021
Every sheriff in Wyoming has come out against a bill which would attempt to prevent state law enforcement officials from enforcing Federal firearms laws. The bill has provisions specifically aimed at law enforcement officers who attempt to enforce such laws.
This is apparently a trend around the country which suggest that this may be one of those bills that may have been drafted in its original form by an organization and picked up by legislators. This has become a trend in recent years.
March 9, 2021
A Medicaid expansion bill advanced. Wyoming is one of twelve states that had declined expanded Medicaid.
March 10, 2021
A bill which would convert Wyoming's primary system into a runoff system, I.E., there'd be a runoff election if nobody took more than 50% of the vote in the primary, was the topic of support from Donald Trump, Jr.
The younger Donald Trump is supporting the bill, fairly clearly, as its conceived of as something that could lead to the downfall of Liz Cheney, whom the Trumps are now mad at for supporting the impeachment of the former President after his actions leading supporter to attempt the January 6, insurrection. He accused Cheney "and her supporters" from opposing the bill behind the scene. Cheney denies any involvement with the bill.
A bill such as this would make the primary elections and hence the elections in general more democratic, as there are instances, with Cheney's first election being one, in which a split of the vote leads a candidate with under 40% of the primary vote the primary victor. I've mentioned reforming the system along these lines myself as a means to improve the democratic quality of the elections. The hard right in the state, however, now conceives of this as being in its favor as it feels that it repeatedly loses primary spots due to the fact that it has had more than one candidate run and split its vote, although this is only a feature, in reality, of the recent 2018 election in the state, arguably. There stands a chance of it being the case in 2022 as there are already at least three hard right candidates running against Cheney, although it would be my prediction that she will take over 50% of the vote in any instances at this point. Indeed, while I haven't commented on it yet, statistics suggest that Cheney is much more popular in the state right now than the hard right might imagine.
It might be worth noting primaries are party elections and from my prospective I still fail to see why there should be a party primary election on the state's dime at all. The state fits the bill for primaries and by making them party elections the state is effectively subsidizing political parties, which doesn't make sense in some ways. Moreover, not only is the state effectively subsidizing party elections, the fact that it does helps cement the two party system in place, which is detrimental to democracy in other ways.
March 11, 2021
A bill that will not allow for the closure of fossil fuel using power plants unless the owners demonstrate that the closure won't hurt consumers or reliability has advanced out of committee.
It's worth noting that there's something basically antithetical to what Wyomingite's claim to support in this bill. Basically, the bill will have the government veto a free market economic decision by the facility owner. Rational power plant owners, i.e., all of them, make their decisions based on economics which would include reliability and the needs of consumers. Here the state will make the presumption that their calculations are wrong and make them prove to the state that they're right.
March 12, 2021
A hate crime bill will not advance.
The bill to change Wyoming's primary system to require a candidate to receive more than 50% of the vote in that election advanced from committee. Complaints about the cost of such elections, over $1,000,000 for a county was cited, were raised.
The bill was amended so that if it passes it will not become law until January 1, 2023, which would be to the frustration of hard right candidates lining up against Liz Cheney. Such candidates stand little chance anyhow, but the perception that they have a chance is common right now.
A bill to outlaw pharmaceutical abortions advanced.
A bill allowing counties to tax real estate transactions failed. This is a curious failure in that its an obvious way for counties to raise money on high dollar real estate transactions, something few people actually engage in, but which in some counties would raise significant tax revenues.
March 13, 2021
A bill that would legalize the sale of marijuana and control its sale somewhat in the same fashion as alcohol has advanced.
March 14, 2021
A bill that would do away with medical review panels, which operate to consider medical malpractice claims prior to lawsuits being filed in that area, and which operate as a prerequisite to filing one, is advancing and appears almost certain to pass.
The panels never functioned as anticipated in the first place and did not operate to reduce the number of medical malpractice suits, which are not large in Wyoming in any event.
March 15, 2021
A bill setting aside $1,200,000 to fund lawsuits, as the Governor's discretion, against other states that impede the shipment of coal or which allow the retirement of coal fired power plants has advanced. At least as to that last item, the bill is likely unconstitutional.
March 18, 2021
A bill that would seek to nullify Federal firearms laws in terms of enforcement in Wyoming has advanced out of committee.
The bill is clearly unconstitutional in some of its aspects and law enforcement delegates spoke against it. It would would remove qualified immunity for police officers enforcing Federal laws, or seek to, and bar their employment in Wyoming, something that's flat out illegal. Ironically, the bill's sponsor, in speaking in favor of the bill, Anthony Bouchard, claimed to otherwise support qualified immunity and be opposed to efforts to strip it at the Federal level. Law enforcement delegates, on the other hand, stated they viewed those provisions as being in line with what they regard as anti law enforcement bills that have been circulating in various places following the Floyd incident.
This bill brings out the irony of oaths in regard to state and national legislators. All take an oath to protect and defend the Constitution, but rarely is it taken that seriously. Proponents of gun control ignore the Second Amendment's provisions about the right to keep and bare arms, while the more radial of its supporters sometimes ignore the Supremacy Clause.
March 19, 2021
A bill to do away with the death penalty failed to pass.
Four bills restricting abortion advanced.
A bill which would require certain instruction in what might be termed Civics was discussed in committee. It failed. The Bill, HB 177, reads as follows:
2021 | STATE OF WYOMING | 21LSO-0524 |
HOUSE BILL NO. HB0177
Education-Understanding federal and state government.
Sponsored by: Representative(s) Haroldson, Fortner, Jennings, Neiman, Ottman and Styvar and Senator(s) Boner, Hutchings and Steinmetz
A BILL
for
AN ACT relating to education; requiring comprehensive instruction in American history, government and civics that includes rigorous study of the primary documents and sources of the nation's history as specified; requiring the school district to make curricular materials available for inspection; specifying applicability; and providing for an effective date.
Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Wyoming:
Section 1. W.S. 21‑9‑105 is created to read:
21‑9‑105. Instruction in federal and state government.
(a) Each school district providing education in government and civics under W.S. 21‑9‑101(b)(i)(N) shall provide instruction that prepares students for informed, engaged citizenship in local, state and national affairs based on an understanding of American history and institutions of government, the political philosophy that informs them and the challenges encountered by the nation and its institutions of freedom. Instruction under this subsection shall include:
(i) The history of the United States and the state of Wyoming and the impact of these histories on the present;
(ii) The basic principles of state government and of the American constitutional democracy and the application of those principles to the democratic republic;
(iii) Study of the Wyoming state constitution under W.S. 21‑9‑102 including how the constitution was developed;
(iv) Study of the United States constitution under W.S. 21‑9‑102 including the debates surrounding the adoption of the constitution and study of the declaration of independence and other essential founding documents and the ongoing impact of those documents on American institutions of self‑governance;
(v) Study of landmark supreme court cases and their application and impact on law and society;
(vi) Study of the civic virtues necessary for effective citizenship and participation in a self‑governing democratic republic;
(vii) Study of the freedoms enumerated in the bill of rights and their importance today;
(viii) Study of the protections enumerated in the bill of rights;
(ix) The addition of the thirteenth, fourteenth and fifteenth amendments to the United States constitution and their importance to the civil rights movement and today;
(x) Study of the changing role of religion and the family in American history;
(xi) Study of threats encountered by the democratic republic and free society including:
(A) Slavery;
(B) The political extremisms of fascism and communism;
(C) Religious prejudice and discrimination;
(D) Identity politics;
(E) Corruption in government;
(F) Fiscal mismanagement.
(b) Each school district shall make available during regular business hours for inspection by any parent or guardian of a child enrolled in the school district the curricular materials used to provide instruction under subsection (a) of this section. If the curricular materials are digital, the school district shall provide detail to the parent or guardian on how to access the materials and, if necessary, shall make a computer available for that purpose to the parent or guardian to access the materials during regular business hours.
Section 2. The provisions of W.S. 21‑9‑105 created by section 1 of this act shall apply to school districts beginning in school year 2023‑2024.
Section 3. This act is effective July 1, 2021.
One of the bills main proponents suggested, in his remarks to the committee considering it, that history of slavery was being incorrectly presented to students. While we generally don't note the failure of a bill for the first time in this thread (i.e., we haven't discussed the bill before), the disturbing discussion of slavery in the discussion of the bill makes it notable. One Democratic member of the committee quizzed the backer on the 19th Amendment, which the backer was unable to identify by topic (franchise for women), which gave the discussion an added odd tinge.
It might be noted that the bill somewhat mirrors the goals of the 1776 Project, a project in the Trump Administration to back a more nationalistic and Patriotic history education which reads quite similar to the goals of this bill. The 1776 Commission issued its report just prior to the departure of President Trump from office and the commission was disbanded as soon as Joe Biden was sworn in and its report taken off of the White House website. To at least some extent, the 1776 Project was a reaction to the 1619 Project which deals with slavery and its impacts on American society.
The entire episode reflects an ongoing struggle in right and left camps over the topic of history itself.
A bill which would set in motion a process to make Interstate 80 a toll road passed its first reading in the Senate.
March 20, 2021
End of committee consideration.
Yesterday was reportedly the last day in which a bill in committee could be passed on to the floor for consideration, so bills which were not acted on in committee either have died, or have in some cases been passed on to the interim session.
Given that, a new installment of this thread will start after this post.
I80 a toll road?
I bill to look at making I80 a toll road passed the senate. If it passes the House, the state would be authorized to make I80 a toll road, but tolls wouldn't come immediately into place as a commission would be established to study the matter and set the tolls, if it determined to.
Medicaid expansion?
The Medicaid expansion bill is out on the floor of the House for consideration.
Funding of school facilities.
The Senate passed a resolution asking for a question to be put on the ballot authorizing an amendment to the Wyoming Constitution in order that school construction and maintenance would be by local districts and not the burden of the state.
Now such funding is not done that way as decisions by the Wyoming Supreme Court found that to be inequitable and unconstitutional. At the time that came about Campbell County was extremely wealthy and many other counties were hurting. With the collapse in coal, the situation is now different for the entire state.
Such a move would solve much of the funding crisis for the state, but it would create new ones at a local level. And it would create unique strains in both large and small districts. Some small districts would be driven into extreme poverty, while at the same time, ironically, some large districts would have a massive funding problem. Indeed, the move might revive the economic fortunes of rural areas that wished for their own districts.
No Constitutional Convention
There's been a slate of alt right bills in the legislature this year. So far, however, very interestingly, they're meeting with very limited backing on the floors.
One such bill called for a Constitutional Convention on the topics of limiting Federal jurisdiction, controlling spending, and limiting Federal terms in office. The bill, sponsored by Bo Biteman, a minister who also got in trouble last week for his comments on slavery, narrowly failed.
Backers of such bills naively believe that a Constitutional Convention can actually be restrained in what it considers. It can't. The Constitution itself provides just such an example as the original intent of that convention was to fix the Articles of Confederation. Conservatives, and they're nearly always hard right conservatives, who imagine a convention requiring the Federal budget to be balanced would be just as likely to find that at the end of the convention the Second Amendment was removed, the ERA enacted, and all sorts of liberal platforms now enshrined in the Constitution.
No Constitutional Second Guessing Committee
Along the same lines as the bill mentioned above, a bill that would have created a particularly odd Legislative committee to do something about perceived Federal trespassing on the US Constitution didn't make it out of committee. This bill is interesting not only for what it tells us about the state of the GOP organizations, but also the actual positions of the rank and file GOP.
This bill is part of a series being introduced nationwide that are part of the hard right movement in the GOP. The backers of this bill, and this bill was likely a canned bill redrafted for Wyoming, imagine that a legislative committee will sit in oversight on what the Federal government is doing and then point out what they imagine to be unconstitutional to the Legislature, Governor and Attorney General, who can then file suit. The Legislature, moreover, can declare a Federal law or regulation Unconstitutional, and then the backers imagine it will have no effect in Wyoming.
Seemingly wholly missed is that the Governor can already file suit on Unconstitutional acts and that a legislative committee of part time legislatures would have to devote their full time to reading the Federal Register to perform their tasks as imagined. And what they seemingly imagine is that the Federal government is trespassing on the "original Constitution". Underlying this is a disdain for the legal system which is imagined to be subverting it.
Moreover, the bill is actually Unconstitutional. The legislature can't nullify a Federal law by declaring it Unconstitutional. This is a matter of determined fact and the Supremacy Clause of the Constitution provides for Federal laws to be supreme and the only recourse to challenge their validity is to take them to the Court.
Lots of conservative jurists have had the same complaint about the legal system, but this bill would actually create a wholly unworkable system of no import and it expresses outright contempt for the Constitution it claims to be trying to uphold. Just pointing stuff out to the AG or the Governor does nothing whatsoever, and the remedy for any of their complaints would be to take the complaints to the courts which they are unhappy with. Declarations by the Legislature would do nothing whatsoever. Moreover, the backers of such bills tend to have a very narrow reading of the Constitution and attribute their own views to it even if those views aren't in the Constitution and never have been, which is demonstrated by the text of this bill which imagines that the Constitution was plain from day one, which it wasn't, and probably wasn't meant to be. I'm an originalist, but this is shockingly off base in terms of what being an originalist means.
The failed bill reads as follows:
2021 | STATE OF WYOMING | 21LSO-0568 |
HOUSE BILL NO. HB0256
Wyoming sovereignty act.
Sponsored by: Representative(s) Wharff, Bear, Fortner, Hallinan, Haroldson, Heiner, Jennings, Laursen, Neiman, Ottman, Rodriguez-Williams, Styvar and Winter and Senator(s) Biteman and McKeown
A BILL
for
AN ACT relating to the administration of the government; providing procedures to enforce the integrity of the United States Constitution and to audit Wyoming's relationship with the federal government in accordance with that constitution; establishing the joint standing committee on federalism; establishing procedures for declaration of unconstitutional federal action; requiring all laws to comply with the state and federal constitutions; and providing for an effective date.
Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Wyoming:
Section 1. W.S. 1‑37‑116, 9‑14‑103 and 28‑11‑801 through 28‑11‑806 are created to read:
1‑37‑116. Right of interested party to have constitutional determination made.
(a) Any person interested in an unconstitutional federal action as determined pursuant to W.S. 9‑14‑103 may have any question of construction or validity arising under the constitution determined and obtain a declaration of rights, status or other legal relations.
(b) Any district court in this state has original jurisdiction of a proceeding seeking a declaratory judgement that a federal action effective in this state is an unconstitutional federal action.
(c) In determining whether to grant declaratory relief to a person under this section, a court:
(i) May not rely solely on the decisions of other courts interpreting the United States Constitution; and
(ii) Shall rely on the plain meaning of the text of the United States Constitutional doctrine as understood by the framers of the constitution.
9‑14‑103. Compliance with constitutions.
(a) This act may be known and cited as the "Wyoming Sovereignty Act."
(b) All laws, including codified and noncodified statutes, session laws, resolutions, rules, regulations, decrees, orders and judgments, and any other dictate having the force and effect of law shall comply with the Constitution of the state of Wyoming and the Constitution for the United States of America.
(c) The legislature of the state of Wyoming shall review all roles, responsibilities and powers being exercised by the government of the state of Wyoming to confirm that the roles, responsibilities and powers are not forbidden to the state government by the United States Constitution. If any ruling, act, law, regulation, statute or order is contrary to the Constitution these rulings, acts, laws, regulations, statues or orders shall be declared unconstitutional in the opinion of the legislature.
28‑11‑801. Appointment of members.
(a) A joint standing committee on federalism shall be appointed immediately after certification of the general election subject to the following:
(i) The president of the senate shall appoint six (6) members of the senate apportioned as nearly as possible to reflect the percentage of the elected membership of the majority and minority parties of the senate, provided not more than five (5) of the members shall be from the same political party;
(ii) The speaker of the house of representatives shall appoint six (6) members of the house apportioned as nearly as possible to reflect the percentage of the elected membership of the majority and minority parties of the house, provided not more than five (5) of the members shall be from the same political party.
(b) The president of the senate and the speaker of the house shall each designate a co‑chairman. The committee shall select two (2) vice chairmen from their members.
28‑11‑802. Committee powers and duties.
(a) The committee shall:
(i) Review federal actions that may exceed the enumerated powers in the United States Constitution or that violate the sovereignty of the state or the people with the purpose of determining if the federal action is unconstitutional. The committee shall consider the plain language of the United States Constitution and the original intent in making a final declaration of constitutionality. The committee may consider:
(A) The ratifying debates in the several states;
(B) The understanding of the leading participants at the constitutional convention;
(C) The understanding of the doctrine in question by the constitutions of the several states in existence at the time the United States Constitution was adopted;
(D) The understanding of the United States Constitution by the first United States Congress;
(E) The opinions of the first Chief Justice of the United States Supreme Court;
(F) The background understanding of the doctrine in question under the English Constitution at the time;
(G) The statements of support for natural law and natural rights by the framers and the philosophers referenced by them;
(H) Opinions and statements expressed in the Federalist Papers.
(ii) Correspond with other states about any federal action determined, in the opinion of the legislature, to be unconstitutional with the goal of coordinating a response;
(iii) Individually reaffirm the oath of office as follows: "I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support, obey and defend the constitution of the United States, and the constitution of the state of Wyoming, recognizing that both constitutions are contracts and must be upheld based upon the understanding of the parties at the time of their ratification or adoption and that I will fulfill the duties of the Joint Standing Committee on Federalism with fidelity and free from purposes of evasion.";
(iv) Meet not less than one (1) time per week during legislative sessions. A meeting of the committee shall not be scheduled on any Friday upon adjournment for the day. In addition, the committee shall meet every other month over the interim between legislative sessions. A majority of the members shall constitute a quorum;
(v) Hold all meetings of the committee as public meetings;
(vi) Be staffed by the legislative service office.
28‑11‑803. Scope of review.
(a) The committee shall report to and advise the legislature on the following:
(i) The constitutionality of federal mandates;
(ii) Legal questions and policy issues surrounding state and local government rights under RS2477;
(iii) Legal issues relating to school trust lands, its beneficiaries and attendant rights of the state;
(iv) The advisability, feasibility, estimated cost and likelihood of the success of challenging any federal enactment the committee determines, in the opinion of the legislature, to be unconstitutional;
(v) Federal court rulings that:
(A) Hinder the management of the state prison systems or place an additional financial burden on the state's finances;
(B) Diminish a right reserved to the state or its citizens by the United States Constitution, including amendments IX and X;
(C) Expand existing power or grant new powers to the United States government beyond the limited, enumerated powers provided in the United States Constitution.
(vi) Federal laws, rules or regulations that adversely affect water or property rights or the rights and interests of state and local governments, including sovereignty interests and the power to provide for the health, safety, and welfare, and promote the prosperity of the state’s inhabitants;
(vii) Conflicting, duplicative or cumbersome federal regulations or policies related to the management of federal lands in the state. In reviewing actions under this paragraph, the committee shall receive draft environmental impact statements and assessments for any federal proposed land management plan;
(viii) Federal intervention that would damage the state's mining, timber, tourism, and ranching industries;
(ix) The authority of the environmental protection agency to mandate local air quality standards and penalties;
(x) Federal agency law enforcement within the state;
(xi) The possible loss of federal funds to the state or the counties if a federal action is determined, in the opinion of the legislature, to be unconstitutional;
(xii) Entries in the Federal Register which may impact the government of Wyoming or its residents;
(xiii) Any other federal enactment likely to have adverse impacts on the state.
(b) If the committee, by a majority of all members present from each house, voting separately, determines that in the opinion of the legislature, a federal action is an unconstitutional action, the committee shall report the determination to the Wyoming senate and the house of representatives during the current session of the legislature, or the next regular or special session of the legislature if the legislature is not convened when the committee makes the determination.
(c) Each house of the legislature shall vote on whether, in the opinion of the legislature, the federal action is unconstitutional. The determination shall be made in the form of a bill which shall require an affirmative vote of a majority of all the members elected to each house. The bill shall then be presented to the governor, and before it shall take effect be approved by him, or, being disapproved, be repassed by two‑thirds (2/3) of both houses as prescribed in the case of a bill.
28‑11‑804. Coordination with the secretary of state.
Upon passage of the bill into law, the secretary of state shall forward official copies of the declaration to the President of the United States, the majority leader of the United States Senate, the speaker of the United States House of Representatives, and to all members of the Wyoming delegation to Congress, with the request that the legislative determination that the request that the declaration of unconstitutional federal action be entered in the Congressional Record.
28‑11‑805. Authority preserved; actions to be declared unconstitutional; effect and state response.
(a) This act shall not be construed to limit or alter the authority of an appropriate party from issuing a verbal or written opinion determining a federal action to be unconstitutional.
(b) A federal action determined, in the opinion of the legislature, to be an unconstitutional action, shall have no legal effect in this state and shall not be recognized by this state or a political subdivision of this state as having legal effect.
(c) Neither the state nor a political subdivision of the state shall spend public money or resources or incur public debt to implement or enforce a federal action determined, in the opinion of the legislature, to be unconstitutional.
(d) A public officer authorized to enforce the laws of this state, who has taken an oath to defend the United States Constitution and the Constitution of the state of Wyoming has a duty to enforce the laws of this state against a person who attempts to implement or enforce a federal action that, in the opinion of the legislature, is unconstitutional.
(e) This act does not prohibit a public officer who has taken an oath to defend the United States Constitution from interposing to stop acts of the federal government which, in the officer's best understanding and judgement, violate the United States Constitution.
(f) Wyoming officials in federal, state and local government shall honor their oaths to support, obey and defend the United States Constitution and shall act in accordance with the constitution at all times.
28‑11‑806. Authority of the attorney general.
(a) The attorney general may sue and defend the state in an action to prevent the implementation and enforcement of a federal action determined, in the opinion of the legislature, to be unconstitutional.
(b) The attorney general may initiate proceedings against a person who attempts to implement or enforce a federal action determined, in the opinion of the legislature, to be unconstitutional.
(c) The attorney general may appear before a grand jury in connection with an offense the attorney general is authorized to prosecute.
(d) The authority to initiate proceedings prescribed by this section does not affect the authority derived from other law.
Section 2. 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)
Contempt for prior case law is demonstrated by this section of the bill:
(c) In determining whether to grant declaratory relief to a person under this section, a court:
(i) May not rely solely on the decisions of other courts interpreting the United States Constitution; and
(ii) Shall rely on the plain meaning of the text of the United States Constitutional doctrine as understood by the framers of the constitution.
Apparently all but two, those two being Natrona and Laramie Counties, of the GOP committees voted to support this bill. In the legislature, however, it seems to have had zero support. That is interesting in and of itself as it would suggest that legislators are much more sophisticated than the drafters of this bill and not as fanatic on reinterpreting the Constitution in a fashion which it never has been interpreted, and which would serve an extreme concept of politics. Also of interest is that at least two of the usual Alt Right bill backers don't have their names on the bill's list of supporters, which suggest that even in hard right circles the movers in the hard right movement were wary of this one and their real support for extreme positions may not be as deep as might be supposed, or that they're willing to walk away from it where it would have come back to hurt them.
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