Saturday, March 23, 2024

The 2024 Wyoming Legislative Session. Part 6. After the Party

 


The legislators are home, but the Governor is still acting on bills.

And the session can now start to be assessed.

March 12, 2024

The Governor vetoed the charter school grant authorization bill.

None of the election bills survived the session.

Joan Barron, in a Trib op ed run today, has noted how the Senate is now being influenced by the far right and becoming less congenial.

The Wyoming Educational Association, in the same issue, ran a full page age against Casper's Jeanette Ward, a member of the Freedom Caucus, which read:

Ward is from Illinois and relocated from there to Wyoming under the far right's persistent mythical belief that Wyoming's conservatism is the same as the Rust Belt's, although their influence in the state is making the latter true.

The same group voted against increasing funding for police retirement, and did it the day of a Sheridan policeman's funeral.

And it wanted to send unallocated ARPA funding back to the Federal government.

FOR RELEASE Immediately 

DATE March 11, 2024

CONTACT Ryan Frost, Legislative Information Officer

TO REACH 307.777.7881

2024 Budget Session Concludes

CHEYENNE - With the sound of the gavel, the Wyoming Legislature wrapped up the 2024 Budget Session on Friday at the State Capitol in Cheyenne. 

At the start of session, a total of 366 bills and resolutions were numbered for introduction. The Wyoming Legislature passed a total of 126 bills. Of the 107 pieces of legislation that were introduced in the Senate, 71 of those bills passed both the House and Senate. The House introduced 84 bills and 55 of those garnered the approval of both bodies. Sixty-one percent of committee bills passed both chambers, while 20 percent of the individually sponsored bills passed both bodies. Legislation that passed both houses has either been acted on or is waiting to be acted on by Gov. Mark Gordon. 

The Legislature also adopted the State's biennial budget on Friday, and the bill has been sent to the Governor for his consideration. He will have 15 days to consider line-item vetoes and sign the bill. The appropriations and transfers in the bill for the 2025-2026 fiscal biennium total $11 billion. Of this, $3.4 billion is from the General Fund, net of de-appropriations and including $170 million of discretionary transfers to savings. 

Both the House and Senate have addressed a broad range of issues affecting Wyoming residents and while some of these laws will take effect immediately, many will not go into effect until July 1 of this year. Lawmakers will begin their interim committee work in the coming weeks. The Legislature’s Management Council plans to meet and assign interim committee topics April 1. Wyoming’s Sixty-Eighth Legislature will convene next year on Jan. 14 for the 2025 General Session.

The Wyoming Legislature encourages the public to participate in interim activities. The public can use the Legislature's website at www.wyoleg.gov to find information about interim legislative committees, including live video streams of committee meetings, committee rosters, dates and locations of interim meetings, and minutes from those meetings. The website also provides a free email subscription service for all interim committee information. -END-  

March 13, 2024

Ward was the subject of a second major ad in the Trib.


Ward also drew a lengthy letter to the Editor in the Trib.  Usually I don't post those, but I will here as this is interesting.

Ward wasting time with culture wars

Representative Jeanette Ward,

House District 57, has been doing a poor job of representing her constituents and listening to their needs. She has voted against numerous bills that would have helped Wyoming citizens and instead wasted valuable time during the legislative session touting culture war issues. House Bill 50, the “What is a Woman” act, is a prime example of this. During a budget session the legislature has 20 days to pass a budget. That is literally the only job that legislators have during the budget session. It takes a 2/3 majority to get a non-budget bill to the floor for debate. Knowing this, Representative Ward introduced a bill that wasted time and resources and was completely unnecessary. That bill rightly died because it failed introduction.

This session, she also voted against bills that committees had spent many hours considering during the interim period, which was disrespectful to their work and slowed down the legislative process. She voted against funding the 988 suicide hotline even though Wyoming has one of the highest suicide rates in the nation, literally voting against saving lives. Last session she voted against most of the bills that would have helped families and disadvantaged Wyoming citizens, including Medicare for Moms, which helps low-income women provide for their babies. Fortunately, other legislators understood the issue and the bill passed. Representative Ward is not interested in helping Wyoming’s most vulnerable citizens, she would rather propose bills that are solutions looking for problems.

This is not acceptable. House District 57 deserves a legislator who listens to constituents, focuses her time on the budget during a budget session, and understands what genuine issues matter to Wyoming. She is not it. We need someone who has solutions to Wyoming problems, not someone who fans the flames of culture wars. Voters need to remember this on election day.

Judy Trohkimoinen,

Casper

This would suggest that perhaps there's a rising effort against Ward, who was endorsed by her predecessor, now Secretary of State Gray, because of her far right views, even though she had next to no connection with the state when she arrived, or people are getting tired of her.  

In some ways, this reflects a rising feature of Wyoming's politics in which the old Party is beginning to react more strongly to the Trump Party.

March 15, 2024

Governor Gordon Signs Bills That Help Reduce Housing Costs, Protect Critical Infrastructure

 

CHEYENNE, Wyo. – Governor Mark Gordon signed two bills today, one that helps protect key infrastructure in Wyoming from foreign adversaries, and the other that lowers the cost of constructing housing

SF0077 - Homeland defense-infrastructure reporting and investigating requires the state to annually identify “critical infrastructure zones”.  Any property transactions within those zones will be shared among the county clerks, the Wyoming Office of Homeland Security and the Wyoming Division of Criminal Investigation. Those agencies will then determine if the transaction  involves a foreign adversary or a state sponsor of terrorism that could pose a threat to national or state security or to critical infrastructure.

“Our nation has never faced graver threats from adversaries both foreign and domestic,” Governor Gordon said. “Protection of Wyoming infrastructure and identifying potential threats to our state or national security must be among our highest priorities. I want to thank sponsor Senator Tara Nethercott, whose experience and insight were invaluable in the drafting and passage of this bill. It is imperative that we protect our precious property rights, while we also ensure we are aware of any potential threats within our state’s borders.”

Senate File 114 - Contractor licenses-reciprocal recognition requirements require local governments in Wyoming to recognize contractor licenses issued by a Wyoming county, city or town. This ensures that qualified contractors don’t have to go through additional, time-consuming and expensive licensing requirements when working in Wyoming communities. The bill emerged from the interim work of the Regulatory Reduction Task Force, which explored a range of ideas that could help expand housing opportunities for Wyoming’s essential workforce. The Task Force identified a patchwork of state and local licensing requirements that contributed to additional construction costs, which were then passed along to Wyoming home buyers. 

“My administration has been passionate in reducing red tape, and while there is certainly more work to be done in addressing Wyoming’s housing shortage, this new law is a small step towards streamlining unnecessarily redundant and costly requirements,” Governor Gordon said.

Both bills are effective July 1, 2024. 

March 15, cont:

Governor Gordon Vetoes Bills to Prevent Legislature From Overstepping its Authority and Creating Confusion for the Public

 

CHEYENNE, Wyo. – Governor Mark Gordon took action on 18 bills today, vetoing one bill that encroaches on the separation of powers between the executive and legislative branches, and one that could create confusion for consumers, meat processors and producers.

SF0013 - Federal land use plans - legal actions authorized would have duplicated funding for legal actions by the State and have been unconstitutional. The bill authorized the Legislature to take legal action against the federal government, and provided a whopping $75 million in borrowing authority for it to do so. In his veto letter, the Governor lambasted the bill as a “clear attempt to cross, blur and trample the line of separation between our equal, but separate, branches of government.” 

Governor Gordon criticized the bill as not being fiscally conservative, pointing out that $75 million represents 67 percent of the Attorney General’s office biennial budget. He said that the bill would only “enable duplicative Legislative litigation safaris that would be counterproductive and contrary to Wyoming’s well established practice of cooperation between branches.”

The Governor also expressed concern about the confusion that would be created in the courts over who represents Wyoming. It is the Executive branch that “is uniquely designed to provide one voice when it is necessary,” he wrote.

At best, competing litigation efforts would only serve to confuse courts as to who represents the State of Wyoming, and at worst it would enable frivolous and political pursuits,” the Governor wrote. 

The Governor also vetoed SF0103 - Wyoming PRIME Act, which as a “trigger” bill, would only become effective if the federal PRIME Act is passed by Congress. The Governor noted that while he is supportive of food freedom legislation, the Wyoming PRIME Act could create confusion among consumers, meat processors and livestock producers. Early media reports demonstrate the potential confusion created by the bill. Currently, an attempt to use the provisions of SF0103 by Wyoming producers before the federal PRIME Act is passed by Congress would put them at risk of fines and license revocation, and imperil Wyoming’s primacy for its meat and poultry inspection program. Finally, if the federal PRIME Act is passed by Congress, but is amended during that process, Wyoming statute would likely need to be changed to conform, which could unnecessarily delay state implementation.

The Governor’s veto letters are attached and may be found on the Bills page of the Governor’s website. 

Governor Gordon signed the following bills today: 

SEA0034 SF0014 State fair board-powers and responsibilities.

SEA0035 SF0113 Light and high profile vehicle closures-2.

SEA0039 SF0096 Trusts and bank assets in bankruptcy-clarification.

SEA0040 SF0080 Solid waste management-definition amendments.

SEA0043 SF0053 Sixth judicial district-number of judges

SEA0046 SF0026 Special district vacancies

SEA0047 SF0035 Public records-DOC investigations.

SEA0053 SF0023 Public utilities-energy resource procurement.

SEA0059 SF0100 Prompt payment of insurance claims.

SEA0063 SF0083 Revisor's bill.

SEA0064 SF0090 State-managed local government equity investment pool.

SEA0069 SF0042 Low-carbon reliable energy standards-amendments.

HEA0043 HB0126 Child care is a residential use of property.

HEA0046 HB0058 Forensic genetic genealogy pilot program.

HEA0047 HB0029 Cold case database and investigations.

HEA0051 HB0138 State funds-pool A participation and fund limits.

-END-

March 16, 2024

After a break of one day, the WEA resumbed its advertisements on Jeanette Ward.


March 19, 2024

After a hiatus of several days, the WEA resumed its ad campaign against Jeaette Ward.

Some action occured on various bills on the Governor's desk yesterday:

Governor Gordon Signs Five Bills, Vetoes Bill that Would Impact Management and Use of State Lands

 

CHEYENNE, Wyo. – Governor Mark Gordon took action on six bills today, signing five bills into law. The Governor vetoed one bill that would limit Wyoming’s ability to generate revenue from state lands and take management and decision-making authority away from the state. 

SF0044 - Limited mining operations-amendments as originally introduced and worked by the Minerals, Business and Economic Development committee intended to address existing bonding deficiencies for issuing permits for Limited Mining Operations (LMOs). However, late amendments to the bill specifically targeted development of an exploratory license that had been previously granted for sections of state lands southwest of Casper. 

In his veto letter, Governor Gordon said that the amended bill would not change the particular circumstances of that gravel operation, and there is not a pending application for a LMO from that operation. However, the bill would have had constitutional consequences as to how state lands are managed to help fund schools. These impacts included making state lands uncompetitive due to an increased setback requirement, and a requirement for counties to review and issue a conditional use permit, even though not all counties require one. 

“Statutory changes are not the proper place to address specific concerns for individual operations,” the Governor wrote. “While Wyoming seeks to manage her state lands cooperatively with counties and their land use plans, the state is not constrained by them. State lands and minerals are important to our state’s economic well-being and need to be treated the same as other lands in the state.”

Governor Gordon encouraged the Joint Minerals Committee to review the original bill in the upcoming general session and examine ways to adequately address existing concerns over limited mining operations on state lands. The Governor also plans to take up the topic of mining operations on state lands at the April State Board of Land Commissioners Meeting.

The Governor's veto letter is attached and may be found here. Governor also signed five bills today:

SEA0031 SF0074 Special districts-reversal of dissolution for noncompliance.

SEA0032 SF0036 Uniform Child Abduction Prevention Act.

SEA0036 SF0123 Minor name changes

SEA0044 SF0052 Wyoming Stable Token Act - amendments

SEA0045 SF0027 Special district bond elections exception

The full list of bills the Governor has taken action on during the 2024 Legislative Session can be found on the Governor's website.

-END-

On the veto:

March 22, 2024.

 Governor Signs Bills Creating Wyoming Adult Hearing Aid Program and Supporting Early Childhood Centers

 

CHEYENNE, Wyo. – Governor Mark Gordon signed seven bills into law today, including a bill that creates a hearing aid program for low-income adults and a bill that provides additional resources for early childhood centers that serve children with disabilities.

SF0057 - Wyoming adult hearing aid program creates a hearing aid program for eligible low-income adults with hearing impairment. The bill emerged from meetings bill sponsor Senator Dan Furphy had with members of the Wyoming deaf community. It allows severely hearing-impaired adults who meet income requirements to receive a pair of custom hearing aids.

The Governor also signed SF0019 - Developmental preschool funding  which modifies the per-child amounts used to calculate payments to early childhood centers and preschools that serve children with disabilities. The increase in funding will help support these centers and preschools, which families use to access critically needed services for children with developmental disabilities. 

The Governor also issued a line-item veto on the following bill to address a technical error. Click on the bill number for the Governor’s letter:

SEA0071 SF0075 Omnibus water bill-construction.

The Governor allowed the following bill to go into law without his signature. Click on the bill number for the Governor’s letter:

SEA0065 SF0041 Banking division-classification and salary exemptions.

The Governor also signed the following bills today:

SEA0050 SF0047 Law enforcement retirement-contributions.

SEA0051 SF0024 Public service commission-integrated resource plans.

HEA0048 HB0104 Omnibus water bill-planning.

-END-

Governor Gordon Signs Four Bills Expanding and Extending Property Tax Relief 

 

CHEYENNE, Wyo. – Reflecting his call for fair and equitable property tax relief made in his State of the State speech, Governor Mark Gordon signed four bills today that will reduce property taxes to those Wyoming residents who need it most.

The Governor signed HB0003 - Property tax exemption for long-term homeowners; HB0045 - Property tax exemption-residential structures and land; and SF0089 - Veterans ad valorem exemption-amount. House Bill 3 provides an exemption of 50% of a property’s value for primary residence homeowners if the primary owner of the residence or their spouse is 65 or older and has paid property taxes in the state for 25 years or more. House Bill 45 puts a 4% cap on year-to-year property tax increases on residential structures and land, while Senate File 89 doubles the veterans tax exemption from $3,000 to $6,000 of assessed value. 

“I am happy to sign this package of legislation, which provides targeted relief to taxpayers most impacted by increasing valuations, while ensuring our counties and schools are able to continue to provide the services our residents rely on,” Governor Gordon said. “There was an identified need, and this legislature responded to that.”

Governor Gordon exercised his line-item veto authority on HB0004 - Property tax refund program, removing the highest income category from the program. In his letter explaining the line-item, the Governor said the bill brings expanded and needed relief, but expressed concern that the $20 million appropriated by the Legislature would be insufficient to fund the program if that highest income category was included.

“I want to thank the Legislature for answering the call and funding an expansion of this program, which helped more than 9,000 Wyoming families last year,” Governor Gordon said.

The Governor vetoed SF0054 - Homeowner tax exemption, expressing concern that the exemption was not targeted and jeopardized the financial stability of the state and counties. It  represented, “a socialistic type of wealth transfer, mostly from the energy sector, to Wyoming homeowners.” The backfill of lost local tax revenue to local school districts, cities, towns, counties and special districts would likely cost the state more than $220 million for the biennium, the Governor wrote.  

“The Bidenomic-type of ‘tax relief' in this bill is what I would expect from Washington, D.C. liberals, not conservative Wyoming legislators,” the Governor added. “It is a temporary relief measure that could lead to budget shortfalls, and will ultimately be paid for by raising taxes on our children.”

Governor Gordon issued a line-item veto to HB0166 - Education savings accounts-1 to address constitutional concerns over the use of state funds. The bill establishes an education savings account program that provides funding to parents for their children's education expenses, ranging from pre-kindergarten through age 21. The Governor’s line item veto preserves funding for those students whose household income is at or below 150% of the federal poverty level. 

“While the intent to support education and parent choice is commendable, my analysis revealed practical and constitutional complications within the bill’s provisions,” the Governor wrote in his letter. Citing his desire to see the program ultimately succeed, the Governor said he was prepared to press these issues as they relate to religious societies or institutions. 

“By proceeding carefully, with a clear understanding of both the benefits and challenges associated with education savings accounts, we can work towards a system that enhances parental choice while maintaining the integrity and effectiveness of our public education system,” he wrote. 

Governor Gordon also vetoed SF0067 - Public employee retirement plan-contributions. The Governor said the bill’s effect would be to reduce the take-home pay of state employees at a time when inflation eats away at the purchasing power of all Wyoming families.

Governor Gordon allowed the following bills to go into law without his signature:

HEA0055 HB0092 Protection of parental rights.

SEA0055 SF0006 Nursing home administrators-temporary licenses.

The Governor signed the following bills today:

HEA0044 HB0003 Property tax exemption for long-term homeowners.

SEA0061 SF0089 Veterans ad valorem exemption-amount.

HEA0054 HB0045 Property tax exemption-residential structures and land.

The Governor’s letters addressing his vetos and the bills he allowed to go into law without his signature, along with the full list of bills he has taken action on during the 2024 Legislative Session can be found on the Bills page of the Governor's website.

-END-


Governor Signs Bill Outlawing Gender Reassignment Procedures for Children

 Governor Vetoes Abortion Bill While State Defends Current Ban in Court

 

CHEYENNE, Wyo. –Governor Gordon signed SF0099 - Children gender change prohibition today, which bans physicians from performing procedures for children related to gender transitioning and gender reassignment.

“I signed SF99 because I support the protections this bill includes for children, however it is my belief that the government is straying into the personal affairs of families” Governor Gordon said. “Our legislature needs to sort out its intentions with regard to parental rights. While it inserts governmental prerogative in some places, it affirms parental rights in others.”

The Governor noted that the Legislature passed two bills during the recent session reinforcing parental rights in education. 

With regard to House Bill 0148- Regulation of Abortions , as initially proposed, would have properly regulated surgical abortion clinics in Wyoming. However amendments to the bill complicated its purpose, making it vulnerable to legal challenges. Wyoming is currently vigorously defending laws that already prohibit surgical and chemical abortions

“With the judge certifying these cases to the Wyoming Supreme Court, the state is closer than ever to a decision on the constitutionality of abortion in Wyoming,’ Governor Gordon said. “It is my opinion that HB148, as amended, had the potential to further delay the resolution of this critical issue for the unborn. The potential of starting over on a new course of legal arguments would in my mind be derelict, and would have only sacrificed additional unborn lives in Wyoming.”

To avoid further delaying a decision, Governor Gordon has vetoed HB 148. In his veto letter, the Governor points out that since the courts have stayed enforcement of the state’s previous abortion ban, the number of abortions taking place in Wyoming has continued to increase.

The Governor’s veto letter for HB 148 is attached and may be found here.

Governor Gordon also happily signed HB0090 - Newborn child safe havens-age of child today. The bill changes the relinquishment age that a child may be left with a safe haven provider at no penalty to the parent from 14 days or younger to 60 days.

The full list of bills the Governor has taken action on during the 2024 Legislative Session can be found on the Governor's website.

-END-

March 23, 2024

Wyoming Legislature's Presiding Officers Issue Statement Regarding Gubernatorial Vetoes

CHEYENNE - Senate President Ogden Driskill and Speaker of the House Albert Sommers issue the following statement regarding Gov. Mark Gordon's veto of Senate File 0054

“As the Presiding Officers of the Wyoming Senate and House of Representatives, we have been closely monitoring the vetoes issued by Governor Gordon of bills passed during the 2024 Budget Session. We have become increasingly concerned about the Governor’s disregard for the will of the people’s representatives and the legislation we have passed. Our concern was further heightened last night by the veto of Senate File 54, which provided all residents of Wyoming with substantial property tax relief.  

“Senate File 54 would have provided a reduction of 25% of the tax burden for every homeowner in Wyoming up to the first $2 million dollars of assessed value for a residential property for the next two years. We are extremely disappointed that Governor Gordon would characterize this relief from skyrocketing property taxes as a giveaway to Wyoming citizens. All Wyoming homeowners deserve property tax relief after double digit tax increases the past two years. Despite the Governor trying to characterize this bill as liberal spending, he forgets that cutting taxes is a conservative value. Time limited tax relief is both conservative and prudent.

"After the Governor's veto of Senate File 54, the Legislature cannot take any action to effectuate tax relief in time for implementation in fiscal year 2024. We will again have our Joint Revenue Committee continue to develop meaningful tax relief for all Wyoming residents, like they did during the 2024 interim, for introduction at the 2025 General Session." - END - 

 

Governor Gordon Signs Four Bills Supporting the Second Amendment

Governor Vetoes Bill to Repeal Gun Free Zones 

CHEYENNE, Wyo. –  Governor Mark Gordon signed four bills today that strengthen Wyoming’s status as a Second-Amendment friendly state. The Governor signed SF0073 - Concealed firearms-permit eligibility, SF0105 - Wyoming Second Amendment Financial Privacy Act, SF0109 - Prohibit Red Flag Gun Seizure Act., and SF0086 - School safety and security-funding. 

SF0105 protects the privacy and sensitive financial information of people purchasing firearms, firearms parts, or ammunition in Wyoming by prohibiting credit card processors from using firearms or firearm-related merchant category codes. It also prohibits government or private entities from keeping any registry of privately-owned firearms or the owners of those firearms created or maintained through the use of a firearms code.

SF0109 prohibits red flag gun laws from being enforced or implemented in Wyoming, while SF0073 amends the concealed carry permit regulations to make those who have had their firearms rights restored, eligible. SF0086 creates an account to reimburse school districts for costs related to possession of firearms on school property by school district employees.

The Governor vetoed HB0125 - Repeal gun free zones and preemption amendments due to concerns that HB0125 exceeds the separation of powers embodied in Article 2 of our Wyoming Constitution. If the bill were enacted, any specific policy, further regulation, or clarification of the law could only be implemented by the Legislature. 

“House Bill 125/Enrolled Act No. 49, erodes historic local control norms by giving sole authority to the Legislature to micromanage a constitutionally protected right,” Governor Gordon wrote in his veto letter. “Any further clarification of the law, if this bill were enacted, would augment the Legislature’s reach into local firearms regulation.”

The Governor noted the bill would require each state facility, such as the University of Wyoming, Wyoming State Hospital, or the Wyoming Boys School, to receive legislative approval to restrict carrying firearms, or even to set policies as practical as proper weapon storage. It would also repeal the statute that has allowed school districts to establish specific policies allowing concealed carry in their districts.

“Every piece of legislation must stand for critical review, particularly those affecting our constitutional rights,” the Governor wrote. “As delivered to my desk, this bill lacks sufficient review and debate.  A bill covering such a sensitive topic does not lend itself to successive tweaks to correct flaws, and therefore I believe the Legislature should be open to debating and fully working this bill through its established processes.”

The Governor concluded he will direct the State Building Commission to begin a process to reconsider rules to allow concealed carry permit holders to exercise their rights within the Capitol and other appropriate state facilities. That process will involve significant public input.

The Governor’s veto letter is attached and may be found here.

-END-

Governor Gordon Signs Conservative Budget that Lays Foundation for Wyoming’s Future

Exercises line-item veto authority to focus on needs and functionality 

CHEYENNE, Wyo. –Governor Gordon thanked the 67th Legislature and has signed HB0001, punctuating the Legislative Session with a conservative, true biennial budget that achieves his goal of advancing Wyoming. The final budget prioritizes improving government services for citizens, promoting economic growth, bettering the quality of life for families who live and work in the state, as well as investing and saving for the future. 

“This budget addresses our challenges and positions Wyoming for a prosperous future,” Governor Gordon said. “We are fighting federal overreach, advancing our industries, providing practical property tax relief, ensuring adequate funding for our schools, counties, and communities and providing the services Wyoming residents expect.” 

The budget includes numerous priorities the Governor outlined in his State of the State speech, including:

  • Fulfilling standard budgets and prudent requests from state agencies.
  • Funding the 988 suicide prevention hotline and expanding capacity to add text and chat services. 
  • Investing in Wyoming Innovation Partnership initiative to sustain programs for workforce development and economic growth.
  • Extending energy matching funds to ensure Wyoming’s legacy industries remain competitive and support for approaches to use and store carbon dioxide
  • Allocating more than $300 million for the construction of K-12 schools.
  • Adding resources to protect critical infrastructure. 
  • Supporting community mental health centers and youth services mental health providers.
  • Directing $20 million for property tax relief for Wyoming homeowners.
  • Ensuring safe drinking water and guarding against water pollution.
  • Increased Wyoming’s savings to prevent future tax increases.

Governor Gordon issued a number of line-item vetoes within the budget, which are fully detailed in his letter, namely to uphold separation of powers, executive authority, and limiting the scope of the bill to properly fund government. In his line-item veto letter, which details each change, the Governor expressed dismay with the curious approach the legislature took to building the budget – one that almost jeopardized state agency operations and other important state needs. 

“Last year in my budget veto letter, I congratulated both chambers on passing a budget in record time – all while increasing transparency. It is unfortunate this session did not follow suit,” Governor Gordon wrote. “Over 300 amendments to this one bill, some of which were introduced to save legislation that failed earlier in the session, almost caused the budget bill to share the same fate.” 

The Governor left intact a budget amendment authorizing the sale of the “Kelly Parcel”, a square mile of school trust property in Teton County, for no less than $100 million with specific conditions relating to the Rock Springs RMP. 

The Governor’s letter and a full version of the budget complete with the Governor’s line item vetoes is available here.

-END-

cont:

Oh. . . great.

Wyoming Legislators Call For Special Session After Latest Round Of Gordon Vetoes

Well, not going to happen, and they won't override them if it does, and with at least one of them, the Wyoming Supreme Court would strike it down.

And we'll not go on to a new installment.

Last Prior Edition:

The 2024 Wyoming Legislative Session. Part 5. Divisive and Mean.

Cliffnotes of the Zeitgeist, 63d Edition. Strange Bedfellows.

 


Misery acquaints a man with strange bedfellows.

William Shakespeare, The Tempest

The environmental populists?

Politics, as they say, makes for strange bedfellows.  But how strange, nonetheless still surprises.

Wyoming Secretary of State Chuck Gray, who rose to that position by pitching to the populist far right, which dominates the politics of the GOP right now, and which appears to be on the verge of bringing the party down nationally, has tacked in the wind in a very surprising direction.  He appeared this past week at a meeting in Natrona County to oppose a proposed gravel pit project at the foot of Casper Mountain.  He actually pitched for the upset residents in the area to mobilize and take their fight to Cheyenne, stating:

We have a very delicate ecosystem, the fragility up there, the fragility of the flows … the proximity to domestic water uses. All of those things should have led to a distinct treatment by the Office of State Lands, and that did not happen.

I am, frankly, stunned.  

I frankly never really expected Mr. Gray to darken visage of the Pole Stripper monument on the east side of Casper's gateway, which you pass by on the road in from Cheyenne again, as he's not from here and doesn't really have a very strong connection to the state, although in fairness that connection would have been to Casper, where he was employed by his father's radio station and where he apparently spent the summers growing up (in an unhappy state of mind, according to one interview of somebody who knew him then).  Gray pretty obviously always had a political career in mind and campaigned from the hard populist right from day one, attempting at first to displace a conservative house member unsuccessfully.

We have a post coming up which deals with the nature of populism, and how it in fact isn't conservatism.  Gray was part of the populist rise in the GOP, even though his background would more naturally have put him in the conservative camp, not the populist one.  But opportunity was found with populists, who now control the GOP state organization.  The hallmark of populism, as we'll explore elsewhere, is a belief in the "wisdom of the people", which is its major failing, and why it tends to be heavily anti-scientific and very strongly vested in occupations that people are used to, but which are undergoing massive stress.  In Wyoming that's expressed itself with a diehard attitude that nothing is going on with the climate and that fossil fuels will be, must have, and are going to dominate the state's economy forever.   The months leading up to the recent legislative session, and the legislative session itself, demonstrated this with Governor Gordon taking criticism for supporting anything to address carbon concerns.  Put fairly bluntly, because a large percentage of Wyoming's rank and file workers depend on the oil and gas industry, and things related to it, any questioning on anything tends to be taken as an attack on "the people".

Natrona County has had a gravel supply problem for quite a while and what the potential miner seeks to do here is basically, through the way our economy works, address it.  There would be every reason to suspect that all of the state's politicians who ran to the far right would support this, and strongly.  But they aren't.

The fact that Gray is not, and is citing environmental concerns, comes as a huge surprise.  But as noted, given his background, he's probably considerably more conservative than populist, but has acted as politicians do, and taken aid and comfort where it was offered.  Tara Nethercott ran as a conservative and lost for the same office.

But here's the thing.

That gravel is exactly the sort of thing that populists, if they're true to what they maintain they stand for, ought to support.  It's good for industry, and the only reason to oppose the mining is that 1) it's in a bad place in terms of the neighbors and 2) legitimate environmental concerns, if there are any.  But that's exactly the point.  You really can't demand that the old ways carry on, until they're in your backyard.  

Truth be known, given their nature, a lot of big environmental concerns are in everyone's backyard right now.

The old GOP would have recognized that nationally, and wouldn't be spending all sorts of time back in DC complaining about electric vehicles.  And if people are comfortable with things being destructive elsewhere, they ought to be comfortable with them being destructive right here.  If we aren't, we ought to be pretty careful about it everywhere.

There actually is some precedent for this, FWIW.  A hallmark of Appalachian populism was the lamenting of what had happened to their region due to coal mining.  John Prine's "Paradise" in some ways could be an environmental populist anthem.

Hard to feel sorry.

Far right goofball Candace Owens was fired from the Daily Wire. She stated that she "cannot be silenced", but frankly the gadfly has gone from sort of being a token black populist to a has been already.

That no doubt sounds extremely harsh, but frankly it's true. Owens went from being sort of a snarky populist commenter to writing some real wack job stuff, at which time her popularity dropped off.  Part of her popularity was because she was black, and we don't think of populists being African American, although some are.  Once again, black conservatives and black populists are not the same thing.  Her status as a rare black populist, and a highly attractive woman at that, didn't hurt in her getting attention. 

I don't know what her fan base is, but this is all a sort of tragedy.  Always abrasive and controversial, her early commentary was not completely without merit.  She's really dropped off in the recent year or years and probably won't really revive.  She's sort of like Tucker Carlson that way, being a person of obvious high intelligence who really went down a rabbit hole.  Carlson looked like a complete fool with his recent trip to Russia. We hope that Owens has a legitimate conservative revival, or at least isn't touring North Korea to get a one up on Carlson.

The Dead Elephants.

There was an Irish street gang in New York at one time that bore the name The Dead Rabbits.  The House GOP is rapidly becoming The Dead Elephants.

Something is really going on.

Filled with disgust, some Republicans in the House are abandoning the House well before their terms are up. In doing that, they're setting themselves free from something. That something might just be failure, but at this rate, it suggests something else.  They almost seem set on sabotaging their party, except their party isn't a party.

In 1944 when it became obvious to those who cared to see, and many simply did not, that Germany was going down in defeat, not only did conservative German army officers but a few, albeit very few, members of the SS began to plot against him.  It's notable that the cover the July 20 bombing was given was that it was an attempted assassination by the SS.  At least one member of the SS was actually part of the plot, and the head of the Berlin police was far from a liberal democrat.  Right at the end of the war Himmler was conspiring against Hitler and notably didn't take a place among the suicides at the bunker.

The point is that when people who have been part of a movement begin bailing out, they sense defeat and don't want to be associated with it.

An added point is that with Donald Trump the effective Speaker of the House, and Marjorie Taylor Green acting as the Howler Monkey Sergeant at Arms, Trump's destructiveness has reached a new level.  Republicans lost the Oval Office in 2020 and the Senate in 2022.  Their House representation declined to perilous levels in the same time period. They were supposed to do well throughout it.  Now, not only is Trump causing the GOP to lose at the ballot box, he's causing Republicans to abandon their posts. 

In only one more Republicans leaves, the House will be deadlocked and Mike Johnson out the door.  If two leave, the Democrats are in control.  There will be replacements, but there's no guarantee that they'll be Republicans.

The Conservatives v. The Populists

While, once again, we'll have more on this later, we'll note here that the primary race in the state this year is really shaping up to be a fight between two parties, the Conservatives and the Populists, all of whom register as Republicans.  

Some Conservatives have registered to try to displace Populists, and some Populists are doing the same in regard to Conservatives.  Of note, the importation of out of state Populists is becoming really obvious, that having been a barely noticed aspect of it until very recently.

Populists are going to be howling that their Republican contenders are "RINO"s in short order, when in fact it's really the other way around, and the Populists are a sort of Neo Dixiecrat.  Republicans are late in rising to their challenge, but they are doing it.  

The primary may be quite interesting.

Last prior edition:

Cliffnotes of the Zeitgeist, 62nd Edition. The trowel and musket edition.

Thursday, March 23, 1944. Defeat at Cassino.

Offensive operations at Monte Cassino by the Allies were halted, and Allied troops withdrew to defensive lines.

In Rome, a bomb planted by Italian partisans killed 33 members of the SS.

In the skies above Italy, the Allies commenced Operation Strangle, an air offensive designed to cut German supplies to the Italian front.

A Japanese attack on Bougainville resulted in heavy Japanese losses.

The US bombarded the Japanese seaplane base on Elouae in the St. Matthias Islands.

Major General Leonard F. Wing, Commanding General, 43rd Division. South Pacific Area. 23 March, 1944.  Wing was unusual in that he was a division commander who was a Vermont National Guardsman, something Army prejudice generally prevented from occurring.  He was a lawyer in civilian life.  Wing is only 50 years old in this photograph.  He died just after World War Two at age 52, another senior figure whose life was seemingly cut short by the stress of command.

Richard Theodore Otcasek (March 23, 1944 – September 15, 2019), known as Ric Ocasek, was born in Baltimore.  He is best recalled as the vocalist for The Cars.

Last prior edition:

Sunday, March 23, 1924. Noise.

 

"The Curse of Noise" Hearst's New York American.  March 23, 1924.

Speaking of noise, Mussolini led a fascist march and gave a campaign speech at the end of it, on this day in 1924.

Last prior edition:


Going Feral: Bill on Rocks Springs RMP Revision.

Going Feral: Bill on Rocks Springs RMP Revision.:  

Bill on Rocks Springs RMP Revision.

 Very unusual to see a one off bill like this:

H. R. 6085


To prohibit the implementation of the Draft Resource Management Plan and Environmental Impact Statement for the Rock Springs RMP Revision, Wyoming, and for other purposes.


IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
October 26, 2023

Ms. Hageman introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Natural Resources


A BILL

To prohibit the implementation of the Draft Resource Management Plan and Environmental Impact Statement for the Rock Springs RMP Revision, Wyoming, and for other purposes.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. RESTRICTION ON DRAFT RMP AND EIS FOR ROCK SPRINGS RMP REVISION, WYOMING.

The Secretary of the Interior may not finalize, implement, administer, or enforce the Draft Resource Management Plan and Environmental Impact Statement for the Rock Springs RMP Revision, Wyoming, referred to in the notice of availability titled “Notice of Availability of the Draft Resource Management Plan and Environmental Impact Statement for the Rock Springs RMP Revision, Wyoming” published by the Bureau of Land Management on August 18, 2023 (88 Fed. Reg. 56654).

FWIW, a really good look at the plan was featured on Governor Gordon's podcast. The big complaint with the plan (which I don't think is that bad) what that it was sort of dropped on the area by the BLM after people believed that the groups they were working in with the BLM would have an impact on the plan, and didn't appear to.

I'd guess, but don't know, that the chances of a one off bill passing in the current Congress is really small.

The Agrarian's Lament: Blog Update. New Feature.

The Agrarian's Lament: Blog Update. New Feature.:  

Blog Update. New Feature.

 We have added a "pages" feature to this blog.  The currently visible page is:

There's a couple more in the hopper.

This blog has gotten more active than it was originally, as more original posts are now included here.  Originally, it was just a feed for Agrarian topics from Lex Anteinternet.  Showing, I suppose, that this is more active, this page is visible on that blog as well.

119th Congress, Part 2.

 

February 4, 2024

The House of Representatives will move forward with a  $17.6 billion bill this week that provides military aid to Israel and replenishes U.S. weapons, but leaves out more help for Ukraine.

It will not pass the Senate. 

The Senate apparently left the House out of its efforts to negotiate on these topics, which shows the level of dissention between the two bodies.

Ukraine has become an increasingly hot topic in the House, which is strongly influenced by Trump, who is a Putin fan.

February 5, 2024

Mexican Border Crisis






February 6, 2024

Yesterday Mitch McConnell urged Republicans to vote for the Senate bill then in a closed door meeting urged them to vote against it.

President Biden threatened to veto the House's stand-alone aid package to Israel.

Cont:

Matt Gaetz and Elise Stephanik have co-sponsored a resolution that Donald Trump did not engage in insurrection or rebellion against the United States on January 6, something that clear is an attempt to address the 14th Amendment in that insurrection may be excused under it.

Having said that, a resolution that it didn't occur will not excuse it, and this will not get through the Senate.

Cont: 

The House failed to impeach Homeland Security Secretary Mayorkas. All the Democrats voted against this, and the following Republicans retained their integrity on this matter; Rep. Tom McClintock (CA-05), Rep. Ken Buck (CO-04),  and Rep. Mike Gallagher (WI-08). Rep. Blake Moore (UT-01) also voted no, but on procedural grounds to that this may be brought back up again, even though it should not.

Look for all four, including Moore, to suffer the same fate as Liz Cheney.

February 14, 2024

Yesterday the House managed to get the Big Top in order and the GOP was able to impeach Mayorkas.

This now goes to the Senate, which will have to deal with it, but he'll retain his job.

Wyoming's Congressman Harriet Hageman will be a Senate Trial Manager for the impeachment.

Impeachments, which were rare up until Bill Clinton was wrongfully impeached, were once rare.  Now they're becoming extremely common, a sign of the collapse of American government.

The Senate voted aid for Ukraine. Wyoming's Senator John Barrasso voted against it, then came out with a statement noting his strong support for Ukraine.  Clearly he's worried about the strong MAGA base in Wyoming.

February 26, 2025

Russo Ukrainian War

Two separate discharge petitions to bring funding for Ukraine are being introduced into the House on different bills, one being the bill that has already passed the Senate.  There seems to be optimism that one of them, that being the unique House bill in particular, will pass in this end run around politically castrated Trump eunuch, Mike Johnson.

February 28, 2024

One of life’s most underappreciated talents is to know when it’s time to move on to life’s next chapter, so I stand before you today ... to say that this will be my last term as Republican leader of the Senate.

Mitch McConnell, earlier today.

Personally, I suspect the almost certain election of Trump this Fall, and the descent of the GOP into a nativist, isolationist, Evangelist, Populist Party had a lot to do with this.

This is, frankly, not a good development at all.

March 1, 2024

The House passed a stopgap funding bill yesterday.

March 10, 2024

President Biden has signed the bill.

March 14, 2024

The House of Representatives took passed a bill which might ban TikTok due to its Chinese ownership and fears that it exploits information for the benefit of the PRC.

Oh my, what will over endowed teens and twenty-something girls now do?

I have to admit that I find it almost impossible to care about this, which in turn contributes to my cynicism.  I don't know if the Chinese are mining vast amounts of data from TikTok  and frnakly I'm in favor of banning the vast amount of the Internet that's hypersexualized porn of some sort in any event. But that's not why it's being banned.  I can't help suspecting that its being banned as this is a feel good moment for a body that's done almost nothing.

Address the border?  Nope.

Address Russian aggression in Ukraine?  Nyet.

Let's ban TikTok instead.

Well, if I was there, I'd probably vote to ban it too.  It's trash.  I just find it amusing that this, and seemingly this alone, is the one thing they seem to be able to do.

March 21, 2024

Republican Congressmen have introduced a bill, the details of which I have not yet learned, to raise Social Security retirement age to 69.

Yikes.

This follows a series of comments by Republican figures recently, at first taken to have been made in a gadfly like fashion, that taking retirement is not a proper thing to be doing in the first place.

The Social Security System does need to be immediately addressed, and pushing the age limit up would help keep it funded, but there are other ways to do that and at some point it becomes manifestly unfair as well as a retardant on the economy.  We already are enduring a gerontocracy in the US, and this would make it worse. 

March 22, 2024

Wisconsin Rep. Mike Gallagher is leaving the House of Representatives next month, dropping the GOP majority in the House down to one vote.  Meanwhile, Marjorie Taylor Greene has filed a motion to remove Johnson, but it's a motion that doesn't have to be taken up.

The chances of the Republicans losing the House before November are now about 50/50, and with each example of Republican dysfunction, the corpse of the dead GOP starts to smell more and more.  While nobody is yet predicting it (I'm about to), the Democrats will take the House and the Senate in the Fall.

March 23, 2024

The Senate passed the budget bill so the government will avoid shutting down, again.  This just before they went home on recess, again.

Last prior edition:

119th Congress, Part 1.