The Wyoming legislature convenes for only a few weeks each year. But state legislators are working even when they do not gather together in the Capitol. They meet on committees across the state to examine the issues that will constitute future legislation.
The Management Council of the Wyoming legislature recently approved topics that legislative committees will raise during interim sessions, with some panels shifting gears and others continuing past work.
The interim is the time between now and next year’s general session. During that period, the committees would hear from the public, experts and other lawmakers on some of the most important issues in the state.
Committees are made up of MPs on either side of the aisle and from both chambers of the Legislature. There are roughly 10 standing committees that address larger, statewide issues. There are also several select committees and task forces that address more specific issues such as Wyoming’s water supply.
Here’s what to look for once the interim session begins. A full list of interim subjects can be found here.
corporations and elections
During the last year, the corporation committee devoted much time to electoral reform and redistribution. But this time no subject is the main focus.
This does not mean that they will not be investigated at all. The committee’s fifth priority is to study election changes such as open primaries and rank-choice voting. Notably, crossover voting, the practice of re-registering as a voter of a different party on primary election day, is not on the list. An attempt to ban crossover voting backed by former President Donald Trump failed in the budget session.
The committee will also examine the redistribution policies and procedures for the future.
Representative Mike Yin, D-Jackson, told the Star-Tribune that he plans to begin work on a bill to address key issues with the reported map, passed last month. If Yin and his colleagues decide to introduce a bill to replace the state map, the committee will be open to hearing the issue, said Rep. Dan Zwonitzer, R-Cheyen, who helps oversee the committee.
Also on elections, the committee will revisit the state’s electoral law, in light of a recent ruling by Skavadahl that it “colds speech.”
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As its second priority, the committee will explore the workforce housing shortage in Wyoming, including “the source of the problem and the social and economic impact it creates.”
Members will take a “holistic” look at alcohol laws as a whole. As municipalities are selling liquor licenses at exorbitant prices, the committee plans to examine whether it is necessary to put in place a process to fix the fee for retail liquor licenses at fair market value.
judiciary
The Judiciary Committee will take over its usual responsibilities such as reviewing recent court opinions, among nine other subjects.
The committee will review drug-treatment courts within the Department of Health and weigh whether placing those courts under the judicial branch would “improve the efficacy and use of treatment courts in Wyoming’s communities.”
Bill targeting substance abuse during pregnancy fails in Senate
Also under the umbrella of substance abuse is the issue of drug use during pregnancy. Rep. Amber Oakley, R-Riverton, brought in a bill in the 2022 budget session that would criminalize the use of controlled substances during pregnancy. As it stands, this is not a crime. Oakley sees this as a “gap” in the law. Others, such as lawyer and Judiciary Committee member Sen. Tara Nethercott, R-Cheyenne, have their doubts.
Members will also consider whether changes are needed to the 24/7 abstinence programs that operate in the five counties. Broadly speaking, the program conducts breath analyzers or drug tests for certain people who are accused of drug or alcohol offences.
Entering this program requires a pre-trial release.
Critics took issue with many aspects of the program, arguing that the program is unnecessarily cumbersome and imposes strict requirements on participants who have not been found guilty of a crime. Supporters say the program is effective at preventing people from using them while they are out on bond.
Wyoming’s ACLU challenged the constitutionality of Teton County’s version of the program, and the matter was argued before a federal judge last week. A decision is expected this week.
ACLU to debate constitutionality of Teton County’s 24/7 abstinence program
In other committee business, law enforcement requested the panel whether an enhanced criminal penalty should be implemented to help protect vulnerable individuals and businesses.
The committee spent several hours in the final interim on juvenile justice and eventually a committee-sponsored bill on the subject was passed. Juvenile justice is not on the committee’s agenda this time, but lawmakers will hear an update on the bill.
Revenue
The Revenue Committee will continue with most of its work from the previous interim sessions.
Members will view property taxes as their top priority. For this, the committee will examine property tax relief programs, taxes on second homes and other subjects.
“The valuations of people’s homes across the state are going up like crazy and people are very upset about it,” said committee chairman Sen. Kale Case, R-Lander. “And they don’t understand how their house can go up so high but the government says they are short on money.”
The committee will once again examine how to stabilize the state’s K-12 education fund stream. Most of the school’s funding comes from volatile oil and gas federal mineral royalties, which the former Wyoming superintendent of public instruction said amounted to about $150 million each year.
And once again, Medicaid is on the expanding list.
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Case said he was “concerned” to bring it up for debate on the floor. The Revenue Committee’s Medicaid Expansion Bill was not introduced in the 2022 budget session because behind-the-scenes talks showed it would not have enough votes to succeed. Some proponents initially wanted it to be introduced regardless of the vote count, while others were concerned that it would harm future expansion efforts if it failed on the first vote.
The revenue committee also plans to investigate how the state might be making money from certain, possibly nefarious, trust funds called “cowboy cocktails.”
The Washington Post reported last year that due to weak surveillance and the state’s strong privacy laws, wealthy people around the world have begun depositing their money into a special type of trust fund.
These secret trust funds include Wyoming-based trusts with nested private companies. The Post referred to it as the “Cowboy Cocktail”. Case said it did not yet plan to legislate on the subject; The subject is still in the discovery stage.
Revenue committee to explore taxation of ‘cowboy cocktail’
education
The Education Committee will continue its work on student literacy rates, as many children in the state are still behind their proper grade-level reading.
“After class three, [teachers] Let’s assume the student can read, and that isn’t always the case,” said committee chair Sen. Charlie Scott, R-Casper.
Members will also deal with the issue of recruitment and retention of school district personnel. Speaking to teachers, co-chair Rep. Jerry Paxton, R-Encamment, said that teacher retention was “the hottest topic”.
The committee will specifically explore how to remain competitive with teacher salaries. But the conversation will not be limited to academic staff alone. The presidents said the state is also struggling to hire and retain school bus drivers, whose salaries will also be scrutinized.
While pay is important, Paxton is concerned that there is too much “non-teaching work” for teachers.
The legislature tried to pass several bills this past session that would have increased the workload of teachers or changed the way they were educated.
“The biggest culprit in adding responsibility to teachers may be us and the laws we’ve passed,” Paxton said. “We need to be aware going forward.”
Travel, Recreation and Wildlife
The committee that oversees recreation in Wyoming is first focusing this interim on expanding public trails and paths. In doing so, some hope will boost tourism in places like Cheyenne and Casper.
The sometimes controversial Cinque Canyon – Italian for “iron road” or “iron route” – also came through the ferrata, but the climbing project is ultimately not on the committee’s tentative subject list. The chairman of the committee, Sen. Effie Ellis, R-Cheyenne, said none of the members voted for it.
A via ferrata can come in various forms, but it is meant to assist climbers through steel notches in the cliff face. Proponents believe that the ecology of the park would not be at risk through ferrata as an economic opportunity with a smaller footprint, while opponents argue that it is dangerous to wildlife.
Although the MPs of the committee do not show much enthusiasm, but some people in the public do.
Proposed via ferrata outside the lander raises questions about the balance between outdoor recreation and wildlife
“This is an important issue,” said Case, who represents the lander, which is just minutes from Cink Canyon. “In my community, people are very angry about it.”
appropriation
The Appropriations Committee is coming out of a large interim and budget session, as members had to create and pass two important budgets: the main budget, which is redrawn every other year, and a budget to allocate federal funds. The state was awarded through the American Rescue Planning Act.
The budget included wage increases for state employees, which was one of Governor Mark Gordon’s top priorities last season as he sought to address recruitment and retention challenges. For the interim 2022, the committee’s top priority is monitoring the distribution of these offtake.
Minerals, Trade and Economic Development
The Minerals Committee’s No. 1 priority is broad: “Energy Issues.”
The committee plans to hear from the Oil and Gas Conservation Commission on the implementation of new laws and regulations relating to drilling and spacing units. Members will also explore obtaining agreement-state status from the United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission to regulate the source material and thorium. And finally, lawmakers will examine the development of hydrogen as an energy source in Wyoming.
Continuing its work from the previous interim, the committee will explore carbon-sequestration issues, including carbon dioxide storage issues.
Labor, health and social services
12 Years in the Legislature of Sue Wilson in Cheyenne Rep., the Health Committee has not investigated maternal health in Wyoming. It is going to replace this interim, as it is the first priority of the committee.
This topic is partly connected with the work of the Judiciary Committee on Substance Abuse during Pregnancy. During the 2022 budget session, lawmakers realized that there was a severe lack of data on how many babies were born to mothers who used drugs.
The committee will also examine “the benefits of expanding postpartum Medicaid coverage for an additional month.”
In Wyoming, pregnant women are few who qualify for the federal program.
tribal relations
The Select Committee on Tribal Relations will examine whether tribal members of the state can be exempted from online sales tax. Members are already exempt from sales tax on personal purchases upon reservation, and must be exempt from online purchases under current law.
Legislative committee considering giving exemption from online sales tax to tribal members
The US Supreme Court has already ruled on sales tax exemptions for tribal members, but those rulings predate the existence of online retail. Ellis, chair of the Committee on Tribal Relations and a member of the Navajo Nation, said this is the first time lawmakers will take the issue seriously.
While tribal members are exempted from paying sales tax on personal purchases on reservation, this is not a correct procedure.
The law “actually places the burden on the retailer to look at the customer and identify whether they are Indian or non-Indian and decide whether to collect the tax,” she told the management council.
“So when we add online sales that gets complicated,” she said.
