Feb. 11
We welcomed Maj. Gen. Luke Reiner,
adjutant general of the Wyoming National
Guard. He presented three servicemen and
women who have done outstanding work. I
would personally like to thank all members of
the Wyoming National Guard for their service
to the state and country.
During second reading today, the House
passed, on a voice vote, seven bills including
SF37 – Wyoming Energy authority, SF63
– LSRA investments and SF43 – Hathaway
scholarship eligibility.
The House considered eight bills on third
reading – passing seven and defeating one.
Bills that were passed included these I supported:
SF50 – State Amphibian and SF51
– Tobacco tax equivalence. This is a bill that
will allow the state of Wyoming to enter negotiations
with the tribes to equalize tobacco
tax throughout Wyoming. Also SF93 – Grizzly
bear hunts.
The lone bill to fail on third reading was
SF6 – Personal property tax reporting. There
were concerns about this bill hurting small
businesses and agricultural producers.
We considered 10 bills on General File,
nine of which passed. Bills of note included
SF54 – Wyoming Cowboy Challenge Academy
endowment and SF78 – Archaeological
human burial sites.
Senate File 76 – Warrants for digital records
failed on a vote of 18-39-3. I voted against the
bill. The House was concerned that this bill
would allow law enforcement to access too
many digital records, and could jeopardize
citizen’s constitutional rights to privacy.
Today, the Joint Conference Committee
on the supplemental budget began to work
through the differences between the House
and Senate.
Feb. 12
Hello Sublette County,
In Joint Conference Committee on the budget,
the House and the Senate made the final
compromises between the two chambers. Staff
will prepare the final version of our report and
then the JCC will take a final vote. I believe we
came to an agreement that is beneficial for the
state and the people of Wyoming.
During second reading today, the House
passed 12 bills including:
SF78 – Archaeological human burial sites.
This is a bill that puts in place a process to address
the circumstance when a human burial
site is discovered during construction.
SF90 – Nonvested member accounts. This
bill would help make the Wyoming state retirement
plans more sound, by not allowing
members to accrue interest on their accounts
when they are not vested and not working for
the state.
The House passed all seven third-reading
bills on a consent list, meaning they were relatively
noncontroversial. Six of the bills were
Legislative update Feb. 11-14
committee bills that were debated heavily during
the interim. Bills that were passed include
these I supported:
SF37 – Wyoming Energy authority. This
bill combined two state agencies into one
agency.
SF63 – LSRA investments. This bill would
allow a portion of our “rainy day” account to
be invested in higher yielding assets.
SF43 – Hathaway scholarship eligibility.
This bill provides more emphasis to career
and Technical education programs in the Hathaway
Scholarship, and CTE is critical to satisfying
workforce needs in Wyoming.
We debated a wide range of bills on General
File including:
SJ10– Multiple use of public lands
SF83 – Real estate appraisers-licensing
amendments
SF113 – Retail purchases of alcohol liquors
for resale
SF127 – Felony fleeing or eluding police. I
have struggled to support this bill the last three
sessions, because I worry that it could create
felons out of scared youth who try to evade
law enforcement and are charged with reckless
driving.
Feb. 13
We are deep into considering Senate bills
and giving them due consideration in the
House. Vigorously debating bills is what gives
us the best possible legislation.
During second reading today, the House
passed 10 bills, including:
SJ10 – Multiple use of public lands
SF83 – Real estate appraisers, licensing
amendments
SF3 – Retail purchases of alcohol liquors
for resale
SF27 – Felony fleeing or eluding police. I
amended this bill to exclude reckless driving
from being the cause of someone qualifying
for a felony when they flee law enforcement.
I believe the charge of reckless driving is too
subjective to create a felony, even in conjunction
with eluding police.
The House passed on third reading 12 bills.
Bills that were passed included these I supported:
SF54 – Wyoming Cowboy Challenge
Academy endowment
SF89 – Death benefits – Wyoming retirement
plans
SF129 – Education reporting requirements.
This bill eliminated some reporting requirements.
I amended the bill to ensure that the
Hathaway Success Curriculum is reviewed
every two years. We continue to tinker with
this curriculum, and I believe it has been to the
Rep. Albert Sommers, House District No. 20
detriment of small school districts and student
choice.
House Members heavily debated four Senate
files today in Committee of the Whole. We
passed three bills and failed one. Bills passing
included:
SF80 – Passing stopped school bus, recorded
images. Much of the debate surrounding
this bill had to do the difference between
proving a vehicle passed a bus and proving
who the driver of the vehicle was at the time
of the offense.
SF151– Judicial salary increases
Senate File 16 failed to pass on a vote of
25-31-4. This bill would have allowed municipalities
to create special community development
districts. I voted against this bill, because
it seemed to create special districts that are not
of a critical or specific nature.
Feb. 14
Happy Valentine’s Day.
During second reading today, the House
passed two bills including:
SF80 – Passing stopped school bus-recorded
images. This bill drew a lot of debate,
as the body considered whether we should
head down the road of other states that utilize
cameras to issue vehicle violations.
SF151– Judicial salary increases
The House laid back SF131 – Spending
policy amendments for further consideration
during second reading as well.
The House passed on third-reading consent
list, 10 bills. Bills that were passed include
these I supported:
SJ10 – Multiple use of public lands
SF113 – Retail purchases of alcohol liquors
for resale
SF127 – Felony fleeing or eluding police.
I voted against this bill, although it was
amended into a better form. One of the last
amendments was not clearly written, and I
remained concerned that a felony could have
been given for a stupid mistake.
We considered on Committee of the Whole
10 bills, passing all of them on a voice vote.
Interesting bills included:
SF41 – County Fair Endowments
SF68 – Meat from harvested livestock or
poultry. This bill is designed to prevent cultured
proteins from being labeled as meat in
Wyoming. These new cultured products are
being developed, and those of us in the meat
business want the consumer to understand
what they are purchasing.
SF 72 – Sexual assault biological evidence
reporting
SF 82 – Wyoming Medicaid Fraud Control
Act
For details and status of all 2019 bills, see
https://www.wyoleg.gov/Legislation/2019
I can be reached at [email protected]
com with questions or concerns.