• The Wyoming Legislature killed two of three immigration-related bills after critics said they were poorly written. They also say the bills included overreach to constricted law enforcement agencies already cooperative with federal immigration officials.
• Although they didn’t take a vote on it on Friday, multiple members of a Wyoming Senate committee told Cowboy State Daily they plan to support a ban on ballot drop boxes in Wyoming.
• The campaign arm of the Wyoming Freedom Caucus has been sending out text messages urging people to pressure their state senators to pass the group’s “Five and Dime” slate of bills.
• The Senate passed a bill on first reading Friday to enact universal school vouchers in Wyoming, but not before the legislation was significantly changed to create income-based stipulations for how much each family will get. This brings the bill significantly closer to the state’s current education savings account program.
• The Senate Labor, Health and Social Services Committee passed two bills Friday that would put more regulations on abortions in Wyoming, both passing by a 4-1 vote. House Bill 64 would require all women receiving a prescription-induced abortion to get an ultrasound first, while House Bill 42 would require all facilities performing surgical abortions to be licensed as ambulatory surgical centers.
• In an unusual step, the Senate Corporations, Elections and Political Subdivisions Committee brought back a bill it had already passed for reconsideration Friday. The committee brought back the bill making school board elections partisan just so that it could get a clarification on the changes made to Wednesday, including the exception for community college trustee elections and clarifying that school board elections will still happen in November.
Leo Wolfson can be reached at leo@cowboystatedaily.com.
