• After the Wyoming House spent more than five hours debating 21 amendments before passing a huge 50% property tax bill Wednesday, the Senate took minutes to reject it Thursday. Now the two chambers will have to negotiate.
• A controversial “clean kill” for predators bill advanced Thursday. That it doesn’t include a ban running over wolves with snowmobiles — aka wolf whacking — remains a sticking point for many.
• Debate grew tense Thursday when a woman insisted on calling a male legislator "Madame" at the beginning of her testimony against the "What is a Woman Act."
• A retired professor told a Wyoming legislative committee Thursday that shooting prairie dogs is “psychopathic.” That raised the hackles of the sponsor of a bill to allow shooting the critters from vehicles.
• How to best achieve property tax relief has been the driving issue of the 2025 legislative session so far, and is dividing Wyoming Republicans. The main sticking points are whether to backfill deficits created by the cuts, and if so, how much.
• The Senate passed on first reading a bill that prohibits illegal immigrants from driving in Wyoming. An amendment was added to the bill clarifying that tourists and anyone legally in the U.S. is exempt.
• The Senate Appropriations Committee advanced a bill providing $60 million to rebuild the Laperle Dam in Douglas. Money for the project will no longer be taken from the Alkali Creek Reservoir project in northern Wyoming.
• During a short moment of levity Thursday, the Senate devolved into an exchange of “dad” and “mom” jokes. Sen. Evie Brennan, R-Cheyenne, may have had the best, or worst: “Knock knock, who’s there? Meow, meow who? Take meow out to the ball game.”
Leo Wolfson can be reached at leo@cowboystatedaily.com.
