That’s all folks, the 2025 Wyoming legislative session is complete.
In 37 days, the Legislature passed 165 bills, overrode five of Gov. Mark Gordon’s seven vetoes and on the Senate side, consumed 534 omelets, said Sen. President Bo Biteman, R-Ranchester.
Biteman and House Speaker Chip Neiman, R-Hulett, confirmed the session would be coming to an end in a joint statement issued Thursday afternoon.
There had been rumors swirling around the Capitol on Thursday that the Legislature was considering adding two days to override a potential veto from Gordon on Senate File 196. SF 196 aims to protect Wyoming residents from federal firearm orders and laws and builds on a similar existing law.
Although Biteman and Neiman reiterated their support for this bill Thursday, they both kicked the proverbial can down the road rather than taking a hard stance to keep the bill alive right now.
“Both the House and the Senate are committed to adopting SF 196 exactly as passed this year,” the leaders said in their statement. “If the governor sees fit to veto SF 196, as is his prerogative, then the Legislature will take this issue up immediately as we convene for the 2026 session and send it to the governor first.”
Neiman and Biteman said they will consider any concerns the governor brings up in his potential veto letter.
There’s no guarantee the governor will or will not veto SF 196 as he traditionally does not say he will veto a bill before doing so. In 2022, Gordon signed the current Second Amendment Protection Act into law without objection.
When Gordon gave his sign-off speech to both chambers Thursday afternoon, he spoke broadly and made no references to specific bills, but did offer some advice for the Legislature to chew on.
“We should stop looking backwards, we should think about our future, we should think about our kids,” he said. “The state I grew up in, the state I love and have fought for every way that I can, is that one that engages with our youth and makes sure better days are ahead. I know we can do it.”
Down To The Wire
The Senate and House both passed SF 196 with large majorities but originally disagreed about some of the exceptions in their versions of the bill. They eventually settled out those differences.
In their statement, Neiman and Biteman stressed that they are firmly pro-Second Amendment and pointed to the passage of a bill banning gun free zones in Wyoming earlier in the session.
“Unfortunately, the governor is working through a significant amount of legislation, and timing may result in SF 196 not passing this year,” the statement read. “The good news is that President Donald Trump won the 2024 election, and the threat from the Federal government is small for now.”
Rep. John Bear, R-Gillette, told reporters on Thursday morning they have similar concerns about Gordon vetoing House Bill 156, a bill that requires 30 days of residency to vote in Wyoming and proof of U.S. citizenship.
The joint statement between Neiman and Biteman was a rare showing of partnership between the two during a session where their respective chambers were often facing off against each other. Bear admitted that some of the Wyoming Freedom Caucus’ efforts to get the public to put pressure on senators about bills and calling senate leadership “Liz Cheney Republicans” likely made it harder for the two sides to work together, but he still stands by it.
“I would say that the public is what has gotten us where we’re at with a majority, so we’re not going to turn away from that,” he said. “It’s just a matter of giving it to the public and letting them decide. Sometimes you can criticize the verbiage we might use, what the Freedom Caucus uses, but you only have a limited number of words to get the point across.”
There were also some last-minute discussions on Thursday about a bill that would have reduced the property tax assessment rate from 9.5% to 8.3%, but members of the House and Senate ended up letting that bill die.
It was a busy 37-day session, Biteman said, noting the Senate took 584 roll call votes and ate 534 omelets.
“So, more roll call votes than omelets this year,” he concluded. “We got that.”
Leo Wolfson can be reached at leo@cowboystatedaily.com.
