Government & Politics
News
Jackson Democrat Says If You Vote Against Per Diem Hike, You Shouldn’t Get It
Rep. Mike Yin, D-Jackson, pushed through an amendment to a bill that would raise the per diem for state legislators. His amendment would make it so those who voted against it, would not get the per diem increase.
Leo WolfsonFebruary 22, 2023
House Speaker Continues To Stall Bill Banning Gender, Sexual Orientation Teaching For Grades K-3
House Speaker Albert Sommers has sat on a bill for 25 days that would bar public school teachers in Wyoming from teaching gender identity and sexual orientation to children. An attempt to maneuver around the speaker failed by a vote of 34-27 on Wednesday.
Clair McFarlandFebruary 22, 2023
Wyoming High Schoolers Lobby Legislature for Medicaid Extension
Passionate testimony provided by a pair of Cheyenne high school speech and debate students was the highlight of committee testimony Wednesday as lawmakers considered expanding Medicaid postpartum coverage.
Leo WolfsonFebruary 22, 2023
Wyoming Legislature Divides Along Conservative Battle Lines
As it grows in numbers, influence and organization, the Wyoming Freedom Caucus is advising its members daily how to vote on dozens of bills considered by the Wyoming Legislature. Some say thats politics as usual, others that its created a lockstep faction that favors its platform over individual lawmakers.
Leo WolfsonFebruary 22, 2023
Wyoming Dairy Farmers Close To Being Allowed Third-Party Milk Sales, But Can They Cut The Cheese?
The latest edition of Wyoming's Food Freedom Act allowing dairy farmers to sell products through a middleman sailed through both legislative chambers and barring a governor's veto, will soon be law, though an amendment making sure people can cut the cheese at farmers markets failed.
Clair McFarlandFebruary 22, 2023
Fireworks In The Capitol: Hutchings Blasts House Revenue Committee For Changing Bill
Sen. Lynn Hutchings said she was ashamed to be a legislator Tuesday after some of her House colleagues overhauled one of her bills. Committee Chair Rep. Steve Harshman called it a "cheap shot."
Clair McFarlandFebruary 22, 2023
Sutton Site A Signature Away From Being Next State Archaeological Site
A bill that will protect a site with unusually large ceremonial circles, next to one of the worlds oldest red ochre mines, managed to avoid a last-minute rewrite and passed the House with unanimous approval.
Renée JeanFebruary 22, 2023
Wyoming’s Predator Coyotes Can Be Shot With Night Vison If Gordon Signs Law
A bill that would allow predator hunters to use night vision scopes, infrared technology and other equipment to shoot coyotes on public land is headed to Gov. Mark Gordons desk.
Mark HeinzFebruary 22, 2023
House Passes Bill Giving State Agencies Blank Check To Pay Moving Expenses For New Employees
Showing nobodys immune to a nationwide hiring squeeze, the Wyoming Legislature on Tuesday advanced a bill allowing state agency heads carte blanche in paying moving expenses for new hires.
Leo WolfsonFebruary 21, 2023
Tribal Hunting Bill Killed Despite Push From Governor Gordon
The Wyoming Senate on Tuesday voted down a bill that would have given Gov. Mark Gordon the ability to make agreements with tribes specifying special, off-reservation hunting rights some tribal members have through their federal treaties.
Clair McFarlandFebruary 21, 2023
Liz Cheney Reemerges To Blast Marjorie Taylor-Greene
Former Congresswoman Liz Cheney reemerged on Monday and tweeted for the first time since leaving office. Cheney criticized Marjorie Taylor-Greene for saying the country needed a "national divorce."
Jimmy OrrFebruary 21, 2023
Wyoming Prisons Says It Did Not Fire Black Female Warden Because Of Race, Sex
The Wyoming Department of Corrections said the firing of its first Black female warden wasn't an act of discrimination. They said Ruby Ziegler was "terminated for legitimate, nondiscriminatory reasons."
Clair McFarlandFebruary 20, 2023
Wyoming Legislator Says He Was Threatened To Be Removed From Committee Over ‘No’ Vote
A question of how loyal Wyoming legislators should be to their assigned committees vs. voting their conscience came to a head this past week when Joint Judiciary Committee Chairman Rep. Art Washut called out Rep. Mark Jennings for voting against a bill the committee sponsored. Jennings said he was threatened to be removed over his no vote.
Leo WolfsonFebruary 18, 2023
Wyoming Game Wardens May Get Authority To Ticket Trespassers As Bill Revived
A bill that would Wyoming game wardens broader authority to cite trespasses, which died in committee on Tuesday, was resurrected Friday by the same Wyoming House Committee.
Mark HeinzFebruary 17, 2023
Bill Allowing Hounds To Chase Mountain Lions Gets OK From Wyoming House
A bill that would allow houndsmen to run their dogs after mountain lions outside of regular hunting season passed its first reading before the Wyoming House on Thursday.
Mark HeinzFebruary 17, 2023
Wyoming Senate Sides With Governor Over Tribe, Advances Tribal Hunt Bill
Though members of multiple tribes oppose it, the state Senate on Thursday advanced a bill giving Gov. Mark Gordon authority to establish hunting agreements with tribes whose treaties contain special hunting rights.
Clair McFarlandFebruary 17, 2023
Legislature Signs Off On $1.8 Billion Budget Package, Including $1.4 Billion In Savings
Having experienced plenty of rainy days in recent years, Wyoming legislators are saving for when the states economy storms again, socking away $1.4 billion into savings in the 2023 supplemental budget, which passed the Legislature on Thursday.
Leo WolfsonFebruary 17, 2023
Resurrected Bill To End Crossover Voting Still Alive, Advances To Senate Floor
Voters changing parties on primary election day closer to being history as Wyoming lawmakers on Thursday advanced a bill to end the practice. House Bill 103 had been dead until it was resurrected through a rarely used rule.
Leo WolfsonFebruary 17, 2023
Lawmakers Argue Over Committee Assignment For Child Sex Change Bill
Some Wyoming lawmakers Thursday challenged state House leadership over which committee should hear Chloe's Law, which would prevent doctors from performing or prescribing transgender-related treatments for kids.
Clair McFarlandFebruary 17, 2023
Sen. Affie Ellis Brings Dirt From Sutton Archaeological Site To Wyoming Capitol
House lawmakers continued to advance a bill that would fence a special archaeological site in Wyoming adjacent to the Powers II red ochre mine. The site has large ceremonial circles that could prove significant in understanding the states earliest inhabitants.
Renée JeanFebruary 17, 2023
Bill Would Honor Former Gov. Who Fought McCarthyism, Wanted To Kick Japanese Americans Out Of Wyoming
Despite a less-than-ideal track record in the eyes of history, state Sen. Cale Case says Lester Hunt deserves official recognition for a career of public service as a former Wyoming secretary of state, governor and U.S. senator.
Leo WolfsonFebruary 16, 2023
Wyoming Lawmakers Spar Over Child Marriage, Scolded By Senate President
The Wyoming Senate on Thursday resoundingly passed a bill banning marriages for children 15 and younger after an argument about whether the bill's sponsor would be willing to change it to allow anyone younger than 18 to marry with permission of both a judge and a parent.
Clair McFarlandFebruary 16, 2023
Drug Court Oversight, Money For Coal Lawsuits Among First Bills To Get Gordon’s Signature
The first bills to work through the Wyoming Legislature this session were signed by Gov. Mark Gordon on Wednesday in a ceremony at the Capitol in Cheyenne.
Leo WolfsonFebruary 16, 2023
Wyoming Bighorn Ram Hunts Will Remain ‘Once-In-A-Lifetime’ Opportunity
Hunters who are lucky enough to draw a tag for a Rocky Mountain bighorn ram in Wyoming, but are unsuccessful in shooting one, will die never getting that chance again. A bill that would have allowed hunters to qualify for tags again died on Wednesday.
Mark HeinzFebruary 16, 2023