Government & Politics
News

After Stripped Of Funding, Expiration Date Put On Wyoming Suicide Call Centers Bill
A bill originally intended to support Wyomings suicide call centers in perpetuity with a dedicated trust fund has been amended to do almost the opposite.
Leo WolfsonFebruary 15, 2023

Lawmakers Advance Law To Keep Indian Children Out Of Non-Native Foster Homes
The House Appropriations Committee has advanced a bill continuing a hotly disputed federal law designed to keep Indian children out of non-native foster and guardian homes, whether the children live on Indian reservations or not.
Clair McFarlandFebruary 15, 2023

Harriet Hageman Endorses Trump For President In 2024
Congresswoman Harriet Hageman on Wednesday announced she is endorsing former President Donald Trump in his 2024 presidential campaign.
Leo WolfsonFebruary 15, 2023

Bill Allowing Wyoming Dairy Farmers To Sell Milk At Stores Passes Committee
While some dairy farmers in Wyoming are running a black market selling milk through third parties, a bill that would make those sales legal has cleared a state House committee.
Clair McFarlandFebruary 15, 2023

Lawmakers Reject Legislation That Would Outlaw School Spankings In Wyoming
The Wyoming House of Representatives has rejected a bill that would have removed legal protections for school staffers who spank kids, saying the bill is vague in defining what constitutes corporal punishment.
Clair McFarlandFebruary 15, 2023

Gordon To Sign First Bills Of 2023 Legislative Session Into Law On Wednesday
Now in the second month of the Wyoming Legislature's 2023 session, Gov. Mark Gordon is expected Wednesday to sign the first three bills that have so far made it to his desk.
Leo WolfsonFebruary 15, 2023

Back From The Dead: Wyoming Senate Resurrects Effort To Stop Crossover Voting
A bill that would make it illegal for voters to change party affiliation after candidates announce theyre running for office had been killed by the Wyoming Legislature. But the state Senate revived it Tuesday.
Leo WolfsonFebruary 15, 2023

Posting Bogus ‘No Trespassing’ Signs Could Cost $10,000 First Time, $50,000 For Repeats
A bill that would make it a crime to post no trespassing signs on public land calls for fines of $10,000 for a first offense, $50,000 for more moves forward. Another bill that would have given game wardens broader authority to ticket trespassers has died.
Mark HeinzFebruary 14, 2023

Hundreds Evacuated Overnight After Fire In UW Dorm Room, No Serious Injuries
There were hundreds evacuated but no deaths or serious injuries after a one-room fire in a University of Wyoming dormitory early Tuesday.
Clair McFarlandFebruary 14, 2023

Wyoming Safe From Super Gonorrhea Strain – So Far
A strain of drug-resistant gonorrhea found in Massachusetts hasnt made its way to Wyoming yet. In fact, state health officials say Cowboy State gonorrhea cases were down in 2022.
Clair McFarlandFebruary 14, 2023

Wyoming Tribe Opposes Off-Reservation Hunting Bill, Committee Approves It Anyway
A Senate Committee passed a bill that would give Gov. Mark Gordon authority to establish off-reservation hunting agreements with certain tribes despite claims that the bill would undermine tribal sovereignty.
Clair McFarlandFebruary 14, 2023

Gay Straight Alliance Students Lobby Against Trans Bills At Wyoming Capitol
High school students from around Wyoming were at the Wyoming Capitol in Cheyenne trying to sway opinions on legislation dealing with LGBTQ issues, saying theres not much equality in The Equality State these days.
Leo WolfsonFebruary 14, 2023

Bill To Pay Wyoming Lawmakers More For Travel, Food Advances
Senate File 61, which would give state lawmakers their first per diem raise since 2005, moves forward with a 6-3 vote from the House Revenue Committee on Tuesday.
Leo WolfsonFebruary 14, 2023

Bill Would Have Driver’s Licenses Going Retro With Black-And-White Photos
Wyoming is using a new and more secure technology for its drivers licenses, but that technology so far does not play well with color. To allow black-and-white photos on them requires the Wyoming Legislature to act.
Renée JeanFebruary 14, 2023

Wyoming Married Off Hundreds Of Children In The 1970s And ’80s, Data Show
More than 600 minors got married each year in the late 1970s, and now that number is about 16 per year, according to Wyoming Department of Health data dispatched to help lawmakers discern the need for a bill outlawing marriages for younger teens.
Clair McFarlandFebruary 14, 2023

Hageman: Congressional Approval Needed If Biden Further Attempts To End Fossil Fuels
President Joe Biden has been making good on a campaign promise to end oil and gas production in the U.S. Wyoming Republican U.S. Rep. Harriet Hagemans first bill supports legislation brought by U.S. Sen. Cynthia Lummis to require Congressional approval for such moves.
February 14, 2023

Effort To Allow Chuck Gray To Disqualify Election Equipment Fails
A discussion about certifying federal election equipment Monday became more a debate about Secretary of State Chuck Gray and what his office should and should not have authority to do.
Leo WolfsonFebruary 14, 2023

Blasting Coyotes With Night Vision Scopes On Public Land Closer As Bill Clears Both Houses
A bill that would allow the use of spotlights, night vision, and infrared equipment to assist hunters in blowing up coyotes on public land moved one step closer. The bill passed the House last month and was approved by the Senate on Monday.
Mark HeinzFebruary 13, 2023

‘Roadhouse’ Trespassing Bill For Bars Was Doing Fine Until It Morphed Into An Outdoors Trespassing Bill
A Roadhouse Bill that would have allowed for using reasonable physical force to remove trespassers from places like bars -- just like Patrick Swayze -- lost traction and died when the focus of the law shifted toward how to deal with trespassing hunters.
Mark HeinzFebruary 13, 2023

Wyoming Will Continue Cloud Seeding Program After Effort To Nix Program Fails
An effort to eliminate Wyoming's $1.1 million cloud seeding program was voted down by the Wyoming Senate on Monday. Detractors say there is little proof cloud-seeding works.
Leo WolfsonFebruary 13, 2023

Committee Kills Bill Making It Harder For Sex Offenders To Get Off Wyoming Registry
The Senate Judiciary Committee on Monday killed a bill that aimed to let fewer sex offenders get erased from the sex offender registry, because the bill's language was confusing.
Clair McFarlandFebruary 13, 2023

Want Alternative COVID Medications? Not In Wyoming, Says Senate Committee
Legislation that would have allowed doctors and pharmacists to dispense off-label prescriptions -- like hydroxychloroquine and ivermectin for COVID -- without concern of recourse from medical oversight agencies died in a Senate committee on Monday morning.
Leo WolfsonFebruary 13, 2023

Now More Than Ever, Wyoming Legislature Is Seeing Red
This years session of the Wyoming Legislature is showing a more dramatic turn to becoming even more conservative. A growing faction of more conservative Republicans is pushing election reform, COVID-19 anti-discrimination and other agenda issues farther than before.
Leo WolfsonFebruary 12, 2023

Lummis Condemned By Wyoming Republican State Central Committee on Saturday
The Wyoming Republican State Central Committee on Saturday condemned Sen. Cynthia Lummis for her vote in favor of the Respect for Marriage Act last November.
Jimmy OrrFebruary 12, 2023
