Government & Politics
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Bouchard Calls For House Speaker To Be Censured For Inaction On Child Sex Change Bill
State Sen. Anthony Bouchard is outraged that his bill to forbid doctors from performing gender-change treatments on children has been subjugated to the bottom of the Speaker of the Houses drawer with a do not pass recommendation from the House Appropriations Committee.
Leo WolfsonFebruary 24, 2023
988 Suicide Trust Fund Established; Now All It Needs Is Money
Gov. Mark Gordon signed a raft of 2023 bills into law Thursday, including House Bill 65, which establishes two 988 suicide call centers that, at the time of the bill signing, has no funding.
Leo WolfsonFebruary 24, 2023
Sommers Explains Why He Won’t Allow Transgender Education Bill To Be Debated On Floor
The speaker of the House says he has stifled a few bills for very specific reasons. That includes Senate File 117 which would prohibit public schools from teaching young children about gender identity or sexual orientation.
Clair McFarlandFebruary 23, 2023
Stuck In Cheyenne Since Monday, Long-Haul Trucker Says “We’re Brothers In Arms”
Whenever long-haul trucker Zayy Bullard drives through Wyoming in the winter, if Interstate 80 is closed he hopes he gets as far as Little America between Green River and Evanston because it's a "small town for truckers." He didn't make it that far this time...
Wendy CorrFebruary 23, 2023
Crossover Voting Continues To Cause Contention With Wyoming Lawmakers
Resurrected after failing in a committee, an effort to get rid of crossover voting for Wyoming primary elections is close to landing on Gov. Mark Gordons desk. But that hasnt stopped heated debate with supporters saying it protects the integrity of political parties and opponents claiming its outright corruption.
Leo WolfsonFebruary 23, 2023
Wild Wyoming Storm Strands Four Snowplows And a Wrecker
While plowing the roads and highways around Carbon county on Wednesday, a WYDOT snowplow got stuck. Then another. Then a third. Then a fourth. Then a wrecker large enough to pull the snowplows out got stuck...
Greg JohnsonFebruary 23, 2023
Wyoming Abortion Bills Survive Legislative Committees – With Major Changes
The House Revenue Committee altered and advanced Senate File 109, which would ban chemical abortions if it becomes law. And the Senate Ag Committee added rape and incest exemptions into House Bill 152.
Clair McFarlandFebruary 23, 2023
Workers Lobby Against Bill, Say Wyoming Has Legacy Of Being Anti-Union
Despite passionate testimony from nearly two dozen construction workers and plumbers, Wyoming state lawmakers advanced a bill Wednesday that would prohibit government entities from bidding union-specific projects.
Leo WolfsonFebruary 23, 2023
Ban On Wyoming Transgender Treatments For Kids Voted Down; Chance For Resurrection Exists
A Wyoming state House committee voted to kill the much-debated Chloes Law on Wednesday, which would have banned transgender-related treatments for minors, but the House may still have an opportunity to hear it before the legislative session ends.
Clair McFarlandFebruary 23, 2023
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