CHEYENNE, Wyo. — It’s not always easy being on the cutting edge. Eric Trowbridge and the staff at the Array School of Technology and Design in Cheyenne have spent the last year brainstorming. There aren’t many schools like Array, which provides opportunities for students to learn coding, especially not in towns of fewer than 65,000 […]
Ellen Fike
Wyoming Senate consider rules limiting locations of wind energy projects
CHEYENNE, Wyo. – The Wyoming Senate made sure its last Committee of the Whole bill of this legislative session was thoroughly discussed on Tuesday, Feb. 25. SF 132 would require wind energy developers to submit an application to the local county commission, certifying reasonable efforts have been undertaken to provide notice in writing to all […]
Wyoming Senate continues discussing proposed whistleblower legislation
CHEYENNE, Wyo. – Sen. Tom James continued his push to get a whistleblower-related bill moving through the legislative process on Tuesday, Feb. 25. James explained that he worked with the Department of Audit to create the bill, which he hoped would protect the state from potentially losing millions of dollars. SF 70 would establish a reporting […]
Wyoming Senate crossing fingers U.S. will look to nuclear; consider new uranium taxes
CHEYENNE, Wyo. – The Wyoming Senate spent a portion of its morning floor session on Tuesday, Feb. 25 talking over a uranium tax rate bill. SF 85 would impose “conditional uranium severance taxes on all uranium production occurring after December 31, 2020 and before January 1, 2035.” The severance taxes would only be imposed when […]
Wyoming House and Senate school foundation budget recommendations differ by $22 million
CHEYENNE, Wyo. – The Wyoming House Appropriations Committee kicked off Tuesday, Feb. 25 by talking about the biennium budget bill. The Legislative Service Office’s senior fiscal analyst Michael Swank presented the amendments to the Senate’s version of the proposed budget to the committee. The amendments were broken into three categories: mirror, similar and unique. “Mirror” […]
Senate considers creating safety and security framework for Wyoming schools
CHEYENNE, Wyo. – Sen. Affie Ellis took the Senate floor on Monday, Feb. 24 to discuss a topic important to her: school safety and security. Eight other Wyoming legislators, including Sen. Lynn Hutchings and Rep. Cathy Connolly, are also backing a bill that would require school districts to adopt safety and security policies. SF 70 […]
Wyoming guardian ad litem may split from public defenders office
CHEYENNE, Wyo. – The Wyoming Senate wrapped up a nearly 10-hour day on Monday, Feb. 24 with discussion about separating offices. SF 120 would establish a guardian ad litem office separate from the state’s public defenders office, where it currently sits. Gov. Mark Gordon would be tasked with appointing a director of the office who […]
Bill aims to compensate Wyoming first responders for ‘mental injuries’
CHEYENNE, Wyo. – The Wyoming Senate spent nearly an hour discussing a bill that would affect the lives of first responders across the state on Monday, Feb. 24. SF 117 would allow first responders, law enforcement officers and search and rescue workers to apply for workers’ compensation if they receive a mental injury while performing […]
Senate working to address addiction in Wyoming’s prison population
CHEYENNE, Wyo. — Legislators from both sides of the political aisle are backing a bill relating to addiction therapy in Wyoming in an effort to address addiction within prison populations. On Monday, Feb. 24, the Wyoming Senate tackled SF 107, a “penal institutions – addiction counselor license reciprocity” bill. This bill would require the Wyoming Mental […]
Local control at heart of Wyoming Senate Cheyenne Frontier Days liquor license debate
CHEYENNE, Wyo. – Debate over a Cheyenne Frontier Days liquor license bill continued in the Wyoming legislature on Monday, Feb. 24. SF 134 would provide a malt beverage license to Cheyenne Frontier Days annually, costing $100 every time the organization obtains the permit. This bill stems from issues between Cheyenne Mayor Marian Orr’s office and […]
Wyoming Senate budget amendment prohibits UW abortion spending
CHEYENNE, Wyo. – After the second week of the Wyoming Legislative budget session, the Senate approved SF 1, the biennium budget bill, on Friday, Feb. 21. Ahead of the vote discussion took place over an amendment sponsored by Sen. Lynn Hutchings, which mirrored the budget amendment sponsored by Rep. Chuck Gray in the House. The […]
Harshman calls Wyoming biennium budget ‘cleanest’ in 20 years
CHEYENNE, Wyo. – It’s been a productive week with plenty of healthy debate in both of Wyoming’s legislative houses, Speaker of the House Steve Harshman told media in a meeting on Friday, Feb. 21. The budget dominated discussion, as HB 1 and SF 1, the House and Senate’s respective budget bills, have been the primary […]
Enzi delivers possibly last speech to Wyoming Legislature as a senator, Cheney criticizes Dems
CHEYENNE, Wyo. – Two of Wyoming’s United States Congressional legislators visited the Wyoming State Captiol building and praised the work of their state counterparts on Friday, Feb. 21. U.S. Sen. Mike Enzi and U.S. Rep. Liz Cheney both spoke during the Wyoming Senate’s afternoon floor session on Friday, breaking up the discussion of SF, the […]
Senate adopt five budget amendments, including one for Oregon Trail State Veterans Cemetery
CHEYENNE, Wyo. – The Wyoming Senate voted on six amendments to the biennium budget bill before recessing for lunch on Friday, Feb. 21, taking a little less than an hour to decide on them. Friday saw the third reading of the SF 1, which covers the biennium beginning July 1, 2020 and ending June 30, […]
Whistleblower testifies on bill before Wyoming Senate Judiciary Committee
CHEYENNE, Wyo. – The Wyoming Senate Judiciary Committee heard an plea from a former whistleblower on Friday, Feb. 21. Mark Gaskill, a former Medicaid watchdog, told the five senators about his former career working for the state, where he worked running a team that investigated reports of fraud and abuse of Medicaid funds. The team […]
Missing, murdered indigenous persons bill passes Wyoming Senate on first reading
CHEYENNE, Wyo. – The Wyoming Senate began to wind down its second week of the budget session by voting a bill through its Committee of the Whole on Thursday, Feb. 20. The means the bill will go up for a second reading, tentatively next week. SF 8 was seen before the Senate Judiciary Committee on […]
Natrona County legislator talks bill banning disposal of wind turbines in Wyoming landfills
CHEYENNE, Wyo. – The Wyoming House of Representatives has seen an outpouring of opinions regarding a bill focused on wind turbine blades this week. Natrona County Sen. Jim Anderson and Rep. Bunky Loucks are co-sponsoring a bill, HB 217, that would ban the burial of wind turbine blades in Wyoming, making it a misdemeanor to […]
Bill to raise minimum tobacco age sales to 21 in Wyoming moves forward ‘with teeth’ in the Senate
CHEYENNE, Wyo. – A bill increasing the age a person has to be to buy tobacco products is one step closer to becoming a law, but not after some debate in the Wyoming Senate on Thursday, Feb. 20. SF 50 would increase the state’s age to purchase to tobacco products from 18 to 21, matching […]
Wyoming Senate adopt 21 amendments to proposed biennium budget bill
CHEYENNE, Wyo. – Wyoming state legislators spent most of their time on Wednesday, Feb. 19 discussing the budget. The Senate spent the majority of their day discussing amendments during the second reading of SF 1, the biennium budget bill. The 30 senators were determined to finish the second reading on Wednesday, managing to vote on […]
Mayor, police chief criticized over Cheyenne Frontier Days liquor permit, security
CHEYENNE, Wyo. – The arguments over whether or not the Cheyenne Frontier Days officials should contribute to security costs continued during the Wyoming Senate’s Travel, Recreation, Wildlife and Cultural Resources Committee meeting on Thursday, Feb. 20. Discussion began Tuesday, Feb. 18 over SF 134, which would provide a malt beverage license to Cheyenne Frontier Days. […]
Senate kills amendment defunding Wyoming Business Council
CHEYENNE, Wyo. – Sweetwater County Sen. Tom James brought a second controversial amendment before the Wyoming Senate on Wednesday, Feb. 19. Amendment 30 of SF 1, the biennium budget bill, called for the defunding of the Wyoming Business Council, the organization tasked with diversifying Wyoming’s economy and bringing more business to the state. James told […]
Senators reject amendment cutting tourism office funding
CHEYENNE, Wyo. – The biennium budget amendment talks continued to spark debate well into the afternoon of Wednesday, Feb. 19, following a similar course as their morning talks. One standout debate occurred when Sweetwater County Sen. Tom James suggested an amendment, the 23rd of 44 slated on the docket, that would severely cut funding to […]
Voter ID amendment for elections splits vote in Wyoming Senate
CHEYENNE, Wyo. – The Wyoming Senate came to a literal even split on Wednesday, Feb. 19 during consideration of an amendment for an elections code revisions bill. The amendment concerned voter identification rules, requiring some type of ID when a person votes. SF 20 revises registration requirement and election timelines; creates requirements for write-in candidates; […]