Wyoming Legislature update

Another busy week in the Wyoming State Legislature saw a lot of movement of bills out of committees and even some being forwarded to the Governor.

One of the most important bills was Wyoming support for delisting the grizzly bear, a joint resolution between the two houses requesting a swift delisting of the grizzly under the Endangered Species Act.

“I sponsored this joint resolution, along with co-sponsores Representatives Salazar, Sommers and Senator Agar,” Representative John Winter said, “requesting assistance from our Congressional Delegation, other responsible agencies and President Trump in this endeavor.”

The bill was signed by both the Speaker of the House and the President of the Senate before being forwarded to the Governor.

SF 0066 passed out of the House Agricultural Committee last week. The bill, Livestock Enforcement-Reimbursement, provides training to Sheriff’s departments on livestock identification.

We hear a lot about organic fruits and vegetables, but it is becoming more concerning across the country what is in our meats as well.

SF0068, Meat from Harvested Livestock or Poultry, identifies the differences between natural meats and synthetically produced products. This bill passes out of the House Agricultural Committee.

One bill that would really benefit Hot Springs County is SF0041, County Fair Endowment.

The bill allows counties to create a County Fair Endowment fund to collect grant monies, gifts and bequests along with other monetary resources. The counties may invest those funds and be used for erecting or constructing improvements to their fairgrounds, purchase equipment, land or fund their county fairs.

The bill has passed out of the House Agricultural Committee.

Two bills that failed this past week were a repeal of the death penalty, HB0145, which failed in the Senate Committee of the Whole and HB0014, Mountain Daylight Time, which failed in the Senate.

SF0116, State Parks-Vendor Contracts, calls for creating rules about the contracts for vendors in state parks that would build uniform and effective administration of the state’s outdoor recreation areas and facilities. It will put a list of rules in place on bidding, leases, contracts and fees, creating uniform guidelines for all vendors.

The bill was signed by both the Speaker of the House and the President of the Senate and has moved to the Governor’s office for his signature.