Continuing the Crook County News Since 1884
Continuing the Crook County News Since 1884
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Last week, in the aftermath of Governor Gordon’s veto of Senate File 54, the Department of Revenue conveyed to us that the veto would effectively halt any additional legislative efforts toward property tax relief in 2024. However, on Monday, the Department of Revenue informed us that property owners could be notified of the exemption in their September tax bills, although it may lead to some confusion for the taxpayer. This information made us take a second look at whether we would recommend a special session. In the end, we think a special s...
On Friday evening, we gaveled a close to the 67th Budget Session in the Wyoming Senate and House. It was a tumultuous budget year. Yet, despite political differences and policy disagreements, the Legislature passed a conservative, balanced budget that addresses our state's needs and invests in the future. Those investments include funding for nursing homes, preschool for developmentally disabled children and home services for senior centers. The budget supports mental health efforts and funds...
Last week, the Wyoming Legislature marked the halfway point, or “crossover,” of the 67th Budget Session. Both the Senate and House worked late nights to complete final readings of our respective budget bills, which will now head to joint committees for further negotiations. There’s a lot of work to get done, and the hardest is still ahead. Media reported last week that there is a “massive fiscal rift” between the Senate and House budget bills – about a $900 million difference. This owes to a h...
By Senator Ogden Driskill This week I had the privilege of convening the Wyoming Senate for the start of the Budget Session of the 67th Legislature. Budget sessions occur on even-numbered years, and, as the name suggests, the primary purpose is to approve a balanced budget, as required by the Wyoming Constitution. As the President of the Senate, I am committed to passing a responsible and fiscally conservative budget that invests in our state's needs to today and saves for the needs of...
A new phenomenon is taking root here in Wyoming, where our rural nature and an independent spirit have long defined our political identity. The unmistakable influence of Washington DC-style political messaging has permeated real and virtual spaces, creating a sense of urgency for Wyoming voters to decipher the truth from the lies and half-truths. Now, more than ever, the most crucial task for voters lies in our ability to discern the truth, a skill that hinges on scrutinizing the source. The grassroots integrity of Wyoming’s politics, once b...
During and shortly after the Pandemic, much of Wyoming saw significant in-migration of people from other states. This movement of people into Wyoming was a result of our scenic beauty, rural nature, freedoms, and a general sense of restlessness in the nation. The influx of people created a hot real estate market and higher home prices, which resulted in higher residential property taxes, as assessed values skyrocketed in select areas. The increases in assessed value and property taxes, however,...
As the Wyoming Legislature readies for 20 days of discussion and debate ahead of the 2024 Legislative Budget Session, we prepare for this work as servants to the people of our communities. Over the past eight months, legislative committees have held 62 standing committee meetings around the state. At these meetings, committees gathered public input and industry perspectives to draft common sense conservative solutions to the problems we face together. As the presiding officers of our respective...
Guided by the Wyoming value of “save when you can,” the Legislature over several decades set up endowments and smart savings to help support the state and its people into the future. The system of reserves they created receives income generated off a portion of our mineral taxes and one-time surpluses. This savings structure not only protects our kindergarten through twelfth-grade (K-12) schools and ensures that our state agencies continue to provide critical services to Wyoming citizens; it also allows the taxes paid by the people of Wyomi...
On March 3, the Wyoming Legislature gaveled out the end of the 67th General Session. The work your elected officials achieved was remarkable. As the leaders of the House and Senate chambers, it is our privilege to report out the accomplishments of this body’s work, which are strengthening the future of Wyoming, starting with strong investments in education. Educating Wyoming’s children is perhaps the single greatest investment our state can make. Public education is the crucible of democracy and the very foundation of our system of government....
With just a couple of weeks left of the Legislative Session, I am happy to report that good, steady work continues at the Capitol. This has been one of the smoother legislative sessions I have been a part of, and we have mostly been able to work out problems without too much hassle. I hope the House and the Senate will keep on finding ways to work together and compromise. If that happens, there is a chance we will get all of our work done early and come home. Updates on a few key bills follow:...
As the Wyoming Legislature passes the halfway mark, I am taking the time to think about the past month and the remaining weeks ahead. As we started out, we set the stage by focusing on the kitchen table and pocketbook issues that Wyoming people are faced with today. As the Senate President, I set the expectation that the members carry out this good work on behalf of Wyoming folks while showing respect and treating each other well. I am proud of where we stand today. Serving in the Wyoming Senate...
As I report at the end of week four of the 67th General Session of the Wyoming Legislature, the Wyoming Senate is in the middle of third reading debate on SF0001, also known as the supplemental budget bill. Budget debate signals perhaps the Legislature’s most important responsibility: balancing our state’s checkbook and allocating taxpayers’ hard-earned money. Unlike many recent sessions, this year lawmakers start with the fortunate question of how to appropriate a nearly $2 billion surpl...
As you may have seen on FOX News and other major media outlets, Wyoming experienced quite a week in the national news spotlight due to a resolution brought forward in the Senate. Senate Joint Resolution SJ0004 Phasing out new electric vehicle sales by 2035 pushes back against bans on new sales of cars with internal combustion engines in states like California and New York. Although it's a bit of a tongue-in-cheek statement – and not an actual ban – I am pleased to see that this resolution str...
As you may have seen on FOX News and other major media outlets, Wyoming experienced quite a week in the national news spotlight due to a resolution brought forward in the Senate. Senate Joint Resolution SJ0004 Phasing out new electric vehicle sales by 2035 pushes back against bans on new sales of cars with internal combustion engines in states like California and New York. Although it’s a bit of a tongue-in-cheek statement – and not an actual ban – I am pleased to see that this resolution struc...
By Ogden Driskill Last week, the Wyoming Legislature gaveled in the start of the 67th Legislative Session. This year, I was elected by my colleagues to serve as Senate President, an honor I never imagined when I first stepped into the Capitol as a freshman senator more than a decade ago. In this role, I inherit a noble legacy of servant leadership – and a solemn charge to continue to build upon it. The first week of session is dedicated to legislative ceremonies, taking the oath of office and or...
As we near the finish line of the 2022 Legislative Budget Session, there is still plenty of work to do as we head into the last week. The legislative session is always busy, particularly in a budget year, but this year we had a few additional topics to work through, including redistricting and allocating the one-time American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) dollars. There were also a slate of committee and individual bills to address the most pressing issues. This week the Senate passed the redistricting...
Its mid-morning Monday and I am racing to meet this week’s paper deadline. We have had a crazy busy two weeks of session – now starting the third week at a run. We are finishing the last of the Senate files this morning. Major bills we have heard to date: • SF 1 Budget of the State of Wyoming – this bill has passed the Senate and House and will go to a conference committee. As a whole the bill went smoothly and I expect that the differences will be worked out easily. It was a frugal budget...
Every session for the past several years, the Wyoming legislature has endured one push after another for Obamacare Medicaid expansion. For my part, I have held steady against expansion in every debate. My position has brought no end of criticism from the media, certain special interests and many of my less conservative legislative colleagues. Fortunately, a majority of senators have had the courage to stand up against those special interests that are pushing Medicaid expansion on Wyoming. It...
A quick update on the session. I will follow with more in-depth information in future releases. We finished our session on April 7. It has been both a productive session as well as a frustrating one. This portion of the session began with a virtual session early and committee meetings being held virtually prior to this session. That led to a very compact session that was challenging and fast moving. It ended up with a budget being passed by both bodies and signed into law by the Governor. The...
We started our virtual session on January 12, gaveling in for a one-day start on the session. Bills were read in and assigned to committees and then we gaveled in with our committees, meeting virtually on January 19,20 and 21. The bills were all interim committee bills. We then reconvened on January 27 to work around 55 bills split between the House and Senate. The session was available either virtually or in person. I have attended both the gaveling in on the 12th and the session from January 2...
Hello all, just a quick update on the Wyoming Legislature. Now that the dust has settled at least at a state and local level on the elections I felt it was appropriate for an update. There will be lots of new faces when we get to the capitol. Congratulations to all who had the courage to run and took the time to offer up their service to the local area. I was lucky enough to not to have to run for reelection, but did put my hat in the ring for Majority Floor Leader of the Wyoming Senate. I was...
The 65th Wyoming Legislature wound down late Thursday night (March 12). The session had four more days than a standard budget session and we needed them all to get through the year. As everyone is aware it has been a tough year for Wyoming's coffers and looks to be even tougher coming up. This year there were 256 house bills introduced and 97 of those became law. There were 142 Senate files and 70 of those became law. That is a 42% pass rate. The biggest bill in a budget session is the budget...
I am finally back home—quite a change -27 degrees this am and several feet of snow on the ground. Makes the Capitol seem like a banana belt. The legislature adjourned “sine die” at 1:45 a.m. on Thursday. Sine die means a hard adjournment that the body cannot reconvene. This means there is no chance to override any vetoes the governor may make. We did override two governors vetoes on Wednesday – neither of any consequence. The governor did some good work with his other vetoes, taking out some pa...
Hello from the fifth week of the 2019 General Session. Monday was the last day for legislation to be heard by Committees of the Whole in each chamber of origin. I am happy to report that all of my bills but one made it out of the Senate by this deadline and are in the House for consideration. The Senate has started working on bills we have received from the House. Bills of note include: HB78 – Education major maintenance funding HB69 – Collection of sales tax by marketplace facilitators HB4...
Hello from the fourth week of the 2019 General Session. Most of the debate this week surrounded SF0001 – General government appropriations, also known as the Budget Bill. In the Senate, there were 79 amendments to the Budget Bill – of which 47 were adopted, 27 failed and five were withdrawn. I offered five amendments to the budget. Two of my amendments were agreed to by the Senate, two were not and I withdrew one. Today is the last day for legislation to come out of Committee in the originating...
