Legislative Update

General Session Wrap-up

Ogden Driskill | Mar 07, 2019

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 parts of the budget that he (and myself) thought should have been bills, not budget footnotes.

The Senate did not bring up HB 220 – Corporate income tax, out of committee. This bill was heavily lobbied from all sides. The senate also killed HB66 Lodging Tax. This bill was heavily debated and lobbied very hard.

The Senate is very resolute in its stance that we need to get a handle on spending before consideration of new taxes. The state is in good fiscal condition and has some time to work on measured solutions that have the least impact on our citizens and treat all fairly.

The Senate also is pushing hard for transparency in our state budgeting—keeping as many funds as possible with no earmarks or dedications, placing the funds in the General Fund or the Legislative Stabilization Reserve Account-LISRA also known as the Rainy Day Fund.

Withdrawals for spending are then appropriated out of these funds—letting the public see exactly where the funds go. Under our current system, you have to trace the money back through the budget—sometimes a hard trail to follow.

We had a number of bills dealing with CTE (Career Technical Education). SF 111 is a bill I cosponsored that will let community colleges give out baccalaureate degrees in CTE. This is a huge step as there is great demand for these programs and most of our community college graduates stay in the community. We had a change in the Hathaway allowing CTE use and getting rid of the foreign language re querulents—something I think is a good move.

We gave funding for new dormitories at the University of Wyoming and gave them money to unwind their existing debt. A “No” vote by Driskill.

We passed ECA for education totaling around $19 million per year—should provide for teacher salary increases among other things. There was strong support from both bodies.

I amended the brand bill to allow for a permanent brand registration for brand owners. The brand would have a one-time fee and stay for the life of the registration. If transferred or sold, the lifetime registration would be extinguished.

Once again, we had a number of new blockchain bills that will bring new business and income along with new jobs to the state of Wyoming. Wyoming is now not only a notional leader in blockchain, but an international leader. We have many states copying our legislation as you read this.

A chancery court bill passed and will offer a streamlined way of doing court transactions. It should much enhance our courtroom system over time.

I was saddened when the UW license plate bill failed in the house. The bill would have provided $300,000-500,000 of scholarships to Wyoming students at no cost to taxpayers. A sad loss for our students.

SF 118 – A bill of mine dealing with lien priority on mineral ad valorem taxes, should produce upwards of $100 million of income to our schools and county governments over the coming years by making sure our share of ad valorem taxes are paid as intended by law.

I along with other legislators worked on passing bills with the accelerated closure of coal fired power plants. Due to pressure from environmental states and groups, there is a move to close coal fired power plants many years before the end of their useful life.

This costs the State of Wyoming and all governmental entities below them many millions of dollars in lost revenue and will result in hundreds if not thousands of high-paying jobs going away. In addition the state and local entities have spent millions of dollars building highways, schools and other infrastructure that serviced these facilities.

Should they close early, they have cost the state and associated entities millions of dollars in assets with little use or value.

We will have a structural deficit going forward – primarily in education. We will have to work together to find a solution that works for all. We have lots of great things going on for our future and have saved enough money for the short term. With hard work together, we will find a solution soon.

Due to sickness of President Perkins, I was honored to be acting President of the Senate for a week. I was able to sign many enrolled acts as acting President.

Enrolled acts are bills that are signed by both the Speaker of the House and President of the Senate before going to the Governor’s desk for signature. It was a joy to watch the Governor sign one of my bills that I had a chance to sign the enrolled act as well.

It has been a privilege to be the Vice President of the Senate and to have Representative Lindholm bet the Majority Floor Leader in the House at the same time. Northeast Wyoming has a strong delegation that knows how to work together.

All in all, it was one of the smoother sessions I have seen in the last 4-5 years. Lots of legislation that has meaningful impacts on our future was passed with little fanfare. Considering many new faces and a new governor, things went amazingly well.

The State of Wyoming is in a good place with a bright future. We will never have enough money for the demands of government and it will always be a struggle to balance our wants and needs.

As always, a huge thank you for you support, input and trust. It truly is an honor to be able to serve you.

Sponsored Bills:

SF0061 – Cooperative utilities – bylaws

Signed into law.

SF0069 – Water development program

Not brought up in Ag committee—requested held by me.

SF0070 – Landowner and lessee liability limitations

Signed into law

SF0082 – Do not resuscitate directives

Negotiated to enact under rules and regulations

SF0116 – State parks – vendor contracts

Signed into law.