Additional state bills signed into law

The 66th Legislature came to a close on Friday and numerous bills have been forwarded to Governor Mark Gordon’s office for his signature. Those passed over the last week focus on issues ranging from Second Amendment rights to the protection of the energy industry and more.

Voters in Wyoming will now be required to provide identification at their polling place. The acceptable forms of identification include a U.S. driver’s license, tribal identification card, Wyoming identification card, valid passport, U.S. military card, photo identification issued by the University of Wyoming or a community college or public school or a valid Medicare or Medicaid insurance card.

“If a person is unable to present acceptable identification immediately before voting at the polling place or absentee polling place, the person may vote by provisional ballot,” states the bill.

Identification will not be required to vote by absentee ballot after registering by mail or in person.

The new laws include one that was initially proposed by Representative Chip Neiman. House Bill 229 addresses livestock identification and puts into statute that Wyoming recognizes all forms of livestock identification that are permitted by the USDA’s “Traceability for Livestock Moving Interstate” rule published in 2013.

This rule includes a broad range of identification methods, which allows Wyoming to provide the full range of available choice to Wyoming ag producers. The bill also includes a clause that allows producers to use “any additional methods that are later approved by the Wyoming livestock board” as official identification.

House Bill 207 appropriates $1.2 million from the general fund to the governor’s office to be used for lawsuits against other states that enact laws impeding Wyoming’s ability to export coal or cause the early retirement of coal-fired generation facilities in this state.

“The export of coal is vital to interstate commerce, the global economy, the economic and proprietary interests of the State of Wyoming and the economic interests of Wyoming citizens,” states the bill, accusing other states that are transitioning to other forms of energy of enacting laws that are “greatly curtailing the demand for and export of Wyoming coal.”

This, according to the bill, has caused a decrease in coal production and forced coal-fired electric generation facilities into early retirement, “harming the State of Wyoming and its citizens.”

A second resolution – Senate Joint Resolution 3 – requests Congress to reverse federal orders and actions that inhibit the safe development of oil and gas in Wyoming and that negatively and disproportionately impact Wyoming citizens and industries.

House Bill 116 removes the requirement for a person carrying a concealed firearm without a permit to be a Wyoming resident. As long as the person is a resident of the United States and meets other statutory criteria, they may carry a concealed weapon.

House Joint Resolution 11 requests the federal government to respect state sovereignty and to review and correct any federal actions that infringe upon Second Amendment rights. The resolution also asks the federal government to recognize the impact of federal land use and natural resource development policies on Wyoming citizens and collaborate with this state to adopt and implement them.

Senate File 96 amends the state’s definition of homicide such that a person can now be tried for first or second degree murder if their actions towards a pregnant woman cause the death of her unborn child.

Thanks to Senate File 83, Campbell County is moving closer to having its own, independent community college district. The bill responds to a request from the Campbell County Commissioners back in August.

The next step will be for a special election within that county to decide whether to approve creation of the district and up to four mills to fund it, and to elect seven board trustees to oversee it.

Senate File 58 appropriates money to the Wyoming Community College Commission for the Wyoming Investment in Nursing Program. The funds will come from the CARES Act and will be determined by the legislature.

House Bill 17 creates a range management and grazing program for Wyoming’s military department in order to administer such operations at Camp Guernsey and other Wyoming National Guard training areas.

Under House Bill 156, local licensing authorities my issue wineries a permit to sell its own manufactured wine off-premises at places such as meetings, conventions, parties and dinners. This may be done for the promotion of said products.

According to Senate File 34, if an infant is born alive following an abortion, the care that would be afforded to any other infant must be given to it and the physician who performed the abortion must take medically appropriate and reasonable steps to preserve its life and health.

House Bill 253 also addresses abortion by banning the University of Wyoming and community colleges from expending any of the funds provided by the state on elective abortions for students or group health insurance that provides coverage of elective abortions for students.