Legislative session begins soon

The 2022 Budget Session convenes in just over a week for 40 days of lawmaking that will focus largely on the state's finances.

A number of issues are expected to compete for the Wyoming State Legislature's attention – particularly the plan for spending federal pandemic funding and the increasingly complicated question of redistricting.

However, the nature of a budget session means that any other bill put forward will need a two-thirds vote from the Senate or House in order to be introduced.

The budget session begins on February 14 and options are available for citizens to watch the proceedings from right here in Crook County. All meetings can now be viewed live in their entirety on the Legislature's dedicated YouTube channel.

Access this channel by going to youtube.com and searching "Wyoming Legislature" or going to youtube.com/wyominglegislature. Alternatively, visit wyoleg.gov to find the daily session calendars and see what topics are up for discussion on a particular day.

The session will convene at 10 a.m. on the first day, with a deadline of the end of the week for bills to be introduced. The budget bill will be reviewed by the Committee of the Whole on February 21 and 22 and is expected to receive its second reading on February 23.

February 24 is the last day for bills to be reported out of committee in their house of origin. The budget bill will receive its third reading on February 25, according to the schedule, and bills must leave the Committee of the Whole in their house of origin the same day.

By March 1, bills must have reached the third reading in their house of origin and will cross over to the second chamber. Bills must be reported out of committee in the second house by March 7 and must have reached their third reading by March 10.

A typical day during the session begins with legislative committee meetings from 7 until 10 a.m., after which the houses convene in their chambers until noon. Further committee meetings occur after lunch, following which the houses once again convene from 2 p.m.

Numerous bills have been submitted for this year’s legislative body to review but, in a session with limited available time and the focus necessarily being on the budget, many will likely fall by the wayside.

Bills currently on the table include, for example, one that provides requirements for a permit to water livestock on federal land; one that increases fuel tax from 24 to 29 cents per gallon; and one allowing political subdivisions to contract the operations of a golf course without transferring its own limited retail liquor license. Senate File 48 focuses on large project funding and includes $400,000 of Wyoming Wildlife and Natural Resource Funding for forest health through the Crook County Natural Resources District.

Once again, the expansion of Medicaid has been brought to the table with a bill that would increase eligibility. Senate File 19 meanwhile creates an optional property tax refund program for counties, in which refunds could be issued if a landowner’s gross income is less than three quarters of the median gross household income for the county.

Some bills presented so far focus on the fallout of the pandemic. House Bill 27 prevents health care facilities from imposing restrictions on visitation to a person receiving care for more than five consecutive days.

House Bill 32 forces healthcare facilities, governmental entities and providers of essential services to offer “reasonable accommodations” to persons who are unable or unwilling to provide proof they have received the COVID-19 vaccination. It also states that requiring immunization as a condition of employment is “discriminatory or unfair”.

The legislature will also be considering how to spend the American Rescue Plan Act funds allocated to Wyoming, with bills currently on the table to distribute that money. House Bill 6, for example, would establish a program to fund water and wastewater projects up to $7.5 million, with the state providing up to 85% of the total.

Another bill would appropriate up to $89,390,000 to improve and expand the statewide public safety communications system known as WyoLink.