Legislative Update

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 bill – HB100. Every ten years, the State is required to redraw the state’s legislative districts based on population changes.

The bill originated in the House starting with the Joint Corporations, Elections & Political Subdivisions committee bill. The interim committee worked for months, meeting with the public and working with county clerks to get a draft bill ready.

The House debated the bill and passed it with a few amendments during the first week of Session. That bill version expanded representation in the House by three members – two in the House and one in the Senate, taking the House to 62 members and the Senate to 31.

After hearing and working the House bill, the Senate made additional amendments. The most notable was keeping each body at the same number of members, 60 in the House and 30 in the Senate.

The bill now goes back to the House for a vote. If it is not passed, it will trigger a conference committee with three representatives and three senators.

This committee will be tasked with addressing the major differences between the two versions and will bring a new map for each chamber to vote on.

In addition to working redistricting, we have been hard at work with the budget. We entered this Session with Wyoming’s revenue picture largely more optimistic than initially projected due to higher oil and gas prices with the Consensus Revenue Estimating Group (CREG)’s January forecast exceeding previous estimates by $248.1 million. 

However, even with the optimistic outlook, we worked to keep spending controlled and the budget balanced.

The Senate and House have passed their own versions of the budget bills and, after robust discussions on the Senate floor about what should and shouldn’t be in this $2.8 billion budget, we ended with a budget that is dollar-for-dollar ten percent lower than a full decade ago – and that’s not considering inflation.

Funding for education remained essentially flat for school year 2022 and school year 2023. A conference committee is slated to meet to bring the Senate and House versions together and send the bill off to the Governor.

On Wed., Mar. 3, we took a pause from the normal work of the Senate to pass a joint resolution with our House counterparts to honor fallen Marine Lance Cpl. Rylee McCollum and 21 other military members who have lost their lives since September 11, 2001. It was a touching commemoration and a stark reminder of the incredible sacrifices our men and women in uniform make for our freedom. Today and every day, we must remember the incredible bravery of our Wyoming heroes.

There are several bills I have been asked about and I will give a brief update on where those are at:

• SF62 passed the Senate last week to we worked in the House Education Committee. I sponsored this bill and it would require a publication of all instruction material used in our Wyoming schools.

• SF97 passed the Senate and would require anyone wishing to change party affiliation do so three months prior to a primary election or between the primary and general elections. The bill is in House Appropriations.

• HB100 is the redistricting bill, discussed above, awaits a vote in the House. If passed, it will be discussed further in conference committee.

• SF0102 Second Amendment Protection Act blocks any state official or agency from enforcing laws deemed to violate the Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. This bill is awaiting debate in the House of Representatives.

• SF103 Education-limitations on teaching critical race history-2 prohibit schools from teaching critical race theory – this bill is being worked on the Senate side. This bill is waiting for discussion in the House Education Committee.

As we move into the final week, please contact me at [email protected] to share your thoughts. I value your input and count on it when making the decisions as your Senator.