It's easy to stay informed

In a couple of weeks, Wyoming state legislators will head to Cheyenne to conduct the state’s business, and it is our job, as state citizens, to pay attention and to offer guidance to our local legislators on issues that are important to us and that will impact us.

As Robert Kennedy opined, “Democracy is messy, and it’s hard. It’s never easy.”

But while the work of democracy may be messy and difficult, it’s easy for Wyoming residents to track legislation and participate in policy making. 

The Wyoming Legislature’s website (wyoleg.gov) is a handy website that allows residents to track legislation, and it is continually updated as each bill moves through the legislative process.

A variety of resources are available on the site, including information about the legislative process and proposed legislation and amendments sponsored by legislative committees and individual members. The text of each bill is posted on the Legislature’s website as soon as the legislation is assigned a bill number.

The status for bills in the House and Senate can be tracked via the legislative website by clicking on the “2026 Legislation” link on the homepage. Additionally, residents can find information about how their legislators voted by clicking on the “Votes” tab on each individual bill page. The results are posted after each roll call vote is taken.

Information regarding the dates and times of standing committee meetings and House and Senate daily floor schedules are also available. Calendars of floor proceedings in the Senate and House are posted to the website in the late afternoon for the next day’s activities, which includes the bills under consideration and the general order of business for the following day. You can also sign up to receive the committee notices and floor calendars daily through the Legislature’s email subscription service (https://tinyurl.com/53bm2mmf).

The public can watch live and archived video of House and Senate floor proceedings and committee meetings on the Legislature’s YouTube channel (https://www.youtube.com/wyominglegislature). Users can access videos by clicking the YouTube icon on the Legislature’s website, or by searching “Wyoming Legislature” on YouTube.  

The website also provides a variety of ways for residents to contact their elected officials, including an “Online Hotline” which allows the public to recommend support for or opposition to a piece of legislation and leave a comment regarding a bill. (The Online Hotline is only available while the Legislature is in session).

Chances are that most folks around Johnson County (and most of Wyoming) are generally too busy to care much about the day-to-day happenings in Cheyenne.But for a month or two every winter the legislature is in session, it is a good time for all of us to pay a little more attention to what is going on in the capital city. Thanks to our membership in the Wyoming News Exchange, Bulletin can offer comprehensive coverage of the legislature’s actions from the Bulletin and the state’s other top news outlets online at buffalobulletin.com.