Legislative Recap of the 2025 General Session of the Wyoming Legislature
Dedicated to My Uncle Russell
I would like to dedicate this legislative recap to my uncle Russell, who has endured health struggles while I have been away. He has played an instrumental role in helping me think through issues and articulate positions, particularly the values that define our family, our friends, and our independent rural way of life. His unwavering commitment to hard work, integrity, and respect - along with his dedication to the protection and stewardship of our water and land - has been passed down through the generations in our family.
We as a family face Russell’s recovery together as we have always faced challenges, together. We as a state and country must face our recovery as a nation, together.
Those of us who united to see President Trump elected to lead America and conservatives across the state to lead Wyoming, must now stand strong and face trying times with boldness, courage and tenacity. We will not let disruptors, detractors or divisions define this important era. As we see those who would attempt to unravel the fabric of our communities and cause grievances among neighbors push to the forefront and demand recognition and reaction, we must hold fast, remain strong and ban together to protect all that we cherish. Those who value principles, commitment to country and faith in God will prevail in the end, however, it will come at a price. Stay the course, we have only just begun.
As one of the most conservative areas in the state, we have an opportunity to unite and serve on behalf of the people who elected us as their representatives. The people of Wyoming and America have sent a clear message: they want a return to conservative Republican values in governance. Sometimes, that demand for change creates discomfort as long-established systems are questioned and laws are reformed. However, we must remember that we are stewards of an elected constitutional republic. As stated in Article 1, Section 1 of the Wyoming Constitution:
“All power is inherent in the people, and all free governments are founded on their authority, and instituted for their peace, safety and happiness; for the advancement of these ends they have at all times an inalienable and indefeasible right to alter, reform or abolish the government in such manner as they may think proper.”
A recap of the bills I sponsored:
- SF0064 Wyoming Opposes Mandatory Electronic ID Devices in Livestock passed and signed by governor.
- SF0084 Country of Origin Label USA Beef passed and signed by the governor.
- SF0103 Terminating and Defunding Diversity, Equity and Inclusion was vetoed by the governor.
- SF0125 Defining Healthcare and Protecting the People’s Welfare vetoed by the governor.
Unfortunately, I am not surprised the governor chose to veto two of my bills. I guess I am just more conservative than he is. Actions speak louder than words.
Actions by the governor as of 3/17/25:
The governor allowed the following enrolled acts to go into law without his signature. Click on the bill for the governor's letter:
SEA0013 SF0096 Wyoming Gold Act
SEA0016 SF0120 Wyoming PRIME act.
SEA0020 SF0006 Residential property-removal of unlawful occupant.
HEA0024 HB0172 Repeal gun free zones and preemption amendments.
SEA0021 SF0168 Budget reserve account-repeal.
SEA0023 SF0077 Compelled speech is not free speech.
HEA0033 HB0116 Driver's licenses-unauthorized alien restrictions.
SEA0050 SF0195 Small business emergency bridge loan program.
The governor vetoed the following enrolled acts. Click on the bill for the governor's letter:
HEA0035 HB0064 Chemical abortions-ultrasound requirement. Legislative override
HEA0045 HB0036 Hathaway scholarship-amendments. Legislative override
HEA0047 HB0094 Charter school authorizations-amendments. Legislative override
HEA0055 HB0079 Bond elections-voter threshold requirement.
SEA0058 SF0132 Protecting critical infrastructure and systems from drones.
SEA0059 SF0127 Administrative rules-legislative review.
SEA0061 SF0103 Terminating and defunding diversity, equity and inclusion.
SEA0092 SF0125 Defining Health Care and Protecting the People’s Welfare
The governor exercised his line-item veto authority on the following enrolled acts:
HEA0056 HB0117 Omnibus water bill-construction.
SEA0062 SF0152 Wildfire management-amendments.
HEA0073 HB 0032 What is a Woman Act
Governor Mark Gordon has signed the following enrolled acts into law. The full text of all bills from the 2025 session may be found on the Wyoming Legislature's website:
HEA0001 HB0025 Vehicle accident reporting-amendments.
HEA0002 HB0027 Disabled parking windshield placards-revisions.
HEA0003 HB0092 Wyoming livestock board-memorandums of understanding.
HEA0004 HB0014 Solid waste municipal cease and transfer funding.
HEA0005 HB0022 Water and wastewater operator-emergency response.
HEA0006 HB0030 Driver's licenses and IDs-revisions.
HEA0007 HB0041 Environmental quality-irrevocable letters of credit.
HEA0008 HB0061 State land lease preference amendments.
HEA0009 HB0069 Foreign adversary ownership or control of business entities.
HEA0010 HB0073 Recreation safety-rock climbing.
HEA0011 HB0075 Coal severance tax rate.
HEA0012 HB0082 Provider enrollment-standards.
HEA0013 HB0004 Snowmobile registration and user fees.
HEA0014 HB0023 Surrender driver's license-repeal.
HEA0015 HB0045 Removing otters as protected animals.
HEA0016 HB0054 Chancery court judges-district and circuit court assistance.
HEA0017 HB0086 Public property and buildings-amendments.
HEA0018 HB0166 State auditor payment transparency.
HEA0019 HB0214 Local government payments-electronic payments.
HEA0020 HB0040 Sales and use tax revisions.
HEA0021 HB0017 Career technical education equipment grants amendments.
HEA0022 HB0132 Annual permits for specified commercial loads.
HEJR0001 HJ0001 Amending Wyoming's act of admission for earnings.
HEA0023 HB0038 Ad valorem taxation-payment and credit of penalties.
HEA0025 HB0264 Central bank digital currencies-prohibitions.
HEA0026 HB0042 Regulation of surgical abortions.
HEA0027 HB0181 Funeral contracts-investment and bonding requirements.
HEA0028 HB0046 Homeschool freedom act.
HEA0029 HB0039 Property tax refund program-revisions.
HEA0030 HB0226 License plate-search and rescue council.
HEA0031 HB0005 Fishing outfitters and guides-registration of fishing boats.
HEA0032 HB0097 Property conveyances near critical infrastructure.
HEA0034 HB0242 Manufacturers and dealers of new trailers-changes.
HEA0036 HB0211 Hunting wildlife from vehicles.
HEA0037 HB0188 Two families-one nanny.
HEA0038 HB0129 School finance-dates for fund transfers.
HEA0039 HB0125 Repeal-unauthorized use of vehicle crime.
HEA0040 HB0103 Columbarium regulation.
HEA0041 HB0020 K-12 school facility leasing.
HEA0042 HB0028 Commercial driver's licenses-revisions.
HEA0043 HB0011 Manufacturing sales and use tax exemption-amendments.
HEA0044 HB0033 Vehicle sales and use tax distribution-highway fund.
HEA0046 HB0275 Treatment of animals.
HEA0048 HB0072 Protecting privacy in public spaces act.
HEA0049 HB0289 Certificate of need repeal-3.
HEA0050 HB0311 Exemption for transported fuel and power sales-amendments.
HEA0051 HB0018 Career technical education funding.
HEA0052 HB0199 Steamboat Legacy Scholarship Act.
HEA0053 HB0122 Senior citizen service districts-authorization and renewal.
HEA0054 HB0090 Anthrax outbreak protocol.
HEA0058 HB0192 Public utilities-wildfire mitigation and liability limits.
HEA0059 HB0219 County and municipal roads on state lands-easements granted.
HEA0060 HB0083 Child custody-sex offense conviction presumption.
HEA0061 HB0337 Prohibiting foreign funding of ballot measures.
HEA0063 HB0136 Volunteer first responder health insurance-revisions.
HEA0066 HB0207 Religious Freedom Restoration Act.
HEA0067 HB0147 Prohibition of institutional discrimination.
HEA0068 HB0316 School finance-model recalibration-2.
HEA0070 HB0043 Age verification for websites with harmful material.
HEA0072 HB0280 Sex offender registration.
HEA0075 HB0259 Supplemental K-12 school facilities appropriations-2.
HEA0078 HB0246 Wyoming Wednesday.
SEA0002 SF0016 Industrial siting-tribal notification.
SEA0003 SF0020 Oil and gas bonding-options and bonding pools.
SEA0004 SF0023 Handicap placards-health care providers' approval.
SEA0005 SF0025 Electronic lien and title system.
SEA0006 SF0149 Wildlife conservation license plates-amendments.
SEA0007 SF0042 Resort hotel liquor licenses.
SEA0008 SF0049 Tangible personal property-index and depreciation.
SEA0009 SF0013 Reading assessment and intervention amendments.
SEA0010 SF0078 Distribution of unsolicited absentee ballot request forms.
SEA0011 SF0080 Abandonment of water rights-limitations.
SEA0012 SF0131 Charter school leasing.
SEA0014 SF0073 Charter school funding-amendments.
SEA0015 SF0081 Tax exemption-property owned by the state.
SEA0017 SF0088 2025 large project funding.
SEA0018 SF0063 State lands-fencing-2.
SEA0019 SF0048 Business property exemption.
SEA0022 SF0064 Wyoming Opposes Mandatory Electronic ID Devices-Livestock.
SEA0024 SF0004 State park peace officers-definition and scope of authority.
SEA0025 SF0061 Pollution control property tax exemption-applicability.
SEA0026 SF0082 Omnibus water bill-planning.
SEA0027 SF0130 Emergency assistance immunity-mental health services.
SEA0028 SF0143 Public monies-deposits in credit unions.
SEA0029 SF0151 Monthly ad valorem tax distribution-amendments.
SEA0030 SF0075 Coroner investigations-disposition of decedent's property.
SEA0031 SF0114 Missing persons-reporting requirement.
SEA0032 SF0033 Noncitizen driver's license and ID card-revisions.
SEA0033 SF0007 Protection order amendments.
SEA0034 SF0008 Protection orders-effective during appeal or review.
SEA0035 SF0079 District courts-change of venue.
SEA0036 SF0110 Inclusion of crossing guards for governmental claims act.
SEA0037 SF0137 School finance-cash reserves.
SEA0038 SF0179 Sage grouse compensatory mitigation-amendments.
SEA0039 SF0181 Eminent domain-energy collection systems-2.
SEA0040 SF0039 Automatic transfer of automobile title upon death.
SEA0041 SF0119 Expedited professional licensure for military members.
SEA0042 SF0146 Consumer Rental Purchase Agreement Act-amendments.
SEA0043 SF0138 Energy impact on Wyoming economy-study.
SEA0044 SF0106 Motor vehicle dealer and manufacturer warranty rates.
SEA0045 SF0005 School district vehicles-flashing lights authorized.
SEA0046 SF0154 Industrial, wind and solar projects-hearing deadline.
SEA0047 SF0121 Rodeo license plate.
SEA0048 SF0113 Braider opportunity act.
SEA0049 SF0056 Providing false information to registered agents.
SEA0051 SF0084 Country of origin label-USA beef.
SEA0052 SF0009 Restoration of rights amendments.
SEA0053 SF0062 Sex-designated facilities and public schools.
SEA0054 SF0046 Water, irrigation and sewer districts-bid requirements.
SEA0055 SF0026 Protection of military equipment.
SEA0056 SF0145 Local governments-investments in equities.
SEA0057 SF0147 Service dogs-training and crimes.
SEA0060 SF0069 Homeowner property tax exemption.
SEA0064 SF0050 Insurance holding company regulations-amendments
SEA0065 SF0052 Insurance amendments.
SEA0066 SF0097 Trust code revisions.
SEA0068 SF0102 Surviving parents of gold star veterans-exemptions.
SEA0069 SF0158 Virtual credit cards and network leasing-dental services.
SEA0070 SF0051 Wyoming telecommunications act revisions.
SEA0071 SF0043 Temporary water use agreements amendments.
SEA0072 SF0086 Alternative teaching certificate.
SEA0076 SF0108 Recreation safety-agritourism.
SEA0080 SF0010 Settlement agreements for minors-parental authorization.
SEA0083 SF0022 Ground for termination of parental rights-guardianship.
SEA0091 SF0091 Petroglyph, pictograph and historic inscription protection.
SEA0094 SF0044 Fairness in sports-intercollegiate athletics.
SEA0095 SF0017 Carbon dioxide-enhanced oil recovery stimulus.
SEA0097 SF0034 School finance-routine and major maintenance calculations.
SJ0001 SJ0003 Commemorating Nellie Tayloe Ross.
Additional Legislative Developments
The 2025 session also addressed property tax relief, election security, and education reform. A few notable developments include:
- Property Tax Relief Bills (SF69): Addressing tax burdens on families and seniors with a 25 percent property tax exemption.
- Omnibus Water Bill: Providing $20 million for Goshen Irrigation Tunnel repairs and $60 million for La Prele Dam reconstruction.
- HB199 Wyoming Steamboat Legacy Scholarship: Provides a $7000 voucher for private education.
Wyoming’s conservatives remain committed to upholding the Constitution, protecting individual liberties, and ensuring government accountability. As we move forward, I encourage all Wyoming citizens to stay informed, track bills, and engage with their legislators at wyoleg.gov.
Wyoming Republican Party Platform 2024
WE believe there are Timeless Truths that will always inform and direct our party and our country regardless of current events and circumstances, changing strategies, goals, and leadership. These Truths, put into action, maintain, protect, and defend our unalienable rights to Life, Liberty, Property and the Pursuit of Happiness.
Life
1. All individuals are endowed by their Creator from the moment of conception to the moment of natural death with the rights to Life, Liberty, Property, and the Pursuit of Happiness. The only purpose of government is to protect these rights for all.
Equality
2. Every citizen is equal before, equally protected by, and equally subject to, the law.
Second Amendment
3. The right of individuals to keep and bear Arms and ammunition shall not be infringed, restricted, or denied. Individuals must never be prevented from defending life, liberty, or property, and defending against tyranny.
Private Property Rights
4. The pursuit by an individual to rightfully acquire, keep and enjoy his own property is foundational. Every individual has the right to develop his own potential, to use and enjoy his own property, tangible or intellectual, and pursue his own interests, free from restrictions of arbitrary force. Individuals are always presumed to be the best stewards of their property.
5. The Wyoming Republican Party supports the protection of private property from the use of eminent domain, civil asset forfeiture, amortization or inverse condemnation.
Religious Freedom
6. The freedom to practice one’s faith is a God given fundamental natural right, secured by both the Constitution of the United States and the Wyoming Constitution and shall never be infringed. The First Amendment does not require the expulsion of religion from public life. We must keep in mind the Judeo-Christian principles of the Founding Fathers when they wrote it; the practice of faith under this tradition encourages good moral behavior and the development of character that helps secure the other fundamental bases of our national citizenship. Freedom of religion, and the free exercise thereof, includes the right
to abstain from actions contrary to one’s religious beliefs.
Family Values
7. The Wyoming Republican Party believes in God’s created order: that in His perfect design He created two sexes, male and female.
8. Marriage is defined as the union of one man and one woman.
9. The traditional family, based on the foundation of marriage between one man and one woman, is the best institution and is the authority providing children with education and training.
Liberty
10. No medical procedure, modality, or treatment should ever be mandated under any circumstances.
11. Liberty is indivisible from economic freedom. The free-market economy is the economic system most compatible with the requirements of personal freedom and constitutional government. Government’s undue interference in the market, as well as the fiscal irresponsibility of government, results in economic inequity. There exists no fundamental right to the fruits of another person’s labor.
Citizen Government by the Constitution
12. The citizens of the United States are the ultimate authority. Governments possess powers derived only from the consent of the governed.
13. Our constitutional representative republic remains the best political system, derived from history and knowledge of human nature, to prohibit tyranny, assure equality of opportunity and protect our individual rights.
14. The Constitution of the United States established a more perfect union of sovereign states, not a group of subordinate subsidiaries. Neither the judiciary nor the executive may effectively change the document via decisions, judicial opinions, or executive actions. The Constitution of the United States may only be altered by the processes of amendment as provided therein. The Constitution of the United States is the supreme law of the land. Under the Tenth Amendment, powers not enumerated in it are reserved to the States and the People. The most effective, responsible, and responsive government is the government that is closest to the People. Government that governs least governs best.
American Exceptionalism
15. The United States must maintain and defend its national sovereignty free from foreign and domestic influences that would infringe on the rights of the American People guaranteed by the Constitution. Domestic foreign policies must serve the just interests of the legal residents of the United States.
Military
16. It is incumbent on the federal government to maintain a strong military defense for the protection of our people, our interests, and our way of life. Those who serve our country honorably deserve our deepest gratitude, highest respect and unwavering support.
Taxes
17. All taxes collected must be used for the constitutional purposes of government. It is irresponsible to run up debts that are passed on to our children and grandchildren. Taxes should never be more than necessary to meet the government’s constitutional obligations.
Education
18. The Wyoming Republican Party supports the teaching of the Constitution of the United States and the Constitution of the State of Wyoming, the Declaration of Independence, and other United States founding documents as well as the factual history and heritage of the United States in Wyoming schools and the historical evidence of the role of faith and biblical principles in the founding of our nation.
Water and Land Rights
19. The Wyoming Republican Party believes in the state’s primacy over water, wildlife, minerals, and natural resources, and the lands within Wyoming that were unappropriated to the state on July 10, 1890, and supports any actions which assures Wyoming’s primacy over its water; i.e. the doctrine of prior appropriations, and the land within its borders.
Right to Work
20. The Wyoming Republican Party opposes the unionization of public employees and supports the Right to Work Law.
Civic Duty
21. Our liberty and the continued success of our republican form of federal government demands continuous vigilance by “We the People.”
Free Speech
22. Freedom of speech is a fundamental right secured by the United States Constitution and the Constitution of the State of Wyoming. Freedom of speech includes the freedom of the individual to express his or her beliefs, ideas and opinions without fear of retaliation, censorship or legal sanction by government.
23. The integrity of our elections must be upheld. The Wyoming Republican Party opposes any federal takeover or interference of federal, state, or local elections.
Finally, having thus set forth our foundational principles and values, we invite all Wyoming citizens, who substantially agree with us, to offer their affirmation and support.
Passed: Wyoming Republican Party State Convention, 2024 April 20
The Wyoming Legislature and the Legislative Process:
The Wyoming State Legislature is a citizen-run government body that meets annually to address state policy and budget matters. The legislature consists of a Senate with 31 members and a House of Representatives with 62 members, all dedicated to representing the interests of Wyoming’s citizens.
Wyoming's legislative process is designed to ensure transparency, accountability, and public participation. The Legislature meets annually, with a 40-day general session held in even-numbered years and a 20-day budget session in odd-numbered years. Bills are introduced in either the Senate or House, each bill is assigned to a committee for detailed review and public testimony. Then the bill returns to the floor for debate and potential amendments. If passed in one chamber, it moves to the other chamber for the same process.
Once both chambers pass a bill, any differences are reconciled before the final version is sent to the Governor for approval, veto or going into law without his signature.
Stay Informed
Wyoming citizens are encouraged to stay informed and engaged with the legislative process by tracking bills, contacting your legislators and watching live sessions at wyoleg.gov.
About Senator Cheri Steinmetz:
Senator Cheri Steinmetz serves Senate District 3 and is committed to advocating for agriculture, water rights, and rural development issues. Senator Steinmetz represents Goshen, Niobrara and Weston Counties.