Legislators tackle budget demands

Alexis Barker
NLJ News Editor
 
“The 65th Wyoming Legislature has moved back into the Capitol to conduct business on behalf of the citizens of the state beginning on Feb. 10 at 10 a.m.,” Sen. Cheri Steinmetz, R-Lingle, said in a press release. 
The biennial budget session began with the State of the State address from Gov. Mark Gordon, with the Legislature beginning work in the afternoon, Steinmetz said. 
“This year, bills have to pass a two-thirds introduction vote in order for them to be referred to committee. This process only happens during the budget session,” Steinmetz said in the release. 
According to the first update of this year’s session from Rep. Tyler Lindholm, R-Sundance, “the primary purpose of the budget session, which will last between 20 and 24 days, is to approve and implement a budget for the 2021-2022 biennium.”
Steinmetz and other local legislators have introduced various bills for consideration this session. 
Lindholm said in the update that more than 240 bills have been filed for consideration and that the deadline for bill submission is Feb. 14.
Steinmetz told the News Letter Journal during a phone call last week that she will be introducing three bills during the session. 
The first bill Steinmetz will introduce is SF99 “Mineral Royalty Grant and Loan Qualifications.” This bill, Steinmetz said, would include irrigation districts in the list of special districts that can receive mineral royalty grants through the State Loan and Investment Board. The board allocates monies from the mineral royalty grant funds for emergencies across the state, she said. 
“The goal of this is to untie the hands of the five officials that serve on the SLIB board (the governor, secretary of state, state treasurer, state superintendent of public instruction and the state auditor),” Steinmetz said. 
In addition to introducing the bill to better protect irrigation districts in the future, Steinmetz said she plans to focus on an amendment to the Omnibus Water Construction bill in response to the irrigation tunnel collapse that occurred last year. 
“We will be proposing an amendment to the Omnibus Water Construction bill by adding $200,000 for a planning and design grant for Goshen Irrigation District to pay for engineering on the permanent repair to Tunnels 1 and 2. The construction bill will start in the House this year, so I have asked Chairman Hans Hunt to run the amendment for us in the House Ag Committee,” Steinmetz said. 
Also being introduced by Steinmetz is SF110 that would create a “real-time land appraisal system that would enable the state of Wyoming to appraise and evaluate federal lands in order to estimate tax equivalency of lands controlled by the federal government within the state.”
Steinmetz explained that this bill is designed to look at the difference between what the federal government is paying the state for payment in lieu of taxes and what would be paid if the land were privately owned. 
“Once we have this information in hand, we can seek fair PILT payment,” Steinmetz said. 
Idaho has already passed a similar bill, she said, and at least one other state is considering similar legislation in 2020. This bill would begin a multiyear process but would bring in more revenue to the state, Steinmetz said. 
Steinmetz also plans to introduce SF97, a bill that would eliminate a “loophole” in state statute by requiring that an infant born alive during an abortion be given medical treatment. 
“While we might have spirited debates on the floor about when life begins and how pregnancy affects both the rights of the mother and the child, it is my hope we can all agree that once the child is born, all rights apply equally under the law,” Steinmetz said. 
The Wyoming Constitution lists the inherent right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness to all members of the human race equally, Steinmetz said. 
Lindholm is the “principal sponsor” of four bills, including a bill on firearm regulation, good neighbor authority, vehicle-titles transfers and receipts and the Defend the Guard Act. 
“House Bill28: Firearm Regulation is a bill that would prohibit governmental entities from operating firearm-buyback programs – with your tax dollars,” Lindholm said in the update. 
The good neighbor authority bill, HB56, according to Lindholm, would create a Wyoming State Forestry good neighbor authority revolving account. 
“This account would support restoration efforts across private and public lands that is funded through a partnership with the Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management,” Lindholm said. 
The representative’s third bill, HB72, would modify provisions related to the issuance of certificates of title and require county treasurers to issue excise tax receipts. 
“House Bill 98, the Defend the Guard Act, is a bill that would bar Wyoming Guard troops from being deployed to active combat without a declaration of war from Congress,” Lindholm said. “It is past time we hold Congress accountable for abdicating their war powers as prescribed in the U.S. Constitution, Article 1. Section 8, Clause 15.” 
Rep. Hans Hunt, R-Newcastle, will also introduce a couple of bills, including one that would amend and clarify requirements for elected county officers to carry out their duties with diligence, the representative said. 
“In other words, it would limit their absence from office to no more than 60 days (as the bill is currently written) in a calendar year. It has some issues that need to be worked out, so the final result, if it gets introduced, may be somewhat different,” Hunt said. 
Hunt has also introduced a bill concerning the inspection of small meat-packing plants in Wyoming. 
“In some way or form, I would like to allow the deputizing of veterinarians to be meat inspectors for plants selling their product within Wyoming,” Hunt said. “This would fill in a lack of federal meat inspectors and would provide some additional employment opportunities for veterinarians.”