Local accountability
Many of you have thanked me for consistently voting for Wyoming values and Wyoming communities this past session. You are welcome. Representing the interests of hard-working Wyoming families is a responsibility I take seriously. I am aware that honestly representing Wyoming communities sometimes puts me at odds with national political postures. Standing up for local control, small towns, and the future of rural counties often draws criticism from the out-of-state political groups that we have recently grown used to hearing from. I pay no attention to their criticism because I am not accountable to those political groups. I am accountable to you, my neighbors.
I believe in limited government, but I also believe in responsible government. All legislators need to be held accountable and that can only be accomplished when you participate. Wyoleg.gov is the best source for factual information regarding bills that interest you. I am not aware of any other website that is unbiased. If you are interested in unfiltered legislative data, please utilize Wyoleg.gov.
2026 Budget Session Agriculture issues overview:
The Wyoming Wildlife and Natural Resource Trust (WWNRT) is supported in the budget with $8 million for control of invasive grasses on state and private land and $19M grant funding for wildfire recovery initiatives. I am the House Chairman of the Select Natural Resource Funding Committee which has oversight of the Wyoming Wildlife and Natural Resource Trust and I have also served on the Board of Directors of the WWNRT in the past, so I am very familiar with the good work of the WWNRT and would be happy to field any relevant questions.
Agricultural education related appropriations: The College of Agriculture at the University of Wyoming was supported with $2.5 million matching grants related to rangeland management. The Cowboy State Ag Initiative which advances education regarding Farm and Ranch Financing, Water Rights and infrastructure, Applied Research, and Succession planning was supported with an appropriation of $2.5 million. The $550K appropriation to the Rural Veterinary Medicine Education Program allows UW to enter into agreement with Kansas State University or any other accredited college of Veterinary medicine. These dollars are funding for the first cohort of 5 students to attend vet school with the requirement they practice in Wyoming for a minimum of 3 years after graduation.
The Wyoming Livestock Board received funding for 1 additional field veterinarian as well as some one-time funding for disease mitigation efforts.
There is $15M in the budget to support the potential relocation of Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association (PRCA) headquarters from Colorado Springs, CO to Cheyenne. These dollars do not come out of the General Fund but rather come out of Tourism dollars generated by our second largest industry…tourism. If these dollars are not used they revert to the tourism fund.
SF16-Subleasing of State Lands exemptions, updated outdated leasing policy that excluded ranchers from grazing cattle branded with a brand other than their own on state land. In the past, a rancher was required to get prior approval from Office of State Land and Investment before grazing outside cattle on state land. In addition, they were then required to return ½ net profits from the unowned cattle to the state. Under SF-16, producers pay a flat fee and are required to notify Office of State Lands and Investments (OSLI) withing 30 days. Depending on the producers’ financing and ownership arrangements, the old policy could get complicated if the operation had multiple family members involved in ownership or the bank had their brand on financed cattle. This was a good piece of legislation that was worked through committee for multiple years, and worked through both houses of the legislature working with the Office of State Land and Investments.
SF19-Corner Crossing clarification failed. I’m a strong believer that the success of the legislature should be measured by not only what bills are passed but by what bills are not passed. This bill was worked through the interim by the Travel Recreation and Wildlife (TRW) Committee in response to the Corner Crossing issue highlighted by the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals ruling that determined corner crossing is legal under some circumstances. The TRW Committee does very good work, but I wasn’t comfortable with the ambiguity this bill put into law. Admittedly, I’m not comfortable with the ambiguity of the 10th circuit’s ruling either. This ruling put’s sportsmen and landowners in a bad spot and puts all of the weight on local law enforcement, which is exactly why local law enforcement asked for the clarification. SF19 would have broadened the scope of corner crossing from federal lands to include state, and local government lands also. I spoke against this bill in its current form and voted against it in the House. Regardless, SF19 passed the House easily and then died in the Senate. This bill will be worked again, and we will eventually pass a corner crossing clarification law…but this version was not ready for primetime.
SF99-Prescriptive Easements for Electricity Delivery is another bill the legislature has been working on for multiple years. This is the issue where someone buys a piece of property that has a power line on it that was built on a handshake agreement 50 years ago and then they get cross-threaded with the utility company when the utility shows up to maintain the line. This issue gets tricky balancing electrical reliability and private property rights. This piece of legislation has failed multiple times in the past. I have sponsored or cosponsored it several times. The work of past legislatures and cooperation of all the affected parties are what helped it get to the finish line this time.
The 2026 Budget Session supported Wildfire related bills.
HB 34-Firefighter Retirement Plans, Enrolls all state wildland firefighters, including seasonal staff into the state fire retirement plan and moves State Forestry correctional crew supervisors to the law enforcement retirement plan.
HB 35-Firefighter Paid Leave and Hazard Pay, Approves hazard pay and provides paid leave benefits consistent with federal standards.
HB 36-Forestry Division Wildland Fire Module, Funds 2 wildland fire modules, each consisting of a Regional Fire Manager, a Module Leader and 10 seasonal positions.
HB 78-Forest Health Grant Program, Allocates $3.5M for a cost-share program to increase management work across state, private, and federal lands.
HB 106-Smokebuster Module Leaders, Adds 2 full time leadership positions to the Smokebuster inmate handcrew to enhance fire response availability and skill.
SF 17-Good Neighbor Authority (GNA) Amendments, Updates GNA statutes to provide greater flexibility for forest management on federal lands.
If you have questions or comments about any legislation, please contact me. It is your responsibility to be skeptical of the government regardless of who is in office. Please hold me accountable if there is something on your mind.
Contact me and let me know if I can be helpful. jd.williams@wyoleg.gov, 307.340.6006