Whittling it down

Alexis Barker
NLJ News Editor
 
The first week of the Wyoming Legislature’s 2020 budget session is complete, and according to Rep. Tyler Lindholm, R-Sundance, 398 bills were filed in the House and the Senate. A total of
76 of bills were defeated before a committee could even see them. 
“During a budget session, legislative rules require a two-thirds vote for non-budget-related bills to be introduced for debate,” Lindholm explained in his weekly update. 
He noted that Friday, Feb. 14, was the deadline for bill submissions. A total of 256 bills were introduced in the House, with another 142 introduced in the Senate. 
Lindholm had varying results with his sponsored legislation, according to his update.
Lindholm reported that although U.S. Sen. Rand Paul spoke in favor of his Defend the Guard Act, HB98, at a rally in the state capitol it was defeated in a vote on Friday after it failed to secure the two-thirds votes in order to be sent to committee. He said that more than 75 people attended the event from across the state, with several of the bill’s sponsors speaking. 
“While I’m disappointed in the outcome, this is just the beginning of an important conversation about defending Wyoming troops and taking a hard look at our nation’s military missions abroad,” Lindholm said. 
The representative’s other bills were all received with better results on their initial appearance in this 65th legislative session with all four – HB28, Firearm regulation; HB58, Good neighbor authority; HB72, Vehicles titles – transfers and receipts; and HB155, Animal shares – all moving forward to their respective committees. 
Sen. Cheri Steinmetz, R-Lingle, had better luck, with all three of her sponsored bills receiving the two-thirds required to move forward, according to her weekly update. 
SF97, which requires doctors to give care to infants born alive by surviving abortion, passed with a vote of 22 to 7. SF110, which would evaluate the tax equivalency of federal lands in the state, passed unanimously. 
“SF99, Mineral royalty grant and loan qualification, is a bill I brought to add irrigation districts to the list of special districts eligible to receive funding under the mineral royalty grant,” Steinmetz said. The bill passed with 29 aye votes and one excused. 
Now that the deadline to submit bills for consideration has passed, Lindholm said that over the next three weeks, Wyoming’s budget for the 2021-22 biennium will be center stage. He said that the budget includes all of the operating expenses for all executive, legislative and judicial branch agencies.