LEGISLATIVE WATCH WYOMING: University of Wyoming Receives State Funds for Staff Pay Raises, Construction Projects
Lawmakers allocated over $120 million to the University of Wyoming (UW) to wrap up long-planned construction projects and greenlighted additional funding for employee salary raises. Several initiatives also will receive more funding as outlined in the supplemental budget approved during this year’s general session.
LEGISLATIVE WATCH WYOMING: Divided Lawmakers to Study Hot Topics Like School Choice in Interim (Part 2)
Given the divided state of the Wyoming Legislature, there appears to be an understanding that its more controversial bills may have to wait until 2025.
LEGISLATIVE WATCH WYOMING: Lawmakers to Tackle Property Tax Relief, I-80 Maintenance, ESG in Interim (Part 1)
Wyoming lawmakers are already gearing up for their next session and planning to dive into topics ranging from property tax reform to school choice to new regulations for commercial fishing guides.
LEGISLATIVE WATCH WYOMING: State to Issue Digital Dollar as Part of Crypto Push (Part 2)
As the State of Wyoming prepares to launch its own cryptocurrency, Gov. Mark Gordon finds the effort somewhat ironic.
LEGISLATIVE WATCH WYOMING: State to Issue Digital Dollar as Part of Crypto Push (Part 1)
Having strived for years to be a leader in the world of cryptocurrencies and digital assets, Wyoming is now preparing to take its boldest action yet: issuing its own digital version of a dollar bill.
LEGISLATIVE WATCH WYOMING: Gov. Gordon Allows Measure Banning Trans Girls from School Sports to Become Law Without His Signature
Wyoming Gov. Mark Gordon on Friday evening said he would enable Senate File 133, a controversial measure to prohibit transgender females from participating in interscholastic girls’ sports, to take effect without his signature.
BREAKING: Abortion Outlawed in Wyoming as Gov. Gordon Enables New Restrictions to Take Effect
Wyoming has become the latest U.S. state to outlaw abortions, as Gov. Mark Gordon on Friday signed one measure banning medications used to terminate pregnancies, and enabled another measure criminalizing most abortions in the state to take effect without his signature.
By signing Senate File 109 into law, Wyoming is the first state in the nation to explicitly ban medications that terminate pregnancy, the most prevalent abortion method today. Beginning in July, the prescription, sale or distribution of medications used “for the purpose of procuring or performing an abortion on any person” will be criminalized.
LEGISLATIVE WATCH WYOMING: Governor Signs Law that Codifies Indian Child Welfare Act Provisions into State Statutes
Gov. Mark Gordon on Thursday signed a law that protects the requirements listed in the Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA) at a state level ahead of a forthcoming decision from the U.S. Supreme Court about the future of the federal act.
LEGISLATIVE ROUNDUP: New Legislation Favors Wyoming Hunters, Drivers (Part 3)
Hunting is a staple of Wyoming life — being enshrined in the state constitution — and, unsurprisingly, it was the subject of several bills taken up by the Wyoming Legislature.
LEGISLATIVE ROUNDUP: State Poised to Restrict Abortion, Limit Transgender Athletes (Part 2)
The familiar topics of Medicaid expansion and abortion returned to the Wyoming Legislature this winter, and lawmakers took action.
Following up on legislation from last year, lawmakers passed two bills that further restrict abortion in Wyoming and another that will expand Medicaid coverage for new mothers.
Senators and representatives also considered several pieces of legislation related to transgender issues, though the only notable bill to pass was one banning students assigned male at birth from competing in female sports in middle and high school.
Additionally, the Legislature boosted alert systems for missing persons and prohibited child marriages, with few exceptions.
LEGISLATIVE ROUNDUP: Wyoming Lawmakers Provide Tax Relief, Limit Voting Options (Part 1)
Over the past two months, lawmakers, lobbyists, activists and others gathered in Cheyenne to debate nearly 500 pieces of legislation covering the gamut of Wyoming life.
Most of the bills failed for one reason or another; some never got a hearing. But when the dust settled Friday on the at-times contentious session, Wyoming’s citizen Legislature had passed 196 bills. They included new restrictions on abortions and recognition of July 20 as “Moon Landing Day.”
LEGISLATIVE WATCH WYOMING: New Abortion Restrictions Seek to Circumvent Ongoing Legal Challenges
On the penultimate day of the 2023 legislative general session, Wyoming lawmakers approved two new measures to further limit access to abortion in the latest development in the ongoing debate over reproductive care in the Equality State.
LEGISLATIVE WATCH WYOMING: Legislature Limits Wyoming Voters’ Ability to Switch Parties
At a Thursday night meeting of the Park County Republican Party, a round of applause greeted the news that Wyoming Gov. Mark Gordon would not stand in the way of a bill that restricts voters’ abilities to switch political parties ahead of the primary election.
LEGISLATIVE WATCH WYOMING: Bill Codifying ICWA into State Law Passes House
The House on Wednesday passed a bill that would codify provisions of the Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA) into state law as the U.S. Supreme Court is expected to rule on the fate of the federal act later this year.
LEGISLATIVE WATCH WYOMING: Governor Signs Law to Support Funding Efforts for 24/7 Suicide Prevention Services
The governor on Thursday signed a law to support funding efforts for around-the-clock local suicide prevention services in Wyoming, a state with one of the highest suicide rates per capita nationwide.
LEGISLATIVE WATCH WYOMING: Governor Signs Law Setting Minimum Age to Marry
Gov. Mark Gordon on Thursday signed a law that sets a minimum age limit for marriages in Wyoming.
The governor green-lighted House Enrolled Act 44, also known as House Bill 7 or “Underage marriage-amendments,” which requires that individuals getting married must be at least 18 years old (with few exceptions) and prohibits marriages for anyone under the age of 16.
LEGISLATIVE WATCH WYOMING: Governor Signs Law to Expand State’s Missing Persons Alert Systems
Gov. Mark Gordon this week signed a law that boosts Wyoming’s missing persons alert systems to include vulnerable adults and to assist tribal nations with their emergency communications networks.
LEGISLATIVE WATCH WYOMING: Cheyenne Senator Battles Postpartum Medicaid Extension Bill
A Cheyenne senator grilled health care experts and individuals who testified in support of a bill Wednesday that would extend Medicaid coverage, asking why Wyoming should move this legislation forward.
LEGISLATIVE WATCH WYOMING: Future of Medicaid Expansion Unclear After Bill Dies in Wyoming Statehouse
Nineteen thousand Wyomingites who, according to state figures, could have gained access to free or low-cost health insurance coverage, will remain without such protections as Wyoming legislators again declined to bring a measure to expand Medicaid coverage to the House floor for a vote.
LEGISLATIVE WATCH WYOMING: Governor Signs Law Establishing State Indian Child Welfare Act Task Force
Gov. Mark Gordon on Saturday signed into law an act that establishes a state task force to study the federal Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA) and Wyoming’s and other states’ legislation and protections as the act faces court challenges.