Most laws that pass the Wyoming Legislature don’t take effect for several months. But on Friday, Sen. Fred Baldwin (R-Kemmerer) urged his colleagues to set an immediate start date on a bill that would make it easier for the public and first responders to get opioid-reversing medications.

Mark Langley has made millions of dollars selling his patented welding equipment to customers across the globe. So when the Diamondville, Wyoming, resident became mayor of his town in 2019, he opted to waive the roughly $500 annual salary he was entitled to receive.

The Senate on Friday advanced two education bills in the legislature: one that would clarify Wyoming school districts’ policies prohibiting bullying aren’t limited to students and another that would repeal a statutory provision offering civil and criminal immunity for school staff for corporal discipline of a student.

The Senate education committee wasted no time getting down to business on the second day of the legislative session and passed a bill Wednesday that specifies Wyoming school districts must develop policies to prohibit bullying and harassment beyond just students.

Gov. Mark Gordon declared Wednesday that “the state of Wyoming is strong and her future is bright.” However, he painted a much darker picture of the federal government.

Wyoming lawmakers were sworn into office on Tuesday, officially kicking off the general session of the 67th legislature, with the occasional sheddings of tears and expressions of gratitude for their supportive family members.

Wyoming state legislators return to Cheyenne today for the start of the 2023 general session, a period during which lawmakers have just 40 legislative days to debate and vote on dozens of measures impacting everything from taxes to tribal issues to health care.

WASHINGTON — At 1:39 a.m. on Saturday, Jan. 7, Congresswoman Harriet Hageman (R-Wyo.) and the other newly-elected members of Congress took the oath of office and were officially seated as members of the U.S. House of Representatives.

WASHINGTON — It was a split-screen moment for the ages: on the two-year anniversary of the Jan. 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol, a divided government responded with very different commemorations.

At the White House, President Joe Biden marked the occasion with a bipartisan ceremony where he bestowed the Presidential Citizens Medal to 14 individuals, among them law enforcement officers who defended the Capitol during the attack and election officials who rebuffed efforts by former President Donald Trump to overturn the 2020 election.

WASHINGTON — Exactly two years ago, on Jan. 6, 2021, the work of the U.S. Congress was ground to a halt by a violent mob seeking to stop the certification of President Joe Biden’s electoral victory. After blowing past police barricades, rioters forced their way into the Senate chamber chanting “hang Mike Pence” and sending lawmakers scrambling for safety underground.

WASHINGTON — Congresswoman-elect Harriet Hageman arrived at the U.S. Capitol on Tuesday prepared to be sworn in as the newest member of Wyoming’s Congressional delegation. Dressed in her signature “gothic cowgirl” attire and joined by her husband, John Sundahl, and family members, Hageman was set to replace Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.), who Wyoming voters ousted last year, in the 118th Congress.

Wyoming Gov. Mark Gordon and top statewide elected officials were sworn in Monday at the 2023 inauguration in Cheyenne, kicking off the start of the new year as lawmakers prepare for the general legislative session on Jan. 10.

As a trio of young lawmakers join the Wyoming House of Representatives next week, expect them to add some new views to the chamber.

“We can bring a fresh perspective,” said Rep.-elect Dalton Banks (R-Cowley). The 27-year-old noted many members of today’s older generations are done raising kids, “so they’ve forgotten about, what are we going to do now for those [young] people coming up?”

It took only about two minutes for Dalton Banks’ age to be used against him at a forum for legislative candidates.

“I would ask a very simple question,” said fellow state House of Representatives contender Tim Beck, as he opened with something of a broadside on Banks. “At the age of 24, 25, how much experience does a person really have at that age — just getting married, having not made really tough life decisions yet?”

WASHINGTON—The holiday season has brought few gifts to former President Donald Trump.

In the week leading up to Christmas, Trump endured blow after damning blow: an historic recommendation for prosecution on federal crimes by a Congressional panel, a vote to authorize the release of his long-obscured tax returns, the publication of investigators’ final report into his wrongdoing on Jan. 6 and the overhaul of a centuries-old law Trump sought to abuse in 2020.

WASHINGTON — The U.S House on Friday voted to approve a roughly $1.7 trillion federal spending bill for fiscal year 2023, narrowly averting a government shutdown as a once-in-a-generation storm plunged much of the country into sub-zero temperatures. The package, seen as a compromise measure, boosts domestic and defense spending while also incorporating policies ranging from breastfeeding protections for workers to fishing industry regulations.

WASHINGTON — Lawmakers on the select committee investigating the Jan. 6 insurrection released on Thursday their final report analyzing the key evidence amassed from their 18 months-long investigation into the attack, just days after members of Congress for the first time in history formally suggested prosecution of a former president on federal criminal charges.

The Wyoming Supreme Court on Tuesday declined to weigh in on questions about the constitutionality of Wyoming’s criminal abortion ban, sending the matter back to a lower court judge who had temporarily blocked the law from going into effect.

WASHINGTON — One day after lawmakers for the first time in history proposed prosecution of a former president, and as Congress scrambles to finalize a last-ditch push to fund the federal government ahead of a looming shutdown, Congresswoman-elect Harriet Hageman has found herself treading a thin line.

WASHINGTON — Nearly two years after the U.S. Capitol was ransacked by a violent mob, lawmakers on the select committee investigating the Jan. 6 insurrection formally recommended charges against the man they hold most responsible for it: former President Donald Trump.