Wyoming Legislature updates – Feb. 24-26, 2020
by Albert Sommers, House District #20 Representative
February 29, 2020
Wednesday, February 26, 2020:
Greetings Sublette County, this is Albert Sommers reporting to you from Cheyenne on the thirteenth day of the 2020 Budget Session. Tomorrow is "crossover," meaning any bill that has not been passed out of its chamber of origin will not be considered further this session.
Today we considered a slew of bills on Second and Third Reading. A few of the bills of particular interest and impact are:
HB 88, Livestock board investigators This bill, of which I am a sponsor, would authorize payment of livestock board investigators from the inspection account and from animal remedies registrations, and increase the animal remedies registration fee to offset the cost. The bill passed Second Reading in the House today.
HB 99, Animal reimbursement program – amendments. This bill, of which I am also a cosponsor, would amend parameters of the animal reimbursement program account and allow for claims for reimbursement for certain brucellosis containment efforts. The bill passed Second Reading in the House today.
HB 142, Agriculture marketing funds – processing plants This bill would help support meat processing plants for Wyoming product export and direct limited funds in the agriculture marketing subaccount to support such processing plants. I’m also a cosponsor of this bill, which passed Second reading in the House today.
HB 58, State Engineer list of approved flumes This bill would require the development and maintenance of a list of approved infrastructure for ditches, canals, reservoirs and streams as specified, and amend requirements and procedures for constructing and maintaining flumes. This bill, of which I am a sponsor, was approved by the House on Second Reading today.
HB 92, Pioneer archery licenses This bill would provide for the issuance of free annual archery licenses to Wyoming citizens. I am a cosponsor of this bill, which passed Second Reading in the House today.
HB0137, Worker's compensation – legislators This bill would provide for worker's compensation coverage for legislators when they are performing duties as a Representative or Senator. This is especially important because legislators often travel across the state for committee meetings. This provides a means for coverage should an accident happen. This bill was passed by the House of Representatives today and awaits consideration in the Senate.
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Tuesday, February 25, 2020:
Hello Sublette County, this is Albert Sommers reporting to you from Cheyenne on the twelfth day of the 2020 Budget Session. It was another late night as we worked to consider and debate bills ahead of "crossover" on Thursday when any bill that has not been passed out of its chamber of origin will die.
The House Appropriations Committee met today to consider Senate Amendments to its Budget Bill. The House and Senate Appropriations Committees are working their way through the other bodies’ amendments, considering them for adoption or compromise.
Today on the House floor, we considered bills on Second Reading, Third Reading and General File. A few of the bills we considered today were:
House Bill 84, Food freedom amendments, would authorize the commercial sale of certain homemade food items. The bill was approved unanimously by the House Agriculture Committee and passed Second Reading in the House today. I supported the bill.
House Bill 200, Reliable and dispatchable low-carbon energy standards This bill would incentivize carbon capture by allowing utilities to recover the cost of construction of carbon capture equipment from ratepayers. The bill requires utilities to go through the Public Service Commission before they can consider rate changes and puts a cap at a 2 percent rate change. I supported this bill, which passed Committee of the Whole in the House today, but I am concerned about the cost shift to rate payers, though it would only be $2 on a $100 power bill.
HB 176, Game and Fish – data protection This bill would limit the release of personally identifiable information including geographic information about the legal taking of wildlife. The bill passed Second Reading in the House today, and I supported the bill.
HB 40, School finance – model recalibration This bill would create the Select Committee on School Finance Recalibration. The recalibration process is designed to study the state’s education system and ensure it remains cost-based. The Legislature is constitutionally required to go through this process at least twice a decade. I have served on this committee twice.
HB 194, Wyoming Department of Agriculture fees This bill would increase certain fees to register feed products, animal remedies, and fertilizers that haven’t been increased in many years. The Department of Agriculture had a couple of large budget requests, and its fees were not keeping up. This bill was approved by the House of Representatives today and will now be considered by the Senate.
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Monday, February 24, 2020:
Greetings Sublette County, this is Albert Sommers reporting to you from Cheyenne on the eleventh day of the 2020 Budget Session. Today, in order to move forward, a bill must have been passed from a committee in its house of origin. Thursday, February 27 will be "crossover," meaning that bills passed in the House will move to the Senate and vice versa. Any bill that has not passed out of its chamber of origin will not be further considered.
The House Appropriations Committee, on which I serve, met today to continue its meeting from Friday. We are working our way through consideration of two bills regarding gaming in Wyoming: HB 171, Wyoming gaming commission and HB 234, Gaming regulation. There has been quite a bit of debate this session regarding establishment of a Wyoming Gaming Commission. While this is a concept I have struggled with, I recognize that unregulated gambling continues to grow in Wyoming. I think we need to look at how we can enact fair regulations that curb bad actors and ensure taxpayers are reaping the benefits.
The House Appropriations Committee also considered HB 249, Investment of State Funds. This bill sets up a process for the State to consider the purchase of approximately one million surface acres and four million mineral acres from Occidental Petroleum. This land and the minerals were part of the original land grant to Union Pacific (UP) when it built the railroad across the nation. This parcel follows the UP Corridor and includes lands and minerals within Colorado and Utah. I have supported amendments in the bill, to ensure that the Legislature would have approval over the purchase agreement. Governor Gordon, Speaker Harshman, Senate President Perkins and JAC Co-Chairs Senator Bebout and Representative Nicholas penned an op-ed on this proposal over the weekend. You can read it in the Feb. 24 Casper-Star Tribune or at trib.com here.
Today on the House floor, we considered bills on Second Reading, Third Reading and General File. A few of the bills we considered today include:
HB 162, State trust lands-proposals and study. This bill would require the Office of State Lands and Investments to solicit and review proposals for the development of school and state trust lands in Teton County, and make recommendations. As we continue to face significant education funding shortfalls, I think it is important to look at all potential revenue streams. As a result, I’ve supported this bill both in the Appropriations Committee and in the House.
HB 74, Small modular nuclear reactor permitting. This bill would authorize permits of small modular nuclear reactors and replacement of coal generation capacity with small modular nuclear reactor capacity. It would exempt small modular nuclear reactors from public service commission regulations. This bill is aimed at supporting Wyoming’s uranium producers and bolstering the use of nuclear energy here in Wyoming. The bill was passed by the Committee of the Whole in the House today.
HB 159, Monthly payment of ad valorem tax on mineral production. This bill would require monthly payments of ad valorem tax on mineral production starting in 2022. I support moving to monthly payments, but I am concerned about this bill’s impact to our local oil and gas companies. I will be sponsoring an amendment to push the timelines out one more year. The bill would allow a 10-year period to make up the double payments. The bill was passed by the Committee of the Whole in the House today and awaits Second and Third readings.
As always, I can be reached with questions or concerns at albert@albertsommers.com.
Thank you,
Albert Sommers
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