February 9, 2021 Update
- Bills that have passed and failed as of 2/9/21
- Active Committee Sponsored Bills as of 2/9/21
- Legislator Sponsored Bills
January 19/20/21
Master Page for Jan 19, 20 & 21 Bills Heard by Standing Committees
There will be three days of standing committee meetings to consider and take public testimony on assigned bills. These meetings will not be taking place at the seat of government, which goes against our WY State Constitution. Instead the meetings have been unconstitutionally scheduled to be remote and virtual. This WSL Jan 18, 2021 Calendar Week Meetings page has the links to those three days of bills, and buttons to click for “Details“, “Watch“, and “Testify“ for the online youtube Zoom meetings of the committees. For our purposes, a master page for the three days of Standing Committee Hearings on Jan 19, 20 & 21 are below:
January 12
2021 Wyoming Legislature Session was scheduled to convene January 12, 2021 – however the Management Council has made a Motion (Motion #1) to delay normal session proceedings – even though the delay would cause legislators to lose non-refundable deposits they’ve made for lodging reservations (Motion #2).
The schedule that Management Council later planned is an absolute mess, quite confusing, and with many critical deadlines missing altogether for committee-sponsored bills. We will do our best to track session and keep our readers informed via our daily entries on our Blog Page.
Preliminary 2021 Legislative Info: Interim Committee Bill Drafts from 2020
Below are bills that the WY legislative interim committees have been working on this year. They have not been officially numbered yet, and are still drafts (some might receive some amendments still), but Wyomingites need to start looking through these – those of great concern are highlighted in yellow. We have not read all of these and will add more notations as we are able to.
The link for (all meetings) brings you to all meetings for each committee and the “Meeting Materials” that support most of the bills below. It is worthwhile to read through the meeting materials, some of which are provided by lobbyists – who generally have no concern for constitutional law or issues, and typically make handsome campaign contributions to legislators. Know that lobbyists speak to our legislators much more than the average Wyoming citizen does. Committee sponsored bills are pushed heavily during session to become law (much more than bills sponsored by individual legislators). It is much easier to fight/stop a bill from being passed during session, than to ever have it reversed at a later point in time. If you believe that a Biden administration is at all possible, you need to look at these bills through that lens and understand why your vigilant attention to these bills is essential.
| APPROPRIATIONS (all meetings) |
| State funded capital construction. |
| COVID-19 relief programs. |
| Emergency state funds management. |
| EDUCATION (all meetings) |
| Hazing. |
| Wyoming investment in nursing funding |
| School finance-dates for fund transfers |
| Suicide prevention |
| Early childhood education |
LEGISLATIVE LEADERSHIP AND COMMITTEE ASSIGNMENTS FOR 66TH LEGISLATURE
WY House of Representatives:
- Rep. Eric Barlow (Gillette) was elected Speaker of the House;
- Rep. Albert Sommers (Pinedale) was elected Majority Floor Leader;
- Rep. Mike Greear (Worland) was elected SpeakerPro Tempore; and
- Rep. Jared Olsen (Cheyenne) was elected Majority Whip.
- Rep. Cathy Connolly (Laramie) was elected Minority Floor Leader;
- Rep. Andi Clifford (Riverton) was elected Minority Whip; and
- Rep. Mike Yin (Jackson) was elected Minority Caucus Chairman.
WY Senate:
- Sen. Dan Dockstader (Afton) was elected President of the Senate;
- Sen. Ogden Driskill (Devils Tower) was elected Majority Floor Leader; and
- Sen. Larry Hicks (Baggs) was elected Vice President.
- Sen.Chris Rothfuss (Laramie) was elected Minority Floor Leader and
- Sen. Mike Gierau (Jackson) was elected Minority Whip.
Joint Committees: Yellow highlight = legislators who served on that same committee in the 65th Legislature; orange highlight = Newbies;
- 01-Judiciary
- House: Jared Olsen, Chairman; Barry Crago, Dan Laursen, Ember Oakley, Karlee Provenza, Rachel Rodriguez-Williams, Art Washut, Mike Yin and Dan Zwonitzer.
- Senate: Tara Nethercott, Chairman; Ed Cooper, Tim French, John Kolb and RJ Kost.
- 02-Appropriations
- House: Bob Nicholas, Chairman; Mark Kinner, Lloyd Larsen, Andy Schwartz, Evan Simpson, Clark Stith and Tom Walters.
- Senate: Drew Perkins, Chairman; Mike Gierau, Larry Hicks, Dave Kinskey and Cheri Steinmetz.
- 03-Revenue
- House: Steve Harshman, Chairman; Mark Baker, Chuck Gray, Tim Hallinan, Bill Henderson, Mark Jennings, Jim Roscoe, Patrick Sweeney and Mike Yin.
- Senate: Cale Case, Chairman; Fred Baldwin, Tom James, Stephan Pappas and Wendy Schuler.
- 04-Education
- House: Jerry Paxton, Chairman; Ocean Andrew, Landon Brown, Cathy Connolly, Steve Harshman, Chip Neiman, Sandy Newsome, Jerry Obermueller and Albert Sommers.
- Senate: Charles Scott, Chairman; Affie Ellis, Bo Biteman, Tim Salazar and Chris Rothfuss.
- 05-Agriculture, State and Public Lands & Water Resources
- House: John Eklund, Chairman; Aaron Clausen, Bill Fortner, Scott Heiner, Dan Laursen, Cyrus Western, Robert Wharff and John Winter.
- Senate: Brian Boner, Chairman; Anthony Bouchard, Tim French, RJ Kost and Jeff Wasserburger.
- 06-Travel, Recreation, Wildlife & Cultural Resources
- House: Jamie Flitner, Chairman; Chad Banks, Jim Blackburn, Jeremy Haroldson, Hans Hunt, Mark Jennings, Sandy Newsome, Patrick Sweeney and John Winter.
- Senate: Affie Ellis, Chairman; Mike Gierau, Bill Landen, Tim Salazar and Wendy Schuler.
- 07-Corporations, Elections & Political Subdivisions
- House: Dan Zwonitzer, Chairman; Jim Blackburn, Aaron Clausen, Andi Clifford, Shelly Duncan, Danny Eyre, Hans Hunt, Joe MacGuire and Jim Roscoe.
- Senate: Ogden Driskill, Chairman; Brian Boner, Cale Case, Tara Nethercott and Charles Scott.
- 08-Transportation, Highways & Military Affairs
- House: Donald Burkhart, Chairman; Mark Baker, Landon Brown, Marshall Burt, Bill Henderson, Joe MacGuire, Jerry Obermueller, Kevin O’Hearn and Clarence Styvar.
- Senate: Bill Landen, Chairman; Jim Anderson, Dan Furphy, Troy McKeown and Stephan Pappas.
- 09-Minerals, Business & Economic Development
- House: Mike Greear, Chairman; John Bear, Donald Burkhart, Shelly Duncan, Danny Eyre, Chuck Gray, Scott Heiner, Trey Sherwood and Cyrus Western.
- Senate: Jim Anderson, Chairman; Bo Biteman, Ed Cooper, Chris Rothfuss and Jeff Wasserburger.
- 10-Labor, Health & Social Services
- House: Sue Wilson, Chairman; Andi Clifford, Cathy Connolly, Jamie Flitner, Tim Hallinan, Pepper Ottman, John Romero-Martinez, Clarence Styvar and Robert Wharff.
- Senate: Fred Baldwin, Chairman; Anthony Bouchard, Dan Furphy, Lynn Hutchings and Troy McKeown.
2020 Elections – Newbies in Wyoming House of Representatives
65th Legislature WY House currently has 51 Republicans, 8 Democrats and 1 Independent
66th Legislature WY House will have 53 Republicans, 6 Democrats and 1 Independent
| HD01 Crook/ Weston |
Neiman, Chip (R) Won primary against Rep Tyler Lindholm (R) by 219 votes |
| HD04 Platte/ Converse |
Haroldson, Jeremy (R) Won primary against Rep Dan Kirkbride (R) by 232 votes |
| HD14 Albany |
Sherwood, Trey (D) beat, by 85 votes, Matthew Burkhart (R) Rep Dan Furphy (R), currently holds HD14, successfully ran for SD10 |
| HD17 Sweetwater |
Banks, Chad M. (D) Ran unopposed in Primary and General Rep JoAnn Dayton (D) currently holds HD17 |
| HD18 Lincoln |
Heiner, Scott (R) Won primary against Rep Thomas Crank (R) by 10 votes |
| HD31 Campbell |
Bear, John (R) Current Rep Scott Clem (R) did not run for any legislative seat |
| HD34 Fremont |
Ottman, Pepper L. (R) Rep Tim Salazar (R), currently holds HD34, successfully ran for SD26 |
| HD39 Sweetwater |
Burt, Marshall A. (R) Won general against Rep Stan Blake (D) by 275 votes |
| HD40 Johnson/ Sheridan |
Crago, Barry (R) Won against Rep Richard Tass (R) in primary by 523 votes |
| HD44 Laramie |
Romero-Martinez, John B. (R) Won against Rep Sara Burlingame (D) in general by 48 votes |
| HD45 Albany |
Provenza, Karlee (D) Current Rep Charles Pelkey (D) did not run for any legislative seat |
| HD46 Albany |
Andrew, Ocean (R) Current Rep Bill Haley (R) did not run for any legislative seat |
| HD49 Uinta |
Wharff, Robert A. (R) Current Rep Gary Piiparinen (R) did not run for any legislative seat |
| HD50 Park |
Rodriguez-Williams, Rachel (R) Current Rep Dave Northrup (R) did not run for any legislative seat |
| HD52 Campbell |
Fortner, Bill (R) Won against Rep Bill Pownall (R) in primary by 374 votes |
| HD53 Campbell |
Campbell County Commission appointed Chris Knapp(R) to serve HD 53. Roy Edwards (R), who was running for reelection unopposed, passed away the day before the general election. |
| HD55 Fremont |
Oakley, Ember (R) Rep David Miller (R) did not run for any legislative seat |
| HD59 Natrona |
O’Hearn, Kevin (R) Current Rep Bunky Loucks (R) did not run for any legislative seat |
| HD60 Sweetwater |
Baker, Mark (R) Current Rep John Freeman (D) did not run for any legislative seat. Mark Baker had served previously in the WY Legislature for HD 48 |
2020 Elections – Newbies in Wyoming Senate
65th Legislature WY Senate currently has 27 Republicans and 3 Democrats
66th Legislature WY House will have 28 Republicans and 2 Democrats
| SD10 Albany |
Furphy, Daniel (R) Current Senator Glenn Moniz did not run for any legislative seat. Dan Furphy currently serves HD14 |
| SD12 Sweetwater |
Kolb, John K. (R) Won against current Senator Liisa Anselmi-Dalton (D) by 702 votes |
| SD18 Park |
French, Tim (R) Current Senator Hank Coe did not run for any legislative seat |
| SD20 Big Horn/ Fremont/ Hot Springs/ Park/ Washakie |
Cooper, Ed (R) Current Senator Wyatt Agar (R) did not run for any legislative seat |
| SD24 Campbell |
McKeown, Troy D. (R) Won against current Senator Michael Von Flatern (R) in primary |
| SD26 Fremont |
Salazar, Tim (R) Current Senator Eli Bebout (R) did not run for any legislative seat. Tim Salazar currently serves HD34 |
