Wyoming Legislature update: January 25 & 27, 2015
by Albert Sommers, House District #20 Representative
January 29, 2015
Tuesday, January 27, 2015:
Hello Sublette County, this is Intern Casey Terrell reporting on the behalf of Representative Sommers who is in committee. Tuesday saw another long working day for the Wyoming House of Representatives, with over 20 bills on general file to be discussed.
One bill that passed narrowly by a single vote was HB-99, which requires all statutes to be written in gender neutral terms. This bill was sponsored by Representative Connolly, out of House District 13 in Laramie. Although some of the Representatives believed the language to be traditional, others like Representative Sommers believed that the bill respected women and removed archaic language.
Some other highlights of the discussion today focused on bills that directly affect Sublette County. One such bill was HB-62, which provides tax exemptions for faith based camps as long as they are primarily not for profit. This bill applies locally as Sublette County has such a camp, and with the aye vote of Representative Sommers the bill passed committee of the whole.
Also potentially affecting Sublette County was HB-102, Property tax sales-highest bidder. This bill would have given County Treasurers the option to engage in an online auction of which some of the proceeds would be returned to the County. This bill experienced controversy however as most of the County Treasures throughout the state did not support it, and this led to Representative Sommers along with the body not passing the bill.
Sunday, January 25, 2015:
Hello Sublette County, this is Albert Sommers reporting from Cheyenne on Monday the 26th. Today, in Committee of the Whole we will debate two bills, HB75 and HJ4, which would include Wyoming in a growing list of states determined to force a Balanced Budget Amendment to the US Constitution by the threat of Constitutional Convention. I support the concept of a Balanced Budget Amendment to the Constitution, because Congress is dysfunctional and our nation’s debt is spinning out of control. However, I remain concerned about the prospect of a Constitutional Convention, and I fear that no matter how well formed it could lead to a runaway convention. We have the best Constitution ever constructed, and I would hate to open that document to the tinkering of a few delegates. I realize the threat of a convention has led to previous changes in the constitution, but I remain reluctant to support this effort and those bills. Please let me know what you think of this issue, and any other issue presented to the legislature.
I can be contacted at albert@albertsommers.com.
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