Wyoming Legislature update – Feb. 8 & 9, 2023
by Albert Sommers, House District #20 Representative
February 12, 2023
Hello Sublette County and LaBarge, this is Albert Sommers reporting to you on February 9, the 22nd day of the General Session of the 67th Legislature. Today we worked Senate File bills on 3rd Reading and Committee of the Whole.
SF13 Bar and grill liquor license phaseout This bill increases the number of bar and grill licenses available for cities and towns starting in 2023 and eliminates the statutory caps on the number that could be granted. The bill also includes provisions to include entertainment licenses, meaning that 60 percent of the revenue brought in by a business with a bar and grill liquor license could be from the grill and entertainment or one of the two. Only 40 percent would have to be generated by bar sales. This bill passed the House.
SF0078 Apprenticeship and job training promotion in schools passed unanimously out of the House. The bill requires the Department of Workforce Services to provide information to high school students in Wyoming on apprenticeship and on-the-job training programs that may be available to them as a different pathway for additional education.
SF0017 - Off-road recreational vehicles-safety and insurance This bill requires off-road vehicles to have horns, mufflers, mirrors, and proof of liability insurance at a minimum of $25,000 if the vehicle will be operated on a public road right-of-way, street, road or highway. There is an exception for ORVs operating in road rights-of-way for agricultural purposes.
2/8/2023
Hello Sublette County and LaBarge, this is Albert Sommers reporting to you on February 8, the 21st day of the General Session of the 67th Legislature. Today was the last day for 3rd Reading on bills in house of origin.
HB0188 - Wolf depredation compensation This bill, which I drafted and supported, restored a program for livestock producers who experience wolf depredation on their animals in Wyoming’s predator zone. Producers could seek compensation from a fund administered by the Wyoming Department of Agriculture. This program would be available for three years. It passed the House.
HB0222 Colorado River Advisory Committee This was also my bill, and it passed the House on 3rd Reading without amendments. This past summer, after reservoirs on the Colorado River reached historic lows, the director of the Bureau of Reclamation told a congressional committee that the Colorado River Basin states needed to find 2-4 million acre-feet of water savings to protect the levels at Lake Powell and Lake Mead. The federal government is beginning a NEPA analysis of potential actions. The permanent advisory committee established by this bill helps give a voice and a seat at the decision-making table to Wyoming’s water users on any actions that the federal or state governments may consider with respect to the Colorado River.
HB152 - Life is a Human Right Act passed today on 3rd Reading. This bill would ban all abortions in Wyoming except in cases of death or severe injury risks to the mother. Last year, the Legislature passed the abortion trigger ban, which effectively bans abortion in Wyoming with some exceptions. I supported that bill and that law is currently working through the courts. HB152 aims to address some of the questions the courts have raised. House floor debate has focused on various provisions of the bill and whether they are constitutional. Several significant constitutional concerns arose, including a separation of powers issue between the legislative and judicial branches by authorizing legislators to intervene in court challenges against the law. Another concern is the reliance on the religious clauses of our state constitution to ban abortion. This bill would repeal the existing trigger ban law and I worry SF152 is an easy target in the courts. I voted against SF152, because I believe the existing abortion ban we passed last session is more defensible in court.
HJ0002 Constitutional Amendment-Residential Property Class There was one amendment on 3rd Reading that heard significant debate and it would have added a maximum valuation cap to the new residential subclass. Opponents of this amendment argued it would create an equitability issue with the other property subclasses and a cap would be too prescriptive to be codified in the Constitution. I supported the amendment, but it failed. While the joint resolution received a majority of votes, it failed to get the two-thirds majority vote that a constitutional amendment requires to pass the House. The resolution failed on 3rd Reading. This was my bill and my attempt to bring long term residential property tax relief.
I can be reached at albert@albertsommers.com with questions or comments. Thank you.
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