It has been a productive third week for the

65th General Session of the Wyoming Legislature.

As of today, a total of 441 bills have

been filed in the House and Senate. The deadline

for filing in the House is next Tuesday.

The Senate met its deadline yesterday, with

172 Senate Files introduced.

In the morning session of the House, eight

bills were passed on second reading. Key bills

included HB0014 – Mountain daylight time,

HB0099 – Wyoming public lands days and

HB0142 – Wildlife and natural resources trust

account board – duties.

Four bills were considered in the House

on third reading and were sent to the Senate

for consideration: HB0032 – Environmental

Quality Council – amendments and HB0111

–Environmental Quality Council – voting

amendments. I did not support these two bills

because they change the basic structure of the

EQC, and the EQC is an important check and

balance in the enforcement of environmental

laws.

HB0159 – Volunteer reserve officers – liability

coverage and HB0220 – National Retail

Fairness Act, I supported both bills. HB220

will create a corporate tax for large retail stores

and resorts with more than 100 shareholders.

The only pushback we got on this bill was

from companies like Wal-Mart, who pay the

tax on Wyoming sales in their home states.

The Committee of the Whole considered 13

bills and passed each on a voice vote. Topics

considered included HB0052 – Public Works

and Contracts, which was my bill; HB0108 –

Contractors-final payment provisions restructure;

and HB0076 – Wyoming Beer Freedom

Act. We are having great discussions on many

of the bills but must increase our pace if we are

to consider all bills by our deadline for Committee

of the Whole on Feb. 4.

For descriptions and status of all 2019

bills, visit https://www.wyoleg.gov/Legislation/

2019

Please follow my Facebook page for up-todate

information and email me at albert@albertsommers.

com with questions or concerns.

Thank you.

Jan. 28

Today kicked off the fourth week of the

65th General Session. This morning the Joint

Appropriations Committee released HB0001

– General government appropriations, also

known at the Budget Bill. It was received for

introduction into the House and referred to the

House Committee of the Whole.

In the morning session of the House, 13

bills were passed on second reading. Key bills

included: HB0074 – Special purpose depository

banks, HB0076 – Wyoming beer freedom

act, and HB0108 – Contractors – final

payment.

Eight bills were considered in the House on

third reading and were sent to the Senate for

consideration. Several of interest include these

that I supported: HB0014 – Mountain daylight

time, HB0099 – Wyoming Public Lands Days,

HB0142 – Wildlife and natural resources trust

account board – duties.

The Committee of the Whole dedicated the

afternoon to the Budget Bill, HB0001. The bill

was read and explanations about the various

sections were given.

One of my bills failed the Committee of

the Whole: HB0136 – School district teacher

adjustment.

This bill would have provided extra funds

to smaller school districts to deal with recent

budget cuts. Much of the discussion against it

focused on the additional costs associated with

the bill.