Continuing the Crook County News Since 1884
Continuing the Crook County News Since 1884
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CHEYENNE — Wyoming advocates pushing to preserve the Indian Child Welfare Act celebrated the U.S. Supreme Court decision issued Thursday. Supreme Court Justice Amy Coney Barrett delivered the majority opinion that rejected all constitutional challenges to the federal law. Some were based on the merits of the law, while others were for lack of standing, and the high court affirmed the judgment of the U.S. Court of Appeals “regarding Congress’s constitutional authority to enact ICWA.” Affirming the constitutionality of ICWA was conside...
CHEYENNE — Members of the House of Representatives killed an anti-discrimination bill addressing required COVID-19 vaccinations, mask wearing and testing on third reading. House Bill 66 was voted down 32-29-1, following the passage of an amendment widely debated by representatives Monday morning. The amendment was brought forward by Rep. Barry Crago, R-Buffalo, as a backup plan for hospitals if federal funds were withheld as a result of the bill. It would have set aside nearly $848 million from the Legislative Stabilization Reserve Account for...
CHEYENNE — The 988 suicide lifeline bill was stripped on Friday of its $40 million appropriation to create a long-term trust fund, as well as the $6 million for a trust fund reserve account. The change was adopted in an amendment brought forward by Rep. Landon Brown, R-Cheyenne. His new language removed the trust fund and directed the Wyoming Department of Health to request an appropriation to fund the suicide prevention system in its next budget request. Brown told lawmakers on the House floor that while the state was sitting on a strong c...
CHEYENNE – Wyoming continues to make advances in female political representation, adding four more women to the Legislature this election cycle. Twenty out of 93 legislators who will serve constituents in the upcoming general session will be women, including eight women who were elected to their first term. Yet, as many celebrated the incoming additions to the state’s legislative governing body, there was also recognition of the barriers many women face when deciding to run for office. “It’s wonderful to see women more present in governa...
CHEYENNE — Among the many decisions voters will make in the Nov. 8 general election, they will consider whether Wyoming Supreme Court justices and district court judges could retire five years later. Amendment B was passed out of the Wyoming Legislature’s Joint Judiciary Committee during the 2021 interim session, and it was approved by both chambers during the 2022 budget session. It would increase the mandatory retirement age from 70 to 75. Rep. Jared Olsen, R-Cheyenne, is a co-chairman of the Joint Judiciary Committee, and he said it is bec...
CHEYENNE — Gov. Mark Gordon has signed into law a bill that attempts to close dark money loopholes through additional campaign finance reporting fees. Dark money is defined in its anonymity, meaning organizations do not disclose their donors and concentrate on spending funds to influence voters. Advocates for the bill shared with the Wyoming Tribune Eagle their concern for these kinds of independent expenditure organizations aggressively impacting Wyoming elections. They said House Bill 80 is a further step in the right direction to uphold v...
CHEYENNE — Attempts were made in both chambers of the Wyoming Legislature on Friday to amend the 2023-24 biennium budget to expand Medicaid coverage to more than 20,000 residents without health insurance. Both failed. In the Senate, amendment author Sen. Cale Case, R-Lander, tried to appeal to his colleagues by sharing his own emotional experience without health care almost a decade ago. He said he lost his business in his divorce, and, with it, his health insurance. In the same year, he found out he had stage-three melanoma cancer, and the m...
CHEYENNE — State lawmakers are beginning to question the interpretation of the special session bill recently signed into law by Gov. Mark Gordon after the suspension of the federal vaccine mandate. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration recently halted the rollout of the Biden administration’s new rules, which would have required employers with 100 or more employees to have their entire staff vaccinated by the new year or face regular virus testing. The announcement was made after the 5th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals ordered OSHA no...
CHEYENNE - Gov. Mark Gordon proposed a balanced general fund budget of nearly $2.3 billion for the 2023-24 biennium Monday that will be considered by the Wyoming Legislature during the 2022 budget session. Recommendations for state agency funding compared to the previous budget stayed flat, but close to $453 million is proposed to be allocated to the Legislative Stabilization Reserve Account, better known as the "rainy-day fund." This was made possible by the use of American Rescue Plan funds as...
CHEYENNE — The Wyoming Legislature’s Joint Appropriations Committee voted Monday to reduce the recommended external cost adjustment for K-12 education by $60.1 million. Gov. Mark Gordon will receive the recommendation next month from the committee for an amount of only $10.1 million. If approved as recommended, those funds would go toward energy and supplies costs for the first year of the 2023-24 biennium education budget. The cut goes against a recommendation made by the Joint Education Interim Committee at the beginning of October. Law...
CHEYENNE – State Superintendent of Public Instruction Jillian Balow showed her full support Friday morning for legislation designed to fight back against critical race theory in state schools. She was alongside state Sen. Ogden Driskill, R-Devils Tower, and the Civic Transparency Act’s creator, and co-sponsor Senate President Dan Dockstader, R-Afton. They stood in front of the state superintendent’s office inside the Capitol to introduce and discuss the importance of their bill, which will be introduced during the 2022 budget session. They...
