Foster and his zany school bill crew. From rear: Sen. Mike Gierau, former U.S. Congresswoman Cynthia Lummis, Sen. Eli Bebout, Stephen Friess, Foster Friess

Foster Friess’ Magic School Bill rides into the law books — 2019 Legislative recap

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Gov. Mark Gordon allowed the bill to become law today without signing it. The debate over what Gordon called “flawed” legislation pitted “school choice” advocates against defenders of local control.
Under the new law, doctors face punishment for failing to report detailed information about abortions and the women who receive them.

Wyoming’s new abortion reporting law will help anti-choice activists harass doctors and women — 2019 Legislative recap

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It was the third law passed in three years in Wyoming to attack women’s reproductive rights. Prior to 2017, an anti-abortion law had not passed here in nearly 30 years. Three other anti-choice bills proposed in 2019 were defeated.
Reps. Jared Olsen, Tyler Lindholm, and Brian Boner were right-leaning advocates and co-sponsors of the death penalty repeal bill.

Young conservatives led the most successful push in Wyoming’s history to end capital punishment — 2019 Legislative recap

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Capital punishment is expensive, violates the sanctity of life, gives government too much power, and has grave consequences when it’s misapplied. For these and other reasons—put forth mainly by young conservatives—the Wyoming Legislature came very close to ending the death penalty this year.
The Legislature huffed and puffed and, in the end, maintained the status quo.

Wyoming Legislature rejects all Medicaid-related bills, good, bad, and otherwise — 2019 Legislative recap

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Proposals to expand Medicaid, to study Medicaid expansion, and to impose work requirements on Medicaid recipients all died this session.
The House and Senate fought over whether to include the conviction requirement, or to use the "clear and convincing evidence" standard used by most other states.

A new Wyoming law terminating parental rights of rapists is flawed to the point of being nearly pointless – 2019 Legislative recap

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Rape is common. Convictions for rape are exceedingly rare. But under Wyoming’s new law, a rapist must have been formally convicted of sexual assault before a civil court can take away his legal right to be daddy.
What do business owners, law students, military vets, and other citizen lobbyists have in common? They all want commonsense cannabis reform.

Citizen lobbyists push for commonsense cannabis reform at the Wyoming Legislature

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A dozen or so people braved the elements one snowy day during the 2019 session to support a hemp bill and educate legislators about the benefits of medical cannabis.
Bebout awoke to news that the tax break he'd tried to give himself and other oil bosses hadn't made it through the night.

Bebout’s tax break for oil companies dies an 11th-hour quiet death

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On an absurdly late final night of the 2019 session, Bebout went home before the House and Senate could hash out disagreements over his proposed oil tax break. In Bebout’s absence, the bill sputtered and died.
Wyoming's terrain and climate make it well-suited for growing hemp.

Farmers, pain patients, and Wyoming’s economy will benefit from our new hemp law

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A bill to legalize hemp survived a last-ditch attack from law enforcement lobbyists and a temporary threat to its funding before it passed its final hurdles in the Legislature this week.
Roughly 1,700 people would have lost their healthcare access had the bill passed.

Wyoming House rejects Medicaid work requirements

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Opponents of the bill agreed that encouraging people to work is a good thing. But threatening to take away their healthcare isn’t the right way to do it.

A message to Wyoming State Senator Lynn Hutchings from PFLAG (VIDEO)

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The things we say to children can have deep, lasting, and sometimes harmful impacts. PFLAG - Laramie President Lorinda Lindley calls on Wyoming State Senator Lynn Hutchings to realize this, and to issue an apology to the students she dehumanized.