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Wyoming Senate committee praises “big box” corporate income tax proposal … and then kills it
Three members of the five-person committee spoke positively about the bill. But so much opposition had built up against it in the Senate, the committee chairman decided it wasn’t even worth a vote.
Medicaid work requirements bill would dis-enroll 1,700 people in Wyoming, leaving hospitals and healthcare consumers to cover their medical costs
The bill would eliminate roughly $11.2 million in annual public healthcare spending, half of which Wyoming currently receives from the federal government. But without Medicaid, sick people seek healthcare from emergency rooms, which is even more expensive.
Wyoming Senate committee advances hemp and CBD legalization bill
Not a single Wyoming lawmaker has, to date, voted against a proposal to legalize and regulate hemp farming and CBD products. But the bill comes with a price tag, which makes its future uncertain as it moves to the notoriously tight-fisted Senate.
Foster Friess’ proposal to remove county authority over private schools moves forward
The billionaire megadonor’s bill faces stiff opposition from the Wyoming County Commissioners Association. The commissioners argue that it would strip local control from all Wyoming counties in the process of helping Friess’ pet project.
Wyoming Legislature moves to reinstate tax rebate program for elderly and disabled poor folks
The rebate program had been in effect for 41 years before lawmakers canned it in 2016 in the midst of a mineral bust.
The Wyoming State Legislature is seriously considering a “big box” corporate income tax
A proposed corporate income tax on “big box” stores like Walmart would not raise prices for consumers, but it would generate tens of millions of dollars per year for Wyoming schools. Is that enough to get it past the radically anti-tax Wyoming State Senate?
Wyoming Legislature struggles to take parental rights away from rapist ‘dads’
A disagreement over whether a man must be convicted of rape—rather than a woman merely presenting “clear and convincing evidence”—in order to lose his parental rights might scuttle efforts once again to ensure rapists don’t get to be daddies in Wyoming.
Wyoming Senate passes tax break for oil companies
Critics of the bill argue that the tax break won’t increase oil production, which is driven by global oil prices. But it would benefit the lawmaker who brought it, Eli Bebout, who owns an oil company.
Wyoming House narrowly rejects voter ID proposal
Concerns about disenfranchising the elderly, tribal people, and overseas military personnel contributed to the bill’s defeat.
“Fetal personhood” bill dies in the Senate, while an abortion reporting bill advances
The proposals were both sold as bills that have nothing to do with the abortion debate. This line of argument worked well for one bill, and not so well for the other.
House leadership buries workplace LGBTQ nondiscrimination bill, killing it
Since it died as the result of a procedural deadline, the proposal to protect LGBTQ workers in Wyoming received neither a hearing nor a vote in the House.
House advances bill to increase Wyoming’s tobacco taxes
Supporters said that higher tobacco taxes discourage kids from starting to smoke, and that non-smokers end up paying for smokers’ healthcare costs.
Bills to expand Medicaid and raise the minimum wage die in the House
Both proposals were watered-down versions of previous years’ bills. But lawmakers stood firm in allowing no policies that would improve the lives of Wyoming’s working poor.
House bill would increase state minimum wage to $8.50 per hour
The proposal received the blessing of the Wyoming Restaurant and Lodging Association, even before the committee removed a provision from it that would have slowly raised the wage even more over the next few years.
A bill that would give zygotes the rights of humans passes Senate committee
Senate File 128 is what’s called a “fetal personhood” bill—a cookie-cutter proposal from the anti-abortion camp that increases the legal rights of fetuses—while attorneys say the bill removes protections from pregnant women.