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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.
LGBTQ workplace nondiscrimination bill passes House committee
The proposal is narrowly tailored to only prevent job-related discrimination. This is an effort to bypass opposition that has killed similar—but more wide-ranging—bills each of the past five years.
A Medicaid expansion bill with work requirements passes House committee
Similar measures have failed for each of the past six years, depriving Wyoming of hundreds of millions of dollars and denying low-income residents access to healthcare.
Three anti-abortion bills are moving through the Wyoming Legislature
The proposals would create “waiting periods” before a woman can receive an abortion, penalize doctors for not reporting the procedure in detail, and give human rights to clumps of fetal tissue.
Senate Committee chaired by Eli Bebout advances an oil tax break that would benefit Eli Bebout
Spoiler alert: The bill is also co-sponsored by Eli Bebout. Who says a Wyoming State Legislator can’t get a little something for himself?