Numerous Bills In Wyoming Legislature Dead for This Session
As the Wyoming Legislature enters the home stretch of the 2018 Budget Session, quite a few proposed bills or resolutions are already dead for this year.
Among the higher-profile proposals that have already gone by the wayside is House Joint Resolution 6, which would have imposed term limits on statewide elected officials, including legislators. Sponsored by Rep. Chuck Gray [R-Natrona County], HJ 6 was never considered for introduction in the state House.
House Joint Resolution 7, the ''Taxpayers Bill of Rights,'' also sponsored by Rep. Gray, met the same fate. Similarly, House Joint Resolution 9 ''Public School Funding'' and House Joint Resolution 10, calling for a convention to propose amendments to the U.S. Constitution, all died without being considered for introduction.
A proposal to do away with the twice a year time change in Wyoming, House Bill 45, failed an introduction vote by a margin of 27-32. A House Bill calling for tougher penalties for animal cruelty in Wyoming, House Bill 48, lost an introductory vote even though it won a simple majority for introduction, 32-27.
Because it was a non-budget item proposed during a budget session, it would have needed a 2/3 majority to be introduced.
While proposals in the Wyoming Senate generally fared better than those in the state House, that hasn't always been true during the 2018 session.
For example, a proposal to allow resort liquor licenses for non-profit organizations, Senate File 104, failed to win introduction by a 16-1 vote. And a proposed constitutional amendment to tie school to the average level of surrounding states, Senate Joint Resolution 1, lost an introductory by a margin of 17-13.
While that proposal did win majority support in the Senate, it fell short of the 2/3 majority needed for proposed constitutional amendments in both houses of the legislature.