Serving the Platte Valley since 1888
Serving the Platte Valley since 1888
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CHEYENNE - Wyoming Gov. Mark Gordon welcomed members of the 68th Wyoming Legislature on Wednesday and reminded them that their legislative decisions have consequences. "I congratulate you on your election and wish you Godspeed. We do have a lot to do, and I have no doubt that the people in this room can get it done," Gordon said. "We have serious responsibilities that require us to work together to serve those who have entrusted us with our positions, and we are all part of...
CHEYENNE - The first day of the 68th Wyoming Legislature's general session got off to an emotional start Tuesday, punctuated by moments of religious declaration, as the Wyoming Freedom Caucus officially took control of the state's House of Representatives. During the legislative session, it's typical to see lawmakers begin with the Pledge of Allegiance and a formal prayer. But on Tuesday, several lawmakers made their own statements of faith, citing Bible verses and offering...
CHEYENNE - The 68th Wyoming Legislature will convene for a 40-day general session starting Tuesday, and more than 600 bills sponsored by committees and individual lawmakers are expected to be filed for consideration. The topics of greatest concern to Wyoming residents – and therefore most likely covered by the state's media - include education funding and school policy, property tax relief measures, affordable housing, election policies and gaming legislation and the s...
CHEYENNE - Members of the public may soon be allowed to concealed carry firearms within the Wyoming Capitol and its underground extension after the state's top five elected officials unanimously passed a set of rules governing a new policy Wednesday morning. Firearms are currently prohibited in the state Capitol, but Gov. Mark Gordon promised, after vetoing a 2024 bill that would have lifted all gun-free zones statewide, to consider lifting gun-free zones in state-owned...
CHEYENNE - A citizen-led initiative to slash property taxes for qualified Wyoming homeowners by 50% was certified Friday by Wyoming Secretary of State Chuck Gray to appear on the 2026 general election ballot. The "People's Initiative to Limit Property Tax in Wyoming through a Homeowner's Property Exemption," spearheaded by former gubernatorial candidate Brent Bien, would exempt half of the assessed value of an owner's primary property from property taxation, as long as the...
CHEYENNE — A bill filed for the 2025 general session would create an “enhanced” concealed carry firearm permit that would allow qualified permit- holders to conceal carry on K-12 school campuses, as well as Wyoming university and college campuses, without needing written consent from campus security. Sen. Ed Cooper, R-Ten Sleep, the bill’s sponsor, said the idea for this bill was brought to him by a “really strong gun advocate” from the Bighorn Basin. Concealed carry is currently not permitted in Wyoming public school dist...
CHEYENNE — A ban on cellphone use in the classroom is quickly becoming a popular policy adopted by state legislators across the country — and Wyoming could soon be one of them. At least 18 states have passed laws or adopted policies banning or restricting the use of cellphones in the classroom, according to an Education Week analysis published in June. A bill headed for the 2025 general session, sponsored by Sen. Wendy Schuler, R-Evanston, would implement a statewide ban on cellphone use and smartwatches in the classroom dur...
CHEYENNE — Senate Vice President Dave Kinskey proposed a rule to fellow Wyoming legislative leaders on Thursday that would have expanded media access for photographers and video crews on the chamber floors. The proposal came after lawmakers voted, and later rescinded, a proposal to bar media access on the chamber floor entirely. Kinskey, R-Sheridan, proposed a rule to the Management Council that would have allowed photojournalists and TV broadcast journalists behind the bar on the chamber floor, unless otherwise directed b...
CHEYENNE — The Wyoming Legislature could be back on track to fully funding its K-12 public schools after a committee of state lawmakers voted Friday to adopt a $66.3 million cost adjustment. The state funds its public schools through the K-12 education resource block grant. Every year, the Legislature’s Joint Appropriations Committee must make an external cost adjustment (ECA) recommendation from this block grant to the governor and legislative body by Nov. 1. There are two different funding models that calculate the cos...
CHEYENNE — Lawmakers unanimously voted Thursday to rescind a previously voted-on rules change that prohibited photojournalists’ access to the chamber floors during legislative session. Last month, members of the Legislature’s Select Committee on Legislative Facilities, Technology and Process voted four to two in favor of a policy change that barred photojournalists’ access to the hallways on the chamber floor. This issue grabbed the attention of news outlets across the state, which re-sparked the conversation during the com...
CHEYENNE — In the face of projected revenue shortfalls, some Wyoming lawmakers are hesitant to change the state’s major maintenance formula that would increase funding for school facilities projects. Sen. Larry Hicks, R-Baggs, voted against a bill draft Wednesday, during the Legislature’s Select Committee on School Facilities meeting in Cheyenne, that changes how the state calculates its major maintenance funding for schools. The bill, as written, increases the allowable square footage in the formula from 115% to 135%, which...
CHEYENNE — Elle Sanderson’s son, Raylan, is diagnosed with a rare genetic disorder, SYNGAP1, that affects his ability to communicate. Two years ago, right before school let out for the summer, his school refused to let him take home his augmentative assistive communication (AAC) device. The AAC is an iPad her son used during the school year to communicate with his teachers. “I didn’t know why it was wrong; it just sounded terrible to me,” Sanderson said. She called several people at the school and told them it was “wildly i...
CHEYENNE — Teachers at Ten Sleep School are allowed to conceal carry firearms in the classroom, but some school officials and students are worried about letting just anyone walk into the building with a gun, according to school representatives. Washakie County School District 2 has one K-12 school and is a concealed carry district, said Superintendent Annie Griffin. It takes law enforcement 18 minutes to reach the school, Griffin told lawmakers Thursday afternoon, which is why the district allowed its staff to carry c...
CHEYENNE — State lawmakers discussed the possibility of adding doula services through Medicaid and ideas proposed by the governor’s task force as ways to address maternity health care deserts in Wyoming on the first day of their two-day meeting in Cheyenne. Members of the Legislature’s Joint Labor, Health and Social Services Committee spent Thursday afternoon continuing their discussion on maternity health care deserts, which is listed as the committee’s No. 1 topic for the interim. It was noted in the committee’s last meet...
CHEYENNE — It’s been 15 years since the Wyoming Legislature last revised its funding formula for school maintenance and repairs, and one state official said an adjustment is long overdue. But after a primary election set the stage for the Wyoming Freedom Caucus, a far-right group of hardline Republicans, to take control of the lower chamber in November, at least one lawmaker questions how well a bill that appropriates $43 million in major maintenance funds will do in the next legislative session. The Legislature’s Selec...
CHEYENNE — Was U.S. Sen. John Barrasso, R-Wyo., justified in chasing down former U.S. Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle at the Republican National Convention, days after former President Donald Trump was nearly assassinated? Was Wyoming Congresswoman Harriet Hageman’s description of Vice President Kamala Harris as a “DEI hire” a full-blown racist comment? Nearly a dozen Wyoming Republican and Democratic political candidates and party leaders weighed in on the recent actions and comments by two of the Cowboy State’s...
CHEYENNE — When former Wyoming lawmaker Rodger McDaniel wrote the story of former U.S. Sen. Lester Hunt’s death, it was a story that hadn’t been told before. The story is one of suicide, blackmail and how divisive politics permanently changed the lives of a Wyoming politician’s family. “When I wrote the book ‘Dying for Joe McCarthy’s Sins,’ very few people knew (the story),” McDaniel told the Wyoming Tribune Eagle. “They were shocked to learn that there was a time in Wyoming history when politics was so divisive that it re...
CHEYENNE — Gov. Mark Gordon has decided the new voter registration rules proposed by Secretary of State Chuck Gray exceed his statutory authority. Gordon sided with the Wyoming Legislature’s Management Council — made up of legislative leadership from both chambers — in its disapproval of the new rules, which would have required people to provide proof of residency, not just identity, when registering to vote. Gray has said on multiple occasions, including an op-ed submitted to the Wyoming Tribune Eagle this week that Wyoming...
CHEYENNE — The two chambers of the Wyoming Legislature are miles apart when it comes to how the state should spend its money for the 2025-26 budget biennium. Senate Majority Leader Larry Hicks, R-Baggs, told the Wyoming Tribune Eagle on Friday there is a $900 million to $1 billion difference between the two budgets that were passed on Wednesday and Thursday. The House is adding money to the governor’s proposed budget, with a focus on spending more on programs and services. The Senate, however, is cutting up to $480 mil...
CHEYENNE — The Wyoming House of Representatives and Senate approved mirror budget amendments Monday that would allow the state to send $2 million to Texas or provide resources like personnel to secure the U.S.-Mexico border. If the amendments in both chambers are, in fact, identical, and no additional changes are made to this amendment on third reading of the budget bills, the allocation will be automatically adopted in the state’s 2025-26 biennium budget and would not be up for negotiation in a joint conference committee. On...
CHEYENNE — In advance of the upcoming budget session, the Wyoming Legislature’s wallet to appropriate funds for budget requests is expected to shrink by $13.3 million. An updated Consensus Revenue Estimating Group (CREG) report informed members of the Legislature’s Joint Appropriations Committee they had $37.3 million in discretionary funds to spend this year. The CREG report is a forecast of the state’s total revenue and assets. It includes estimates of Wyoming’s mineral prices and production, General Fund revenues,...
CHEYENNE — Proficiency rates among Wyoming students increased in all content areas during the 2022-23 school year, according to results from the state’s standardized tests, but still remained slightly below pre-pandemic levels. Wyoming Superintendent of Public Instruction Megan Degenfelder called for action during a news conference Thursday morning, where she said proficiency scores were 1-2% below the 2018-19 results. “We must do better,” Degenfelder said. “While our state standards and assessment scores are set intention...
