Quest for General File
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Feb 10, 2010
The 2010 Budget session has officially begun and currently each house is considering which bills will be accepted onto the General File. It takes a 2/3 vote for bills to reach general file.
A few to note: HB 37 and HJ 04 introduced by Rep. Keith Gingery (R-Jackson) – These bills would remove the current law that Wyoming Judges and Justices must retire by the age of 70. Passage of both would ultimately bring a Wyoming constitutional amendment and statutory changes. Both are referred to the Judiciary committee which will meet tomorrow morning.
A rather controversial bill (SF35) being discussed tomorrow is the committee sponsored proposal to make I-80 a toll road. The Senate Transportation committee will be discussing it tomorrow, 10 minutes after adjournment.
Rep. Ken Esquibel (D-Cheyenne) is sponsoring HB 11 to amend the Cancer Control program by allowing for follow-up screenings for colorectal cancer. The bill was accepted to general file and referred to the house committee on labor, health, and social services.
A bill titled “Women’s right to information” and sponsored by Rep. Bob Brechtel (R-Casper) came up. Rep. Sue Wallis (R-Recluse) strongly spoke out against the bill that would have women see and ultrasound and hear a heartbeat of the fetus before an abortion. The bill failed on a vote of 23-35. Not a single Democrat voted for introduction but five female representatives voted in favor (Rep. Lorraine Quarberg, Rep. Kathy Davison, Rep. Amy Edmonds, and Rep. Elaine Harvey).
Rep. Lori Millin (D-Cheyenne) introduced a bill giving a mandatory 25-year sentence for first degree sexual assault when the actor is at least 18 years of age and the victim is less than 13 years of age. The legislation (HB 64) was referred to the Judiciary Committee.
There are a number of states rights bills/resolutions coming down the line this session. They could be interesting to watch. The Equality State Policy Center discussed a few of them in their blog http://equalitystatewatch.blogspot.com/2010/02/legislators-pontificate-on-states.html. A real doozy of a resolution that failed today was brought by Rep. Jack Landon calling for the repeal of the 17th amendment of the US Constitution. The 17th amendment gave people the right to elect their US Senators directly and Rep. Landon wanted to remove direct elections and give the power back to the Wyoming Legislature.
Lastly, there are a number of bills dealing with wind energy that will be central in the coming weeks. Two are HB 101, which seeks to put a tax on energy produced by wind and HB 72 which sets standards for regulation of wind energy facilities.