This week was the final week for legislation to
make it off of general
file in the second body. It looks like the
last day of the session will
be next Friday (3/4).
At this point in
the session things begin
to move rather quickly and it is easy to be
confused about procedure.
This is a quick explanation of certain
procedure as mentioned below: If
legislation passes third reading in both
houses, without amendments, it
goes to the Governor. If the second body
passes amendments that the
other has not it must return to the house of
origin for what is called a
"concurrence vote." If the house of origin
does not concur a
conference committee is appointed with 3
members from each body to make a
compromise on the bill and then the compromise
returns for a vote to
both houses. Bills can die in conference
committee if a compromise
cannot be reached or a compromise can be
brokered and the bill will move
on to the Governor.
Please continue
speaking with your
Senators
and
Representatives.
Next
week is the final week of the legislative
session and your continued
engagement is extremely important to this
process.
Below is legislation that saw
action this week:
Defense
of Marriage (SJ 5): The proposed
constitutional amendment brought by
Sen. Meier would have brought language to
refuse recognition to any
marriage or civil union not between one man and
one woman. The bill
passed the House, but died today on General
File in the Senate. Thanks
to everyone who wrote their legislators and
asked them not to pass this
discriminatory legislation!
Validity of Marriage
(HB 74):
Legislation as brought by Rep. Owen Petersen
(R-Mountain View) would
statutorily define all marriage as between "one
man and one woman" and
would void marriages or civil unions not
meeting that description. The
Senate amended the bill to recognize civil
unions, but the House did not
concur with the changes and it went to a
conference committee.
Reps.
Amy Edmonds (R-Cheyenne), Kendell Kroeker
(R-Casper), and Jim Roscoe
(D-Wilson) and Sens. Larry Hicks (R-Baggs),
Leslie Nutting (R-Cheyenne),
and Floyd Esquibel (D-Cheyenne) made up the
conference committee, which
was originally scheduled for Thursday morning,
but was not held because
they announced they had "not yet come to an
agreement."
The
conference committee did meet on Thursday
afternoon and finally settled
on language that will recognize civil unions
between one man and one
woman but will not recognize same-sex civil
unions. The amended
proposal will now go back to the House and
Senate for another vote. For
additional explanation of the conference
committee, take a look at the
Equality State Policy Center blog "
Equality with an
asterik?".
Please contact your
Senators now
and ask them to vote no on HB 74 and to
protect equality in the equality state.
Rare
and Uncommon (HB
152): As brought by Rep. Mark Semlek
(R-Moorcroft) would abolish the
rare and uncommon designation and would “retain
the authority” to remove
protections. Adobe Town is currently
designated as rare and uncommon.
It passed the Senate with amendments and the
House concurred. The
legislation will now go to the Governor. The
Wyoming Outdoor Council is
asking people to contact Governor Mead and ask
him to veto the bill.
For further talking points from WOC, please see
their
blog.
School Finance Recalibration (HB
127):
This legislation, which determines how monies
are distributed to
different school districts, passed the Senate.
It was amended so that
school districts who have more than their
guaranteed total resources pay
back to the state the excess money within a
specified time period, or
be charged interest by the state. The goal of
the amendment is to have
the State Treasurer control the money and
receive a better return than
the districts currently are getting from local
banks. A school finance
bill with the same goal (HB 106) failed in the
House earlier. The House
voted not to concur with the amendments and
the bill will now go to
conference committee upon adjournment on
Monday.
Strangulation of
a household member (SF 132): This
legislation would make strangulation
in domestic violence cases a felony. Sen.
John Hastert (D-Green River)
brought the bill and it passed Senate and has
a final reading in the
House.
Teacher
accountability act (SF 146): This
legislation will
require a yearly report identifying inadequate
or unsatisfactory
teachers and what was done to improve their
performance and clarifies
teacher suspension or dismissal processes. The
legislation passed the
House 52-4-4, but the Senate did not concur and
it will go to conference
committee on Monday at 9:00 AM.
Abortion -
ultrasound
information (HB 251): An almost mirror
bill to one that died earlier
this session, this bill would require a 24 hour
waiting period before a
woman can have an abortion and require a doctor
to deliver a government
written script. It failed in the Senate in a
very close vote of 14-15-1
today (2/25).
Health Litigation Fund (HB 39):
Legislation that
would have created a litigation fund with the
specific purpose of suing
the federal government over health reform and
health policy generally.
The original proposal was for $2 million, which
was trimmed to $500,000,
but which one sponsor referred to as
"essentially a blank check." The
bill passed the House, but failed in the Senate
on a vote of 10-19.
Concealed
Weapons (SF 47): This legislation
brought by Sen. Kit Jennings
(R-Casper) would allow for carrying of
concealed weapons, with certain
exceptions, without a permit. It passed the
House on third reading
today (2/25), but was amended and will now
return to the Senate for
concurrence.
Wyoming safe homes act -2 (HB 256):
Legislation
brought by Rep. Bernadine Craft (D-Rock
Springs) would provide certain
protections for victims of sexual violence and
domestic abuse. The bill
would allow for lease termination and lock
changes under certain
circumstances. The Senate Judiciary Committee
removed the lock changes
provision from the bill and it passed out of
Committee of the Whole in
the Senate today (2/25).
Protection of
activities in private
vehicles (HB 207): This legislation
brought by Rep. Sam Krone (R-Cody)
would prohibit policies that would limit
firearms in personal vehicles,
such as employers. The legislation failed in
the Senate Transportation
Committee. To read more please see Associated
Press Article "
Wyoming
Senate committee kills workplace guns
bill."
DUI
- elimination of right to refuse test (HB
29): Legislation as proposed
by Rep. Keith Gingery (R-Jackson) would make
it illegal to refuse a
blood alcohol content test in cases of
suspected drunk driving. It was
up for third reading in the Senate today, but
was laid back and will be
heard on Monday.
Spice drugs (SF
59): This proposal brought by
Rep. Floyd Esquibel (D-Cheyenne) will outlaw
the synthetic drug spice.
The legislation passed both Houses, but the
Senate did not concur with
the House version and it will now go to
conference committee.
