Legislative Update

We started our virtual session on January 12, gaveling in for a one-day start on the session. Bills were read in and assigned to committees and then we gaveled in with our committees, meeting virtually on January 19,20 and 21.

The bills were all interim committee bills. We then reconvened on January 27 to work around 55 bills split between the House and Senate.

The session was available either virtually or in person. I have attended both the gaveling in on the 12th and the session from January 21 to February 5 in person in Cheyenne.

The senate has close to half in person at the Capitol. A very different feel. We intend to have an in person five-week session March 1 to April 2 for the entire legislature, when we will work the budget and individual bills along with a few committee bills.

Some of the highlight bills we are working this session include an overhaul of animal abuse statutes, the omnibus water bill that distributes funds for municipal and irrigation water projects around the state, bills dealing with the sunset date on the legality of “skill games” and funding for cities, towns and counties.

Probably the highest profile was the funding for the cities, towns and counties. The Senate as of Friday passed the bill out with the governor’s recommendation, which was a cut of $10 million from a $105 million appropriation.

This will have a direct impact on all of our communities. We are facing unprecedented tough budgetary times.

Even with cuts in the hundreds of millions, the state still is facing a shortfall of $250-350 million. This amount will come from the LSRA (Legislative Stabilization Reserve Account). This fund has worked very well to cushion the blow of steep budget reductions.

After this biennium, the fund will have about $1.2 billion left in it from a high of over $2 billion. At the current rate, it will be empty by the 2025-2026 biennium and we will be faced with a hard cliff on government funding.

The governor and appropriations committee have cut around another $400 million from the state budget, making it the smallest budget in at least a decade. Funding education continues to be a huge challenge – there are many working on it looking for solutions.

We have a special school recalibration committee that will make recommendations on school funding for the next biennium. With the uncertainty of our income streams going forward, it will be challenging times ahead.

I have been appointed to the governor’s Game and Fish Taskforce and look forward to working on Game and Fish issues in the coming year. I also will be co-chairman of the redistricting committee.

This will be a huge challenge as the Census Bureau has indicated that they likely will not have census numbers until July, possibly as late as September. This will lead to a very compressed schedule to complete 8-15 redistricting meetings and getting a bill up before the 2022 session.

Redistricting happens every ten years and is always complicated in getting the population changes to match up with House and Senate districts. It has been a challenging time for all.

I thank everyone for all of the input and advice. It is always appreciated.