Update on Week Three of the 2020 Legislative Budget Session

Public Lands Face Another Threat
SF 110 - Evaluating the tax equivalency of federal land in Wyoming

A bill that that threatens keeping public lands in public hands passed the Senate last week and now awaits a committee hearing in the House. It is legislation that is blatantly biased in favor of privatizing public lands. It is anti-public access, wildlife, tourism and recreation.
 
Sponsored by Sen. Cheri Steinmetz, R-Lingle, SF 110, requires the Office of State Lands to conduct real estate appraisals of federal lands in Wyoming to assess their value as if privatized. Proponents claim its purpose is to better determine property taxes currently paid by the federal government to each state for the lands within its borders (PILT). The legislation allocates $2.5 million for consultants and for "fees for software associated with the appraisals."
 
SF 110 is advocated by Ken Ivory, the former Utah legislator who founded the American Lands Council whose mission is to transfer federal lands to the states. Ivory is now with a company called AEON Al that is trying to sell their consulting services and software to states conducting these appraisals.
 
Thanks to the Wyoming Wilderness Assn. and the Wyoming Outdoor Council for the following talking points:

• This bill is not needed. County assessors currently can implement the studies anticipated in this bill, if desired. The study is designed to only show the value of public lands when privatized. It ignores our hunting and fishing heritage, the importance of public access to these lands, the annual $5.6 billion contribution of the outdoor recreation economy provided by these lands and tourism values.
• The bill misrepresents the purposes of the PILT program. If counties want to change the PILT formula to receive more funding, they will need to change federal law and work with Congress. The legislature can craft a resolution to help on this.
• The bill costs too much! The $2.5 million price tag is not responsible given the state's budget woes.
• This bill does not reflect the values of the majority of Wyoming residents who support keeping Wyoming lands public and oppose privatizing our public lands. 

HB 209 – Change in party affiliation
 
House Bill 209, sponsored by Rep. Jim Blackburn (R-Cheyenne), also passed the House last week. It would ban Wyoming voters from switching party affiliation in order to vote in primary elections. The ban on “crossover voting” would apply during the 14 days leading up to and including primary day, blocking a change of affiliation at the polls. Voters can switch parties at the polls on the day of the general election.
 
Currently, a registered Wyoming voter can change their party affiliation up to and including the day of the primary election. The new law would go into effect Jan. 1, 2021. The state GOP officials made banning party switching a top priority in the 2019 general session but that effort failed.

House Bill 197 – Abortion-48 hour waiting period
 
As the midnight deadline loomed last Wednesday for House bills to face a vote or die, HB 197 was brought forward for consideration. It was to be the last vote of the day at 10 p.m. and the House’s nine Democrats (out of 60 lawmakers) mounted a strong defense to kill or at least dilute the legislation.
 
According to the Casper Star Tribune, House Minority Floor Leader Cathy Connolly, (R-Laramie) who represents a University of Wyoming district, introduced an amendment that would have changed the punishment for a doctor from a felony to a misdemeanor and reduced the punishment from ten years to one year, a $1,000 fine, or both. The amendment failed.
 
Rep. Sara Burlingame, D-Cheyenne, offered an amendment to delay the implementation of the legislation until 2022, allowing the Legislature to debate the issue when there was more time to deal with social issues, arguing that taking on contentious, social issues during the budget session could set a negative precedent for future sessions.
 
Rep. Mike Yin, D-Jackson supported Burlingame’s argument. “I think given that it’s 10 p.m. at night and that we’re debating one of the most socially contentious issues in the state, I just want to display my disappointment in us dealing with this so late during a budget session,”, said.
 
This legislation, which now goes to the Senate for consideration, would force doctors to require women to wait 48 hours before receiving an abortion. Doctors who don’t would be subject to a felony charge and up to 10 years in prison.  The bill is sponsored by Rep. Richard Tass (R-Buffalo), a conservative in his second year in the House. Tass got the bill through the House last year but it died in the Senate where a committee declined to hear it. Hopefully the Senate again will reject bad legislation.

Lodging Tax Passes!
 
After three years of effort, a statewide lodging tax passed the Wyoming Senate on Friday by a 16-13 vote. It now goes to Governor Mark Gordon for his signature. Gordon, has backed the bill since its introduction.
 
The new law imposes a 5 percent fee on lodging across Wyoming, with 2 percent going to local governments and the rest creating an independent funding source for the state’s Office of Tourism. In Teton County, the state-allocated 2 percent would replace the 2 percent that local voters approved in the 2018 election. Tourism is the state’s second largest industry which helped generate $196 million in revenue last year.
 
On third reading in the Senate, two of the legislation’s harshest critics were hoteliers in the Senate themselves – Lander Republican Cale Case and Rock Springs Democrat Liisa Anselmi-Dalton. Case, who recused himself from the vote, argued that the impacts of tourism for the state right now were “far overblown,” and that any impacts from increased tourism funding would predominantly benefit one place: Teton County. This concern was shared by Senate Majority Floor Leader Dan Dockstader, R-Afton, whose  district includes a significant numbers of Teton County residents. He argued the state’s current promotional efforts do little to boost the state’s rural communities.
 
Passage of the bill is a big win for Teton County. Most importantly, this legislation gives elected officials more flexibility in administering the tax. They will now be able to increase the local tax by another 2 percent, for a total of 7 percent. The bill also provides for an expansion of the purposes for which lodging tax funding can be used at the local level. Under current law, lodging tax revenue can only be spent on promotion. This bill expands use to staging of events, educational materials, and other specific tourism related objectives, including those identified as likely to facilitate tourism or enhance the visitor experience.

HB-197: Abortion 48-Hour Waiting Period

The House Judiciary Committee voted last Tuesday to advance legislation instituting a 48-hour waiting period for all abortions performed in Wyoming, a first victory for anti-abortion advocates in a particularly active year for abortion legislation.

Now headed to the floor after a number of unsuccessful attempts over the years, Rep. Richard Tass’ House Bill 197 is a near-clone to a similar piece of legislation carried by the Sheridan Republican in the 2019 legislative session. If passed, the bill would mandate all prospective abortion patients to wait 48 hours from the time they arrive at a physician’s office for the procedure, creating what Tass described as an opportunity to consider the ramifications of that decision.

The bill also outlines a maximum 10-year felony prison sentence for doctors who perform a procedure before that time period is up, an extreme provision that is heavily opposed by the Wyoming Medical Society, which has not taken a position on the bill itself.

Still Alive…
 
HB 4 – Wyoming coal marketing program – allocates one million dollars to promote Wyoming coal. The bill received a “do Pass” recommendation from the Senate Minerals Committee and now moves on to the Senate for consideration.
 
HB 200 – Reliable and dispatchable low-carbon energy standards- a bill backed by Governor Mark Gordon, and sponsored by House Revenue Committee Chairman Dan Zwonitzer (R-Cheyenne.) This bill would force utilities to implement carbon capture, and then allow them to pass up to $1 billion in investments on those technologies onto consumers’ electrical bills. The Wyoming Public Service Commission would mandate that electrical utility companies incorporate an undefined percentage of “low-carbon” electricity into their energy portfolios. The bill defines low-carbon electricity as power generated using technology to capture carbon dioxide — technology Wyoming politicians hope will keep coal-fired power relevant. No-carbon electricity — renewable energy like wind and solar — would not qualify.
 
HB 231 – Coal severance tax exemption
Exempt from the severance taxes all surface coal transported to market outside of North America using a coal export terminal located in Canada or Mexico. Why would the State of Wyoming exempt anyone from paying severance taxes at a time when it is cutting school funding due to lack of revenue. It’s not like tax exemptions will bring back the coal industry.