There’s no rest for the weary, and that includes state lawmakers.
Wyoming legislators are about to embark on the interim, which is the months between lawmaking sessions. They have full agendas.
Wyoming Public Radio’s (WPR) state government reporter, Jordan Uplinger, talked with WPR’s Kamila Kudelska about what issues elected officials will tackle over the next few months.
Editor’s Note: This interview has been lightly edited for clarity and brevity.
Jordan Uplinger: Hi Kamila, happy to break down all the interim stuff for you and our listeners.
Kamila Kudelska: Well, Jordan, let's start there. What is the interim?
JU: Simply put, the interim is the time between legislative sessions. Lawmakers work in joint committees made up of a few senators and representatives. These committees talk to experts and members of the public to learn as much as they can on any given topic. This is how some of the bills we see appear during the session are crafted.
KK: All these committees have chosen topics to study over the interim; there are about 90, so we’re only going to scrape the surface here. Let’s start with some that also got a lot of attention during the recent budget session, like the Wyoming Business Council (WBC).
JU: Right, so this is the state’s primary economic development agency.
Lawmakers aligned with the Wyoming Freedom Caucus wanted to axe the council entirely during the session. Generally speaking, they want to see fewer grants, which they say the government uses to choose winners and losers rather than leaving it to the free market.
But that failed. Instead, the WBC retained funding for a year, but will have to face an audit by two different committees during the interim.
The Joint Minerals, Business, and Economic Development Committee will review the WBC’s structure and operations. While the Joint Appropriations Committee will review its governance, statutory authority, and alignment with local and regional economic development partners.
KK: Another big topic from the budget session: how the state will spend 205 million in federal dollars from the Rural Health Transformation Program. So, I reported during the session that a law was passed that outlines how the state would like to use those funds. Basically, the funds would be used to aid critical access hospitals, emergency medical programs, individual healthcare workforce education awards and individual support for physician post-graduate medical education. But the feds haven’t approved this plan yet. So what are lawmakers planning to do during the interim?
JU: Well, the Joint Health and Labor Committee is looking to review that plan for the funds. They want to make sure it gets invested in to stabilize rural communities. Plus, the committee may consider drafting legislation for any requirements that Wyoming doesn't meet in order to use the funds in the state.
KK: And just a quick note that the Department of Health still hasn’t heard from the federal government whether its plan has been approved or not. This means we’re still waiting to hear whether the state will get the funds and when. Alright, let’s move to elections.
JU: So last year, the Joint Corporations Committee’s first priority was election security. They sponsored seven draft bills that would revamp the way the state runs and operates its elections, and only one made it into law.
This year, the chairs of the Joint Corporation Committee had election review as the third priority topic, primarily as a result of interest from some voters and members of the House.
The Management Committee, which has the authority to change other committees' priorities through a vote, debated whether corporations really needed to prioritize elections, again, as much as some other topics like electricity and public service commission issues.
Here’s Freedom Caucus Representative Jeremy Haroldson (R-Wheatland).
Jeremy Haroldson: There's an enemy at the door we're dealing with right now, and that is an antiquated grid. I’m not saying that election integrity or public records request, those are all very, very important and need to be addressed, but if the lights aren't on, they won't get your records anyways. And if the lights aren't on, you're probably not going to be voting anyways.
JU: After some deliberation and a vote, electricity and public service commission issues moved to priority one, while elections got moved down to the fourth priority.
KK: So the electric grid is getting priority this year. Moving on: what are lawmakers looking into regarding water?
JU: The Colorado River is a major concern across the Southwest. It’s been a dry winter, and conditions on the Colorado River have reached a point forcing a drawdown of the Flaming Gorge Reservoir in the state. On top of all of that, the legal agreement presiding over the river, the Colorado River Compact, is set to expire later this year with no agreement to replace it.
Given the size of this issue, two committees took up this topic. The Select Committee on Water will try to figure out what the end of the river compact means for Wyoming, and how that will affect the water-intensive agriculture industry here.
On the Joint Minerals Committee side, they’re looking into curtailment. Between a voluntary water conservation program and river basin states preparing for legal fights over water rights, the state may need to cut back on water use. This committee wants to know how this will affect key Wyoming industries like the trona mines.
KK: Anything else in the water world?
JU: Well, interestingly, the Joint Minerals Committee will also see if it's possible to clean and reuse water previously used in oil-and-gas operations, helping to make up for cutbacks from the river.
KK: In the energy world, this past session, lawmakers made a new Energy Dominance Fund?
JU: Yeah, so this fund will try to attract fossil fuel projects to the state. The Joint Minerals Committee wants to continue to look at how the state can grow its vital energy industry in the face of “regulatory and financial barriers”, as the committee chairs put it.
KK: Can you give us an example of a barrier?
JU: Yeah, currently the state can’t sell natural gas to the West Coast. Lawmakers are interested in creating Industrial Sovereign Zones that reduce taxes and fast-track permitting. These zones would turn gas into marketable products, which some lawmakers say could be sold to the coast.
KK: Let’s turn to education. Lawmakers officially passed recalibration, which revamped how the state funds public schools. So, what are lawmakers looking at this summer?
JU: The Joint Education Committee will review the so-called educational “basket of goods”. That’s their top priority, the basket referring to the 11 standards used to determine a student’s readiness for post-high school. Within those standards, they’ll review state assessment testing, gifted and talented programs, and look into a drop in state test scores between 4th and 8th grade.
The committee will also look into Artificial Intelligence (AI). Both how AI impacts students and how it might eventually be integrated into the classroom.
KK: Finally, transparency in government seems to be top of mind for a lot of the lawmakers. A few different committees are taking a look at public access. Tell me more.
JU: Well, let's start with the Joint Judiciary Committee. They’ll look into public access to court records. This was brought to the committee at the request of the courts themselves and looks to focus on access to digital records.
The Joint Corporations Committee will take on public records and open meetings. The chair of that committee broke this topic down into three areas.
How rules regarding open meetings may have been abused by officials, how clerks handle record requests and how to deal with data miners whom the committee says are making large and burdensome public records requests. Corporations will also review transparency reporting for the flow of public funds and see if they can improve the tracking of where funds are spent.
Lastly, the Select Committee on Blockchain Technology will review personal data privacy and ownership.
KK: So those are just a few highlights. Just to note a couple of other things lawmakers will be looking at: The operation of Wyoming Public Television’s emergency alert system, maternity care deserts and how the state can handle a shortage of health care workers.
JU: And salaries for state employees. Many are getting raises thanks to the recent budget session. Now they’re looking at judges, elected officials, and district attorneys as well.
KK: Jordan, let’s end on something you are excited to track this summer:
JU: For me, the idea of Lawmakers trying to tie the value of real-world, physical objects like uranium or oil directly to a digital token? That’s certainly an interesting one I’ll be watching.
KK: The first committees are meeting in just a couple of days! Jordan, plus the WPM newsroom, will help us keep track of all the discussion. So tune in to WPM and our socials, where you can find more explainers from Jordan.
This reporting was made possible by a grant from the Corporation For Public Broadcasting, supporting state government coverage in the state. Wyoming Public Media and Jackson Hole Community Radio are partnering to cover state issues both on air and online.
