Politics & Government

Gordon criticizes the Legislature as he lets bills become law without his signature

Wyoming Public Radio | By Kamila Kudelska

Published February 28, 2025 at 3:57 PM MST

A man seated at a table speaks to someone off frame left. — Wyoming Gov. Mark Gordon answers questions from the press after his town hall in Gillette, Wyoming, on June 25, 2024.

Gov. Mark Gordon has signed over 60 bills into law with just a few days left of the legislative session.

Notably, he has let six bills become law without his signature.

Preferred pronouns

One new law prohibits the state government and its subdivisions from requiring its employees to use coworkers' preferred pronouns. That includes county governments and public schools.

“I am not clear what value a vastly expanded legal code will provide in knowing how to address one another. That seems to me to be something we learn better at home,” he wrote in his letter explaining his decision not to sign the law. “While it’s entirely appropriate for the public to express its views on such matters, I am concerned that we are perpetuating a habit of using long term statutory changes as a vehicle to communicate current political opinions.”

He acknowledged that it passed both chambers with an “overwhelming majority” and was written to protect individual freedom of speech.

A similar bill passed in Idaho last year. The law goes into effect July 1.

Gun free zones

Another bill Gordon let become law without his signature is one that repeals gun-free zones in state-run buildings, public schools and public meeting spaces across Wyoming.

Gordon vetoed a similar bill last year.

In his explanation, he wrote, “Reflecting this legislature's lackadaisical effort to openly debate and work on this legislation before sending it to my desk, it is tempting to copy and return my same veto letter.”

The governor said he didn’t do that because of recent elections, citing the right of the state Legislature to “drop a political bomb.”

Abortion requirements

In a 180 move from last year, Gordon signed a bill that he vetoed last year. It requires clinics providing procedural abortions to be licensed as ambulatory surgical centers and a clinic’s physicians to get admitting privileges for their patients at a hospital no more than 10 miles away. It goes into effect immediately.

HB 42 will likely cause the closure of the only such clinic in the state, Wellspring Health Access in Casper.

Changes to the state’s budget reserve account

SF 168 gets rid of the state’s budget reserve account (BRA) and puts all of those moneys into the general fund. Gordon let it become law without his signature.

In his explanation, the governor wrote that he is concerned that this bill combined with more than a dozen others going through the Legislature will create an artificial fiscal crisis next year.

“These measures collectively divert hundreds of millions of dollars from traditional state revenue streams, funds that would otherwise support Wyoming's constitutional and statutory obligations,” Gordon wrote. “For example, new tax exemptions on residential property and personal property are reducing local government revenues while increasing the state's responsibility to ensure adequate school funding.”

He urged the Legislature to take caution and “take a more strategic, coordinated approach to fiscal policy.”

“Unfortunately, I have seen little effort by the Legislature to analyze the cumulative effect of these measures on Wyoming's fiscal health. Instead, for the second consecutive year, political posturing through an array of bills is putting the state's financial stability at risk.”

The governor signed the following bills on Feb. 27. Click this link and search by bill number or title to see drafts of the bill. A regularly updated list of bills Gordon has signed is here.

HEA0025 HB0264 Central bank digital currencies-prohibitions.

HEA0026 HB0042 Regulation of surgical abortions.

HEA0027 HB0181 Funeral contracts-investment and bonding requirements.

HEA0028 HB0046 Homeschool freedom act.

HEA0029 HB0039 Property tax refund program-revisions.

HEA0030 HB0226 License plate-search and rescue council.

HEA0031 HB0005 Fishing outfitters and guides-registration of fishing boats.

HEA0032 HB0097 Property conveyances near critical infrastructure.

SEA0022 SF0064 Wyoming Opposes Mandatory Electronic ID Devices-Livestock.

SEA0024 SF0004 State park peace officers-definition and scope of authority.

SEA0025 SF0061 Pollution control property tax exemption-applicability.

SEA0026 SF0082 Omnibus water bill-planning.