This story is part of our Quick Hits series. This series will bring you breaking news and short updates from throughout the state.
Gov. Mark Gordon signed over 30 bills into law on Friday and vetoed one that would have killed an investment account, citing constitutional concerns.
Funds from the Strategic Investments and Projects Account (SIPA), created in 2013, are appropriated by the Legislature for one-time expenditures recommended by the governor in his or her budget requests every other year.
When introducing the bill earlier this budget session, Sen. Larry Hicks (R-Baggs) said, “It is solely for the purpose of taking our budgetary process and eliminating one of these what we would call Rube Goldberg, convoluted processes as to how we funnel money through the budget. And it provides the very purpose of simplification and transparency.”
Hick’s bill would have repealed SIPA and divided its funds and earnings between other state accounts, trust funds and the general fund. Similar bills have been proposed in the past several sessions.
In the governor’s veto letter to Senate and House leaders, Gordon said he appreciated the Legislature’s efforts to add transparency to the flow of government funds. But he added that some of the accounts set to intake SIPA’s divestments are only available to the Legislature and therefore prohibit the governor from proposing their use in a budget.
“Upon review of each section of this Act, something less innocuous may also be afoot: limiting the Chief Executive’s ability to make budget recommendations by reducing access to revenue, thereby establishing an unreasonable one-sidedness between the Executive and Legislative branches,” he wrote in a press release.
It will take a two-thirds vote in the House and Senate to override the governor’s veto.
New laws
Gordon signed a House bill outlining how to spend some $205 million in federal funds under the Rural Health Transformation Program. It creates a new program within the Wyoming Department of Health (WDH), plus an advisory committee and a perpetuity fund. The perpetuity fund will take a percentage of the federal money the state receives annually and invest it. According to WDH’s director, this is meant to make the program more sustainable than the five years the federal government has outlined for it.
WDH would be able to take money out of the fund each year for four outlined purposes: critical access hospitals, emergency medical programs, individual healthcare workforce education awards and individual support for physician post-graduate medical education.
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) must agree on how the state wants to use the funds, and they are currently in negotiations. If an agreement can’t be reached, lawmakers will have to convene for a special session to rectify the differences.
An increase to the state’s Medicaid reimbursement rate for emergency medical services (EMS) was enacted. This brings the state's portion to 100% using a $1.3 million appropriation from the general fund, with an equal federal match.
Another new law protects pregnancy centers from government regulation. These centers, also known as “crisis pregnancy centers,” are often faith-based and provide free pregnancy tests and counseling to pregnant people. They say they provide resources to women to help them keep their babies, as well as adoption information, rather than providing abortions.
Gordon also green lit a reform to the Wyoming National Guard that gives the governor the ability to stand up a permanent state defense force. The bill’s stated purpose for the guard is to “preserve the public peace, to execute the laws of the state, to suppress tumult, riot, mob or invasion, to respond to either natural or manmade emergencies within the state, to support national wildland fire response or to perform other duties as the governor may require.”
Another new law regulates a substance called kratom. Kratom is often marketed as an herbal supplement for lifting mood and boosting energy. It’s derived from the leaves of a tree native to Southeast Asia and contains two major psychoactive ingredients that bind to the same receptors in the brain as opioid drugs.
An amendment proposed by the bill’s sponsor in the Senate would’ve banned kratom products outright. But the House softened the language back to the original bill text, limiting kratom’s use to people 21 years and older and setting a limit for the amount of concentrated substance a product can contain.
Gordon also signed a bill permanently extending the Wyoming Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA). It keeps the state in line with a federal act passed in 1978 that prioritizes keeping Native American youth with their communities and traditions in adoption and foster care cases.
A joint resolution demanding Congress and federal agencies to “respect existing land management frameworks, county land-use plans and the voices of local communities most directly affected by federal land decisions, especially when evaluating any proposed changes to federal land management or the disposition of lands” will be issued.
The resolution also notes the Legislature supports locally-supported land trades with the feds that demonstrably enhance public access, natural resource use or community benefit.
The full list of bills the governor has signed can be found on the governor’s website.
The full text of all bills from the 2026 session may be found on the Wyoming Legislature's website.
A full list of the bills Gordon signed into law on March 6 is below. Bills can be accessed by title or number here.
Enrolled Act, Bill #, Bill Title
HEA0017 HB0023 Participation in school activities.
HEA0018 HB0128 Enhanced oil recovery-severance tax exemption.
HEA0019 HB0075 Virtual currency kiosks.
HEA0021 HB0122 Wyoming rural health transformation program.
HEA0022 HB0003 Wyoming pregnancy centers-autonomy and rights.
SEA0028 SF0067 Wyoming state guard-amendments.
SEA0030 SF0041 Portable benefit accounts.
SEA0031 SF0048 Stem Cell Freedom Act.
SEA0032 SF0020 Data privacy-government entities.
SEA0033 SF0010 Contracts for holding and treating mentally ill detainees.
SEA0034 SF0004 Medicaid rate increase-EMS services.
SEA0035 SF0026 Game and fish property tax exemption-amendments.
SEA0036 SF0090 School facilities-use fees.
SEA0037 SF0105 Real estate brokers-duties and disclosure amendments.
SEA0038 SF0044 Gambling amendments.
SEA0039 SF0046 Skill based amusement games-licensed liquor establishments.
SEA0040 SF0014 Literacy position for K-3 reading program.
SEA0041 SF0107 Motor vehicle registration and plate issuance system.
SEA0042 SF0070 Omnibus water bill-construction.
SEA0043 SF0059 K-12 language and literacy program.
SEA0044 SF0056 Kratom product regulation.
SEA0045 SF0021 Wyoming stable token-amendments.
SEA0046 SF0035 School district-cell phone and smart watch policies.
SEA0047 SF0050 State engineer-surface and ground water study.
SEA0048 SF0058 Wyoming Indian Child Welfare Act sunset repeal.
SEA0049 SF0095 Driver's and motor vehicle services-third party providers.
SEA0050 SF0102 Wyoming energy transmission study.
SEA0051 SF0045 Local approval for simulcasting.
SEA0052 SF0088 Sex offenders-residence near child care facilities.
SEJR0002 SJ0006 Shared parenting day.
SEJR0004 SJ0009 Keeping public lands protected and decisions local.
