Gov. Mark Gordon exercised his veto pen on Tuesday by nixing a bill to add a civil penalty against state law enforcement agencies if they participate in federal enforcement that infringes on Second Amendment rights.
Gordon also signed 24 bills and vetoed another.
Senate File 101 allowed any interested party to bring a civil lawsuit against a law enforcement agency or officer that enforces or attempts to enforce any orders solely regarding firearms or ammunition. Agencies were liable for fines up to $50,000 per violation. Officers could be found guilty of a misdemeanor punishable by up to a year imprisonment, a fine of up to $2,000 or both.
While the bill was being debated by the Legislature, all 23 county sheriffs and many chiefs of police testified against SF 101, expressing concern about how it would impact hiring and their ability to work with federal agencies. Albany County Sheriff Aaron Appelhans argued that the bill violates the U.S. Constitution’s supremacy clause, which establishes the precedence of federal law over state law. Appelhans also expressed concern about the bill introducing indecision into law enforcement’s decision making as to whether they are violating state law.
In his veto letter to House and Senate leaders, Gordon wrote, “It sincerely pains me to write this letter again this year.” Gordon vetoed a similar proposal last year.
“This bill, even with its strained and ambiguous carveouts, will have a stifling impact on state and local partnerships with federal law enforcement agencies. Illegal immigration, drug smuggling, human trafficking - major enforcement initiatives of President Trump’s - will all be hindered as a consequence of this bill,” he wrote.
Gordon also included a letter he received from Todd Lyons, the acting director of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). Lyons also opposed SF 101 and its companion House Bill 130.
“Many of the most serious gun crimes today—international firearms trafficking, cross-
border smuggling, terrorist cartel-linked straw purchasing, airport security violations, and financial crimes tied to arms trafficking—are primarily federal offenses. In many of these cases, Wyoming law has no parallel statute at all. Without federal cooperation, these serious crimes may never be prosecuted,” Lyons wrote.
He said if enacted, the bills could make Wyoming a “magnet” for straw-purchasing crimes, because law enforcement officers in the state would not be able to support federal prosecution.
The House and Senate are set to meet Wednesday to potentially override some of the governor’s vetoes. It’ll take a two-thirds majority vote in each chamber.
Another veto
Gordon also vetoed House Bill 178, which would bar public employees from voluntarily deducting their labor organization dues from their paychecks.
Gordon noted Wyoming is a “right to work” state, which means workers can’t be compelled to join a union. Public employees must opt in to having their dues taken directly out of their paychecks.
“When an employee chooses to opt in for automatic withdrawals, the state should presume they know what they are doing,” he wrote in his veto letter.
In both vetoes, Gordon was frustrated with “the increasing trend of out-of-state interests foisting out-of-state solutions on Wyoming.”
“With alarming regularity, these think-tanks-for-hire use our legislative process to enact solutions to problems we do not have. Chalking up a win in Wyoming to augment their scoresheet across the nation does very little for our state, but it allows them to continue to raise funds for the fat cats who support these efforts,” he said.
New laws
Wyoming will have two new wildfire fighting modules. Each module will have 12 staff tasked with helping support wildfire suppression and hazardous fuels reduction projects. The bill carries an appropriation to fund 24 positions, four of which will be full-time regional managers. The rest will be nine- or six-month temporary full-time. Fire managers in the state say professionalizing the state’s firefighting force will help keep wildfires smaller and support some of the more overburdened volunteer departments.
Wyomingites 18 and above will now be able to carry a concealed firearm. HB 96 lowered the age at which a permit can be issued from 21.
It will be a misdemeanor to enforce any “red flag” gun seizure order when an individual is barred from buying or owning a firearm. These seizures are already banned in Wyoming. In 2024, lawmakers passed the Prohibit Red Flag Gun Seizure Act. This new law adds a penalty of up to a year imprisonment, a fine of up to $2,000 or both.
County clerks will have to hand count about 5% of all the ballots cast in their county during the 2026 general and primary elections. The new law also requires county clerks to compare the results of the hand count to the results of the county’s electronic voting equipment. The sponsor of the bill, Sen. Barry Crago (R-Buffalo), said its intent was to address some Wyomingites’ “concerns about the accuracy and integrity of our tabulating machines.”
Wyoming will start a new pilot program to ask some water rights holders to cut their usage. This is in response to Western states struggling to agree on how to share and conserve water from the dwindling Colorado River. Applications will be open to ranchers and other water users in southwest Wyoming’s Green River Basin, the largest Colorado River tributary. Wyoming wouldn’t pay users for saving water, but officials hope federal dollars will come through.
And some electric vehicle charging stations have been shutting down across the state, citing a newly enforced state sales tax that’s creating logistical hurdles. Gordon signed a new law that aims for a remedy. In October, the Wyoming Department of Transportation (WYDOT) started enforcing a 2015 state alternative fuel tax on EV chargers. It’s calculated using the gasoline gallon equivalent and amounts to 24 cents a gallon. There’s also a $25 annual license fee per location. It requires owners of public-facing level 2 and 3 charging stations to pay the fees and report to WYDOT monthly. This spurred Rep. Mike Yin (D-Jackson) to introduce HB 145, which removes those fees for slower charging stations.
“What's happening is that the tax that's being charged is like three cents a month, and it's costing these EV charging stations more to even put in a meter [to] measure how much tax they have to pay and then mail it in every single month, from the tax that's being collected for every one of those stations,” said Yin to his colleagues on the House floor Feb. 11.
Now, only charge level 3 fast chargers will be charged. Additionally, Wyoming residents who use the level 3 chargers will get a refund on the fuel tax they pay. Level 2 chargers will be exempt from the tax. They are slower and take about four to 10 hours to charge an EV.
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 10 is below. Bills can be accessed by title or number here.
Enrolled Act, Bill #, Bill Title
HEA0023 HB0045 Long-term homeowner tax exemption-revisions.
HEA0024 HB0111 State funded capital construction.
HEA0025 HB0036 Forestry division wildland fire modules.
HEA0026 HB0041 WHP, DCI and warden retirement benefits-amendments.
HEA0027 HB0096 Carrying of concealed weapons-age requirement.
HEA0028 HB0098 Prohibit Red Flag Gun Seizure Act-penalty amendments.
HEA0030 HB0043 Anti-money laundering.
HEA0031 HB0080 Identification cards-renewal for care facility residents.
HEA0032 HB0102 Protecting kids from deepfakes and exploitative images.
HEA0033 HB0145 Removing triple taxation for resident EV drivers.
HEA0034 HB0120 Energy product reclassification and sovereignty act.
HEA0036 HB0016 Secretary of state-expedited filings.
HEA0037 HB0092 Registered sex offenders prohibited from public office.
HEA0038 HB0039 Firearms rights-restoration amendments.
HEA0039 HB0069 Department of health-land transfers.
HEA0040 HB0044 Revisor's bill.
HEA0041 HB0078 Forest health grant program.
SEA0061 SF0113 2026 election hand count comparison.
SEA0062 SF0084 Voluntary water conservation program.
SEA0063 SF0099 Prescriptive easements for electricity delivery.
SEA0065 SF0121 Wyoming Pharmacy Act amendments.
SEA0066 SF0028 Elections-voting machine and voting system tests.
SEA0067 SF0069 Waste and storm water infrastructure study.
SEA0068 SF0106 Welfare Fraud Prevention Act Amendments.
