Interim committee

Lawmakers were set to pick the topics they’ll spend the next few months hearing about from the public and stakeholders. Instead, the committee discussed new rules and norms for the interim.

The Management Council met this week and reduced the number of days interim committees have to meet while also granting the chairs of those bodies more leeway in setting their own agendas.

Rep. Tom Kelly (R-Sheridan) told Wyoming Public Radio the session surprised him in more ways than one.

Wyoming has entered the legislative off-season known as the interim.

The Labor, Health and Social Services Committee’s top subject during this interim was how to increase the number of labor and delivery and maternity health care professionals in the state. This, after the state lost three labor and delivery units over the past six years.

A draft bill would extend the duration of leases given to private developers on state trust lands from 75 years to 99. That could help developers get financing for apartment complexes and other large projects from banks that often require longer leases.

Since 2018, three delivery units have shut down in Wyoming, significantly decreasing the number of OBGYNS in the state. A committee dedicated to addressing the issue came out of a recent meeting with more questions than answers.

At a Joint Transportation, Highways and Military Affairs Committee meeting in Rock Springs this week, Wyoming military officials said it’s possible guardsmen may need to use deadly force to stop equipment, like military aircraft, from being stolen.

The Wyoming Legislature’s Select Committee on Blockchain heard arguments for and against sponsoring a bill that would make it illegal to produce and distribute digitally altered media, known as 'deepfakes,' in the state.

More than a thousand rock art sites have been documented across Wyoming, with locations in every county in the state – but almost a quarter of them have been vandalized, by things like initials chiseled into stone or bullet marks.That’s according to state archaeologist Spencer Pelton, who spoke to the Select Committee on Tribal Relations in Fort Washakie at the first of their two interim meetings. This year, the group of legislators had a new item on their agenda – how to best protect and preserve Indigenous rock art throughout the state.