Wyoming Capitol Outlook; Good sense prevails in Cheyenne

Geoff O’Gara of Wyoming PBS  penned this Wyoming Capitol Outlook post at the close of the winter session. O’Gara says that lawmakers eventually tossed out the silly and vindictive bills and gave serious consideration to Wyoming’s most pressing business.

As a sometime critic of Wyoming’s part-time “citizens” legislature – cramming so much lawmaking and money-spending into just a few weeks – I’ve got to admit: serious thinking and sensible decisions often prevail. And so it seems in 2012.

Geoff O'Gara

The media – Wyoming PBS included – focus on the sensational or goofy stuff: doomsday bills and gay marriage and wolves in New York City’s Central Park. But in the end – often at the very end – the legislators toss that stuff aside and work on what matters.

So, shallow headline-grabbing stuff – some of which would have been vindictive and damaging – has mostly been defeated. For example:

— drug testing for recipients of welfare (HB 82): Disguised as a cost-cutting tactic, this bill would have subjected a few hundred recipients of Wyoming’s successful back-to-work program (POWER) to expensive drug tests which, if positive, would kick people out of the program, despite the fact that other state’s have found as little as two percent (Florida) drug violations in similar programs;

— the “doomsday” bill (HB  85): A task force to study how to keep Wyoming afloat while the federal government collapses, including state currency and (in one facetious amendment) an aircraft carrier of our own – Rep. Dave Miller’s bill was perfect fodder for winking national press coverage, but the House voted it down 30-27 (close!) on third reading.

And some of the serious stuff that required long hours and complex formulas and language was dealt with and passed. For example:

— education accountability (SF 57): despite open squabbling between the legislature and Superintendent of Public Instruction Cindy Hill, the solons kept their eye on target, approving a plan to begin evaluating whether a decade of big investments in public education are paying off by improving students’ grasp of the knowledge and skills they’ll need to succeed;

— public records (SF 25): it will be a burden on local government, no question, but this legislation will allow citizens (and the media) to see what goes into government decision-making, by making communications like emails and “hand-outs” part of the public record, when they relate to policy-making. Despite efforts to amend the bill to block access to such information, transparency triumphed.

And some of the important stuff that was too complicated to fit in a headline – but would have benefited the wrong folks at the wrong time – was dissected and stopped:

— the coal tax change (HB 38): the coal industry wanted to change the complex calculations of mine-mouth coal prices, which determines how much severance tax the state gets – the new formula would indeed have been simpler, and supposedly “revenue-neutral,” but the number-crunchers found that down the road, the state would lose millions. Despite hearing-rooms full of industry lobbyists, the Senate forced the proposal to be withdrawn;

— the aquifer land deal (SF 93): Laramie residents want the state to acquire a ($15 million) chunk of ranchland that would provide a mountain-biking, dog-walking swath of open space connecting the University of Wyoming campus to national forestlands in the east… oh yeah, and protecting part of an acquifer that supplies city water. With powerful Senate Appropriations Chair Phil Nicholas pushing for it, they had a chance, but the deal smelled fishy (the landowner was a Nicholas client), and the effort failed.

Now, I’m not saying the legislature is perfect or even semi-perfect. They “kicked the can down the road” – a favorite phrase this year – on issues like highway funding (the state’s costly but essential road system has no systematic revenue stream, like water development does) or health care (the state’s hemorrhaging costs for Medicaid and other programs got a band-aid and another year of “study” before cuts will be faced).

But it has to be said that despite the heavy workload, low pay, and short sessions, in most cases good sense has prevailed in Cheyenne.

ESPC: Session ends on high note; Good session yields passage of job safety and sunshine laws

On Thursday, Mar. 8, Dan Neal of the Equality State Policy Center discussed the end of the session, including the public meetings bill and a workplace safety bill:

As the Legislature’s 2012 budget session drew to a close Thursday, two bills improving the public’s access to both government records and meetings of public boards and agencies were finally passed when the House voted to accept conference committee reports on them.

Coupled with the Wednesday passage of job safety legislation, it looks like a good session for the Equality State Policy Center and its allies.

Public wins greater accountability

Senate File 25-Public records makes clear that the term “public records” includes “any written communication or other information, whether in paper, electronic, or other physical form.” When a document is “readily available,” it must be provided to the person asking to review it. If a record is not readily available and a written request for it is submitted, the new law requires the document custodian to acknowledge receipt of the request within seven days.

In what became known as the “grand compromise” between groups representing state and local government agencies and those seeking greater access to records, including nonprofit organizations and the Wyoming Press Association, the ESPC dropped its goal of imposing a deadline for actually providing the records.

The final version of the bill dropped an amendment made in the House at the request of Rep. Jeb Steward, HD47, R-Encampment, which would have specifically required public access to documents relating to government funding of improvements to private agricultural operations, such as ditches or pipelines, and to easements purchased with public funds.

Sen. Larry Hicks, who authored the section of the bill specifically exemption information agricultural operations provide to the government into to participate in state and local programs, signed off on Steward’s amendment before Steward offered it on Second Reading in the House. But Hicks later reneged on the deal. In the conference committee of House and Senate members working to reconcile differences in the versions passed by each House, Hicks, SD11, R-Baggs, said the Steward amendment was not tolerable and had to be excised for the Senate to approve final passage.

Steward ultimately acquiesced to the demand and the amendment was dropped in order to reach agreement with Senate conference committee members.

Senate File 27-Public meetings likewise had to get through a conference committee, though a far less dramatic one. An amendment placed on the bill by the House was dropped.

The new law requires a quorum to take any action and states that no public meeting can happen electronically unless the public is allowed to sit in and either hear or read any discussion as it happens.

It also requires a public entity to to announce publicly the reason for conducting an executive session before going into such a session. This means that important decisions that are not specifically exempted from public deliberation, (personnel matters, real estate purchases, and matters relating to pending or active litigation) are made in font of a public audience. A requirement to record executive sessions was dropped as part of the grand compromise.

The bill also requires a board to give at least eight hours public notice of a “special meeting.” These are meetings conducted outside a board’s regular schedule. Boards still have to quickly call meetings in an emergency. The law also gives public entities more time to ratify any actions they take at emergency meetings.

( Neither of the enrolled versions of these bills was available online at 4 p.m. but they should be available by Friday morning here. Scroll down to the Senate File number and click on Enrolled Act.)

Job safety bill passes

In eight of the last nine years, Wyoming has had the worst or second-worst job fatality rate in the nation. Wyoming avereaged a fatality every 10 days over the past 10 years.

While workplace injuries overall have declined in recent years, a December report from the state epidemiologist revealed that the number of injuries requiring amputations and requiring hospitalization have increased.

House Bill 80 – Workplace safety – employer assistance authorizes the expansion of the Division of Occupational Safety and Health (OSHA) by adding five “courtesy consultants” and enables the Department of Workforce Services to transfer two positions to add two more consultants. Those consultants will work with businesses to develop safety programs. Companies can invite them to a job site to point out violations of safety law without fear of being fined for the violations. The companies must agree to correct the hazards.

Increasing the number of courtesy consultants to seven will enable OSHA to respond to requests for courtesy inspections within 30 days, according to the bill’s primary sponsor, House Majority Leader Tom Lubnau of Gillette.

The new legislation also authorizes contracts with companies to subsidize purchases of safety equipment. Sen. Charles Scott, SD30, R-Casper, asked for the amendment to address his concerns over the constitutionality of issuing “grants” to companies to do the same thing. One of the Senate’s biggest advocates for the bill, Sen. John Hastert, SD13, D-Green River, defended its constitutionality on the floor, noting that the Wyoming Constitution authorizes spending from the Industrial Accident Fund to support safety programs.

Hastert and the rest of the Senate supported Scott’s amendment changing the word “grants” to “contracts” throughout the bill. The House agreed to that amendment and another Senate change increasing the amount of money available to $500,000.

Final Week: The Legislature Has Important Work to Do

On Mon. Mar. 5, Richard Garrett, Jr. of the Wyoming Outdoor Council wrote about the remaining week of the 2012 Legislative Session, focusing on bills that affect Wyoming’s outdoor heritage:

Permits, wildlife, and invasive species

Today, March 5, marks the beginning of the last week of Wyoming’s 2012 legislative session and there are still important bills under consideration and issues to resolve.

It’s going to be a very eventful week in the legislature. The action will be fast and the way bills are amended, or not amended, will make crucial differences to how we work on the issues in this state.

Still trying to improve the general permitting bill

One bill that we’ve been following (since its hasty creation two days before the session began) is Senate File 85, “General permits.”

As introduced, it would have dismantled a victory that the Wyoming Outdoor Council won in district court last year regarding the way the state’s Department of Environmental Quality issues water discharge permits for coalbed methane development.

The Outdoor Council’s watershed protection program attorney, Steve Jones, argued successfully that the DEQ’s one-size-fits-all approach to produced water permits in coalbed methane fields of the Powder River Basin was not only bad for the environment but also legally flawed.

This bill would have done an end-run around the judicial process by allowing the Wyoming Department of Environmental Quality to resume its “business as usual” and “streamlined” approach to the issuance of general permits for a variety of activities including produced water from coalbed methane projects, storm water discharge, gravel pits, and a possible slew of new developments including in-situ uranium processing, underground coal refining, and landfills.

Public input on locally specific discharges would have been severely restricted.

The bill was amended in the Senate in a way that restored the opportunity of the public to comment on the authorization of permits (special thanks are due to Sen. John Schiffer for this amendment).

Unfortunately, this amendment has been eliminated in the House and many of the problems of the original bill have been magnified with a substitute amendment.

The Wyoming Outdoor Council is working with our colleagues in the conservation community to remove this amendment and to restore the Schiffer amendment.

If we are unable to find sufficient support for this, we will ask representatives and senators to vote against the bill.

Urging strong support for Wildlife and Natural Resource Trust bill

A bill that we are actively supporting is Senate File 42, which would provide funding for large projects that have been approved by Wyoming’s Wildlife and Natural Resource Trust. Gov. Matt Mead and a broad coalition of legislators also support this bill.

The Wyoming State Legislature is rightfully proud of creating the Wildlife and Natural Resource Trust and of the ongoing strong support by Wyoming voters and elected officials for this fund.

This year the Legislature has the unique opportunity to leverage for dimes on the dollar unused and unallocated federal funds to help protect some of Wyoming’s most important ranch land and to continue the stewardship that generations of ranchers have practiced.

The bonus is that with passage of this bill we, as a state, will prove in yet another way our commitment to protecting—without a federal threat to our primacy—the sage grouse.

The Wyoming Outdoor Council (working in coordination with a number of stakeholders and conservation partners) strongly supports this bill. We are actively engaged in lobbying for its passage.

Addressing aquatic invasive species

A third bill that we are encouraging legislators to vote for is Senate File 71, which seeks to address the threat that zebra mussels, an aquatic invasive species, pose to agriculture and tourism.

If we as a state fail to continue our successful fight against this and other aquatic invasive species the financial consequence could be profound.

We are asking legislators to resist any attempt to reduce funding for this bill and to vote in favor of protecting one of our most important resources—Wyoming’s water.

As always, the engagement of our members is crucial to our success. We will work to keep you informed and up to date.

ESPC: Public assistance drug-testing killed; Job safety bill advances; Coal tax break dies in procedural move

On Monday, Mar. 5, Dan Neal of the Equality State Policy Center wrote about the demise of a bill to require drug testing for those applying for public assistance, the progress of a workplace safety measure, and end of a proposed tax break for coal:

A bill that would have forced random drug testing on adult participants in Wyoming’s POWER program – the state’s Temporary Assistance to Needy Families – was rejected by the Wyoming Senate Monday as a wasteful, ill-conceived program aimed at resolving a problem most do not believe exists.

Sponsors of House Bill 82 – Public assistance-drug testing contended that their constituents want public assistance recipients to be tested if they must be tested at their private sector jobs.

But that’s not enough justification to approve a program  that would “spend $40,000 a year to drug-test the least privileged people we have,” said Sen. Bill Landen, SD27, R-Casper. He described the measure as a “coffee shop bill” – a bill developed in response to an idea cooked up by people sitting around talking with little reliance on evidence.

Landen said he had called case workers involved with the POWER (Personal Responsibilities With Employment Responsibilities) program who reported that they see virtually no instances of problems with drug use. Most of the adults in the program are young single mothers, he said. Even the bill’s supporters said they expected the testing to show that very few people in the program use illegal drugs.

“I don’t think it’s worth the investment to find out something we already know,” Landen said of the random drug testing proposal.

Advocates led by Sen. Ray Petersen, SD19, R-Cowley, said the testing means the state is telling POWER participants that “It’s time for you to pull ourself up by your own bootstraps.”

The Equality State Policy Center, League of Women Voters, the Wyoming chapter of the ACLU, Wyoming Children’s Action Alliance and the Wyoming Association of Churches were among the groups opposing the bill, primarily because it needlessly singled out a small group of people for testing without probable cause.

Here’s the vote:

Roll Call HB 82

Ayes:  Senator(s) Anderson, Bebout, Coe, Cooper, Dockstader, Driskill, Geis, Jennings, Meier, Nutting, Perkins, Peterson and Scott.

Nays:  Senator(s) Barnard, Burns, Case, Christensen, Emerich, Esquibel, F., Hastert, Hicks, Hines, Johnson, Landen, Martin, Nicholas P, Ross, Rothfuss, Schiffer and Von Flatern.

Ayes 13    Nays 17    Excused 0    Absent 0    Conflicts 0  

Job safety

A measure seen as a first step at reducing Wyoming’s appalling job fatality rate by the Equality State Policy Center and its allies won an initial vote on General File in the Senate Monday. Sen. Charles Scott, SD30, R-Casper, argued that the section of the bill – HB 89 – Workplace safety – employer assistance – authorizing grants to companies intent on establishing safety programs is unconstitutional because it is a direct appropriation to an individual or company.

Sponsor Sen. Eli Bebout, SD26, R-Riverton, countered  that another section of the Wyoming Constitution {Article 6, Sec. 4 (c)} declares that money in the Industrial Accident Fund can be used for “administration and management of the Worker’s Compensation Act, debt service related to the fund and for workplace safety programs conducted by the state as authorized by law …”

Appropriations Committee Chairman Sen. Phil Nicholas said the programs outlined in the bill – courtesy inspections of job sites which help companies improve job safety without being fined for violating safety laws with grants to help companies purchase needed safety equipment – will save money for the Worker’s Compensation program.

“There’s a benefit to the fund to prevent the injuries in the first place,” said Nicholas, SD10, R-Laramie.

Scott was undeterred, saying, “I don’t think you can have a grant program.”

The bill passed Committee of the Whole on voice vote.

Coal tax break pulled

With many senators’ questioning a bill changing the formula for establishing the value of coal for severance and ad valorem taxation purposes, the chairman of the Senate Revenue Committee used a procedural move to pull HB38 – Coal valuation – industry factors from consideration on Third Reading Monday. The move avoided a vote that likely would have put the Senate on record as opposing the changes to the state’s coal valuation formula.

Supporters said the bill would simplify the taxation of coal extracted in Wyoming but they could not show the bill would be “revenue neutral” over the long term.

Sen. John Hines, SD23, R-Gillette, used Senate Rule 13-2 to “recommit” HB38 to the Revenue Committee. Since a recommitted bill must go back to General File to again be considered in Committee of the Whole, the move effectively means there is not enough time left to consider it this session. Under the Legislature’s rules, all bills had to be approved in Committee of the Whole by the end of business Monday or they are no longer “active.”

Hines later said the Revenue Committee could again take the idea up as an interim topic or be brought back next year as an individual bill. The Equality State Policy Center opposed HB38 because it would have eroded state and local revenues from coal production.

Community colleges a priority for House representatives

In this Wyoming Capitol Outlook post (published on March 2, 2012) Geoff O’Gara of Wyoming PBS and Mike Morris write about the the emerging priorities of the short budget session, which includes community colleges:

2012 Legislative Session nears its end; get your input to your representatives

The 2012 Wyoming Legislative Budget Session has ended its third week.

This means that all legislation must have passed from its house of origin to the other chamber. In other words, if a bill did not get three readings in its house of origin, passed all three, and was transferred to the other house, it can’t be passed into law this year.

Of the 244 bills numbered for introduction, 138 remained active this week after the crossover deadline on Tuesday. The Senate introduced 97 pieces of legislation and 71 of those bills have moved to the House for consideration.  The House introduced 82 bills and passed 67 bills on to the Senate for deliberation. Sixty-five bills were not considered for introduction.

Other important dates are coming up.

Today – Friday March 2, 2012 – is the last day for a bill to be passed by a committee to be considered by the entire chamber.

March 5 is the last day for a bill to have its first reading in the second house; March 6 is the last day for second reading; and March 7 is the last day for the third and final reading.

After that, the House of Representatives and the Senate will try to work out any differences in bills they have passed in conference committee.

So if you’re tracking a bill that’s important to you, now is one of your last chances to get in touch with your representatives to voice your opinion!

To track the status of bills, go to http://legisweb.state.wy.us/lsoweb/session/BillsInfo.aspx

For contact information for your representatives, go to http://legisweb.state.wy.us/LSOWeb/LegInfo.aspx

For general information about the legislature, go to http://legisweb.state.wy.us/LSOWeb/Session/SessionHome.aspx

ESPC: Need for drug tests questioned; Sending message trumps lack of need for bill, sponsor says

On Wednesday, Feb.29, Dan Neal of the Equality State Policy Center wrote about a bill to require drug testing for those applying for public assistance, and the debate over the bill in the Senate Labor, Health and Social Services Committee:

Drug testing people who apply for public assistance may not save taxpayers any money and likely is unnecessary because Wyoming’s POWER program already imposes strict job training and other performance requirements on participants.

The Senate Labor, Health and Social Services Committee considered House Bill 82 – Public assistance- drug testing Wednesday morning. The bill will require testing of applicants for illegal drug use to qualify for the public assistance program.

Sponsors of the bill learned, apparently for the first time, that when Wyoming reformed its welfare program in the 1990s, it eliminated incentives to stay on assistance rather than take a job, according to Sen. Charles Scott. The benefit payments are very low and a family must be dirt poor to qualify.

Yet one sponsor of the proposed law said that lack of need for the testing no longer matters.

News coverage of the proposed bill has been so broad that killing the bill now will send the wrong message to the state, Sen. Ray Petersen, SD19, R-Cowley, told the committee.

“Perhaps it is sufficient,” the senator said after hearing that case workers who oversee people enrolled in the Personal Opportunities with Employment Responsibilities (POWER) program can order a drug test and treatment if they believe an enrollee has a substance abuse problem, including an alcohol problem. (HB 82 does not address alcohol abuse.)

But choosing to drop the proposal now will send a message “that we’re not going to impose these rules,” Petersen said. Describing his constituents as “ultra-conservative,” he said he signed on the bill as a co-sponsor because the people he represents wanted him to do so.

“The reason is the frustration of the taxpayer,” he said. “They want solutions … it’s not so much money, it’s the incentive to make the right choices and getting off the dole.” He conceded, however, that HB82 “may be overkill.”

Committee Chairman Scott, SD30, R-Casper, told sponsors that because of welfare reform in the 1990s, “I’m telling my constituents that we’ve driven the people off who have the drug problems.”

Scott noted that virtually all the people who now qualify for the program face a significant life crisis, such as a divorce or have left an abusive home.

The committee decided to continue working the bill and will resume discussing it at a Friday meeting. Sen. John Schiffer said he would offer an amendment to require drug tests of all applicants and existing program participants “on a random basis.” Several people speaking at the meeting said random tests are far more likely to discourage illegal drug use because people can prepare for a scheduled test.

Concerns that the tests would be required of grandparents taking care of children handling the assistance for qualified grandchildren were brushed off by Schiffer. “If Granny’s number is up, her number is up,” he said.

The Wyoming Chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union has warned that the bill is unconstitutional because it singles out a select group of people for the testing without probable cause.

Rep. Marty Martin, SD12, D-Superior, said that the cost of the program could be higher than anticipated. He noted that a random testing program monitoring for a full panel of drugs would be far more expensive than the typical $35 per-test cost cited by sponsor Rep. David Miller, HD55, R-Riverton. Using Miller’s figure, Department of Family Services officials estimated the cost of simply testing the average of 68 monthly applicants would cost the state about $27,000.

The bill specifically protects benefits for qualified children even if their parent or parents fail a drug test. The Equality State Policy Center noted that if a parent is disqualified, a designee assigned by them or the Department of Family Services would accept benefits for the disqualified parent’s child. But those payments subsequently are likely to be handed over to the parent who failed a test but has custody of the child.

And under the bill, there would be no help for a parent to obtain treatment for abusing illegal drugs.

(Read the Associated Press report on the Wednesday hearing here.)

‘Coal valuation’ bill advances in Senate

By Dustin Bleizeffer, WyoFile editor-in-chief

A bill that would curb the rising severance tax calculation for some coal mines advanced in the Wyoming Senate on Wednesday. HB 38, the “coal valuation” bill would trim millions of dollars each year in anticipated revenue to the state.

Wyoming’s coal industry asked for the legislation, complaining that the formula used to establish the value of coal sales at mine-mouth for severance taxes unfairly results in a higher rate as a mine digs deeper and incurs more costs in transporting and processing the coal onsite.

A train passes through coal silos at Alpha Coal West's Belle Ayr mine in northeast Wyoming. (Dustin Bleizeffer/WyoFile — click to enlarge)

“So you might have two mines side-by-side selling coal for the same $10 per ton, and the mine that has the highest mining cost ends up with the highest ratio and the highest taxes,” Wyoming Mining Association executive director Marion Loomis told WyoFile in February.

Large surface coal mines in the Powder River Basin must remove more and more overburden as they chase downward sloping coal seams — a phenomenon most pronounced in the southern portion the basin where some coal leases are approaching 500 feet of overburden to top of coal.

With HB 38, coal producers hope to set a fixed “ratio” — one for Powder River Basin producers, and another for all coal mines outside the basin — to create a ceiling for what has been a rising tax rate based on a complicated valuation adjustment. But opponents of the bill, such as the Equality State Policy Center, have argued that other taxpayers do not receive the same consideration. The higher the value of a home, for example, the more the homeowner pays in property taxes.

Loomis counters, “In this instance, the mine with the least value — if you’re going to sell it — pays more in taxes.”

Creating a ceiling on the ratio at which coal sales are valued would level the playing field among coal mines, Loomis said.

But some lawmakers have expressed concern about setting two different tax methods for the same industry,  opening the door to a constitutional challenge. Coal mines in Sweetwater and Lincoln counties are not digging deeper and experiencing higher taxes to the degree that mines in the southern Powder River Basin have in recent years.

Dan Neal of the Equality State Policy Center said coal companies have nominated and purchased federal coal leases knowing full-well what Wyoming’s tax code expects of them, and that each mining company is free to make its own business decisions based on that long-standing tax code.

“Our big concern is, at a time when we hear a lot of concerns expressed about declining state revenue about to drop in (natural) gas prices, why would we take a step to reduce future revenues from an industry that seems to be thriving, and looking to ship coal to Asia?” Neal said in a phone interview on Wednesday.

While some coal companies speak of the need for a more level playing field, companies also claim to have superior products and operations compared to their counterparts in Wyoming. For example, Powder River Basin coal producer Peabody Energy, in its 3rd quarter 2011 shareholder report, appears to tout the varying value of coal products — even within the Powder River Basin.

“The price premium related to ultra-low sulfur coal is expected to be enhanced under these rules,” Peabody stated in reference to more stringent federal sulfur dioxide standards. “Peabody’s North Antelope Rochelle Mine, which produces more than half of Peabody’s U.S. sales volumes and nearly 10 percent of U.S. production, contains approximately 40 percent less sulfur than the benchmark PRB product.”

Amendments have been added to HB 38 in an attempt to keep it revenue neutral. But in the Senate floor discussion on Wednesday, Sen. Chris Rothfuss (D-Laramie) said that based on the Legislative Service Office’s fiscal note on the bill, the amendments would merely cut the estimated revenue loss from $12 million through 2015 to about $4 million.

“That’s not revenue neutral,” said Rothfuss.

HB 38 may come up for second reading in the Senate on Thursday (March 1). The bill must go back to the House for approval.

— Contact WyoFile editor-in-chief Dustin Bleizeffer at (307) 577-6069 or dustin@wyofile.com.

ESPC: Redistricting hits Senate floor; House passes job safety bill

Dan Neal of the Equality State Policy Center wrote an update on Tuesday Feb. 28, examining the redistricting bill making its way through the legislature. He also records the vote in the House of Representatives on the workplace safety bill, as well as the pulic meeting and public record bills:

The Senate took up its once-a-decade duty of redistricting the Legislature Tuesday and looked prepared to move quickly to approve the bill.

On the other side of the Capitol, the House Judiciary Committee approved two “sunshine” bills when it gave do-pass recommendations to SF25- Public records and SF27- Public meetings.

Meanwhile, a job safety bill supported by the Equality State Policy Center and its allies won final approval in the House and now moves to the Senate.

With a screen set up in the Senate chamber to allow senators to see both large and small changes to district boundaries, Senate Corporations, Elections and Political Subdivisions Committee Chairman Cale Case outlined the Wyoming population changes over the last decade that require substantial shifting of districts.

The House approved the plan last week after significant amendment that kept one senator’s residence within the district that elected him.

Chairman Case said the most difficult and controversial adjustments were made in eastern Wyoming north of Laramie County and in southwest Wyoming, particularly in the Star Valley and Uinta County. Population increases in Campbell and Sublette counties forced those changes. The chairman noted the committee tried to respect county lines so far as possible but noted that simple mathematics required by the federal concept of “One Person, One Vote” drove the setting of boundaries.

The committee also had to work to protect the super majority minority House district (HD33) that gives Native Americans the majority population in a district and assures the plan is in compliance with the Voting Rights Act.
The committee resolved a nagging question about whether senators in the middle of a 4-year term should have to stand for election again this year. An opinion from the attorney general downplayed concerns about voters placed in a different district because of the new boundaries. The AG said the shifts were simply “temporal distortions” that will be resolved in 2014, when people in those districts will be afforded an opportunity to vote for a senator.
The committee used that argument to defend its decision to allow those senators elected in 2010 to retain their seats. Sen. Case emphasized the idea that the state constitution sets longer terms for senators to insulate them from the heat of public opinion. If the House is the cup, then the Senate, through longer terms, “is the saucer that cools the tea,” Case said.

No senator challenged the committee decision Tuesday. The angst surrounding other aspects of plan surfaced in sharp criticism leveled by Sen. Ogden Driskill, SD1, R-Devils Tower. He charged that the joint committee that devised the plan was unfairly weighted in favor of the counties with the largest populations. The 13 smallest counties did not have a representative on the committee.

“The process was somewhat flawed in this,” he said. “A big chunk of the northeast was left disenfranchised … (but) this process left all the big counties fully intact.”

The result will be that a small county such as Weston County will find it difficult to elect a resident to the House and very difficult to elect a state senator, Driskill said.

Driskill’s comments prompted a retort from Senate President Jim Anderson, who appoints members of Senate committees. He said that there was no attempt to favor any county and pointed out that his own county was split three ways by the Joint Corporations committee.

“The idea that there was any protection on the part of my home county, that doesn’t hold,” Anderson said.
The committee also heard from Sen. Curt Meier, who had found his residence left outside the district he represents when the committee submitted its original plan to the House. Meier devised a different plan that shifts the boundaries in Goshen County to include a strip the runs along the county’s eastern edge. By taking in nearly 500 people living in the state prison near Torrington, the district’s southern boundary could be pushed south to include Meier’s home.
The House amended the plan to include those changes. Case offered an amendment to strike the Meier plan. He found no supporters in a voice vote on his attempt to return to what he considered the committee’s “more appropriate” plan.

Job safety
The House on Third Reading sent House Bill 89 – Workplace safety – employer assistance to the Senate. The bill approves funding for five new “courtesy inspectors” for the state Occupational Health and Safety division. It also appropriates $250,000 to provide grant funds to businesses that agree to work with OSHA to improve their company safety programs.

Here’s the vote:

Ayes:  Representative(s) Barbuto, Berger, Blake, Blikre, Bonner, Botten, Brown, Buchanan, Burkhart, Byrd, Campbell, Cannady, Childers, Connolly, Craft, Edmonds, Eklund, Esquibel, K., Freeman, Gay, Gingery, Greear, Greene, Harshman, Harvey, Hunt, Illoway, Jaggi, Kasperik, Krone, Lockhart, Loucks, Lubnau, Madden, McKim, McOmie, Miller, Moniz, Nicholas B, Patton, Pederson, Petersen, Petroff, Roscoe, Semlek, Steward, Stubson, Throne, Vranish, Wallis, Zwonitzer, Dn. and Zwonitzer, Dv..

Nays:  Representative(s) Brechtel, Kroeker, Peasley, Quarberg and Teeters.

Excused:  Representative(s) Davison, Goggles and Reeder.

Ayes 52    Nays 5    Excused 3    Absent 0    Conflicts 0

Public records and public meetings
The House Judiciary Committee approved two measures aimed at improving access to public documents and intended to assure the public’s ability to participate in public meetings, even if they’re conducted electronically.
The committee amended the public meetings bill, SF27, to make the penalty for violation a civil penalty rather than a criminal misdemeanor. (Check the LSO website to see the amendment. It had not yet been posted early Tuesday evening.)

The comittee also approved SF25 – Public meetings. Jim Angell of the Wyoming Press Association tried to alleviate concerns about what records must be made public, saying, “This bill opens nothing to public review that has not been open since the 1970s.”

ESPC: Senate restores HIV funding, House passes discriminatory drug-testing bill

Dan Neal of the Equality State Policy Center posted this update on Monday Feb. 27, highlighting a successful effort to restore funding for an HIV-treatment program. He also wrote about the advancement of a bill that would require drug-testing for the poor who apply to a public assistance program:

Sen. Chris Rothfuss, SD 9, D-Laramie, announced via Facebook Monday that the Senate has approved an amendment to the budget bill that restores state funding for drug treatment for people with AIDS and HIV.

Sen. Rothfuss’s Facebook post read, “SF1S3010 Budget Amendment to reinstate $400k for the AIDS drug rebate program has passed the Senate. A mirror Amendment has already passed the House. That will qualify as a maintenance of effort and maintain our eligibility for the Ryan White grant program.”

Sen. Cale Case, SD25, R-Lander, offered the same amendment to the Senate last Thursday only to see it killed. The amendment was sponsored again Monday by Sens. Rothfuss, Leslie Nutting, SD7, R-Cheyenne, and Case. Rothfuss and Nutting spoke for it.

Together, the federal and state funds pay for drugs essential to treatment needed by infected people who otherwise could not afford the care. (The Senate vote on the amendment had not been posted by the Legislative Service Office when this blog was posted about 5:40 p.m. Feb. 27.)

 

Public assistance drug-testing bill passed by House

A bill that will require families seeking public assistance through the POWER program to pass a drug test to qualify for benefits passed the House Monday.

The measure, House Bill 89 – Public assistance-drug testing, passed on third reading 37-23 with no debate. The bill requires drug testing of applicants in the Personal Opportunities With Employment Responsibilities (POWER) program. Proponents say the testing will encourage users to seek treatment.

Opponents have argued that the bill will discourage applicants who must pay for the drug test, offers no treatment for people who fail the test will punish the children of adult users by making it even more difficult for them to obtain benefits, and discriminates against the poor because other users of state services are not required to submit to drug tests. Read the engrossed copy of the bill, which includes all amendments, here.

Here’s the Third Reading House vote:

Ayes:  Representative(s) Berger, Blikre, Bonner, Brechtel, Buchanan, Campbell, Cannady, Childers, Davison, Edmonds, Eklund, Gay, Greear, Greene, Harvey, Hunt, Illoway, Jaggi, Kasperik, Kroeker, Krone, Lockhart, Loucks, Lubnau, Madden, McKim, McOmie, Miller, Peasley, Pederson, Petersen, Quarberg, Reeder, Semlek, Stubson, Teeters and Wallis.

Nays:  Representative(s) Barbuto, Blake, Botten, Brown, Burkhart, Byrd, Connolly, Craft, Esquibel, K., Freeman, Gingery, Goggles, Harshman, Moniz, Nicholas B, Patton, Petroff, Roscoe, Steward, Throne, Vranish, Zwonitzer, Dn. and Zwonitzer, Dv..

Ayes 37    Nays 23    Excused 0    Absent 0    Conflicts 0

The Equality State Policy Center opposes passage of the bill. It now moves to the Senate for consideration.

 

Job safety bill gaveled through Second Reading

In other action in the House, HB 89 – Workplace safety-employer assistance was gaveled through Second Reading without debate. The ESPC supports the bill, which will add five new courtesy inspectors to the state Occupational Safety and Health division, allow the department to move two other positions to the division for the same purpose, and appropriate $250,000 to provide matching grants to qualified businesses seeking to improve their company safety programs. The measure will be considered on Third Reading Tuesday, Feb. 28.

 

“No COLAs” pension bill moves ahead

On Second Reading in the Senate Monday, senators quickly approved SF59 – Public employee retirement plans benefit increases. The measure includes requirements that any public employee retirement plan must be funded at 120% before the Legislature can consider giving a Cost of Living Adjustment to retirees.

An amendment to reduce plan funding levels to 100% of actuarial need failed last week. Retirement system advocates will attempt to improve the bill, which includes an interim study of the system’s several plans, when it goes to the House.

 

Public records/public meetings

The House Judiciary Committee will consider SD25ENG – Public records and SD 27 – Public meetings Tuesday morning starting at 6:58 a.m. in Room 302. The Equality State Policy Center supports both bills.

Public records bill restored; Effort planned to restore HIV funding

Dan Neal of the Equality State Policy Center wrote about the public meetings bill being considered by the legislature, as well as an effort to restore funding for an HIV-treatment program:

Open government advocates watched the Senate reverse course on a public records bill Wednesday, deciding to strip restrictive amendments that had threatened months of work by public, private and nonprofit interests pushing for improvements in Wyoming’s public records law.

Two floor amendments made Monday to Senate File 25 –Public records would have significantly reduced access to documents now available to the public under existing law.

The amendments, offered by Sen. Bruce Burns, SD21, R-Sheridan, demolished a carefully crafted compromise bill supported by an array of interests. They include the Wyoming County Commissioners Association, the Wyoming Association of Municipalities Wyoming Press Association, League of Women Voters, Powder River Basin Resource Council, the University of Wyoming, the Equality State Policy Center, and the Wyoming Association of Conservation Districts.

But Sen. Curt Meier, HD3, R-LaGrange, brought new amendment language that stripped the Burns amendments from the bill on third reading.

The ensuing debate revealed some of the fears underlying the resistance to public access to the information used by authorities to determine public policy. Some of it was aimed directly at the Wyoming Press Association.

Sen. Kit Jennings, SD28, R-Casper, said he did not want to “give third parties with the power of paper and ink” the ability to “interfere” with his decision-making process.

“I don’t want the press to tell me what to think,” Jennings said.

But Majority Floor Leader Tony Ross, SD4, R-Cheyenne, had none of it.

“This is about restoring faith in local entities and open government,” he said. “It’s all about openness.” Scrutiny comes with holding public office, he added, and “… is part and parcel of the place we find ourselves in.”

Sen. Leland Christiansen sounded a similar theme, stating simply that the Senate should, “Keep public work open and transparent”

During the three days of debate, several senators expressed concerns about being put in a position of divulging the contents of constituent communications that include details about the constituent’s life reasonably expected to be kept out of public view. Open government advocates like Marguerite Herman of the League of Women Voters believe that those sorts of details can be redacted from documents should someone request them. Others in the coalition behind the bill believe the state’s attorney general should review the matter to clarify whether those concerns are valid.

The Meier amendments were passed and the bill itself won approval 19-11. (Editor’s note: Regarding this link, the LSO had not updated the SF 25 digest at 11:45 p.m. but the information ultimately will appear at the url.)

Public meetings
The Senate voted later in the day to pass SF 27 – Public meetings on its first reading in Committee of the Whole after only a few questions.

The bill:

• Prohibits meeting by electronic or other means that do not allow the public to see, hear or read the meeting contemporaneously.
• Requires public boards to give at least eight hours notice of a special meeting. Interested persons must submit their names in writing to be placed on a notification list. Requires boards to specify the reason for conducting a meeting in executive session.
• Gives boards up to 30 days to ratify actions taken in an emergency if the emergency continues after 48 hours.

Funding for HIV treatment program
Advocates for the state HIV treatment program have raised concerns that proposed cuts in the state’s 2013-2014 biennium budget may put at risk federal funding for treatment through the Ryan White Act. Those federal funds largely have paid for the treatment of people otherwise unable to afford the necessary drugs.

Those fears were confirmed by Department of Health Director Tom Forslund Wednesday. He sent a memo to Rep. Cathy Connolly, HD 13, D-Laramie, and the governor that said the failure to ask for the $400,000 General Fund appropriation was simply a mistake. The state is required to meet a “maintenance of effort” requirement to get the federal funds.

An amendment to rectify the mistake will be offered Thursday, Connolly said.

Following two days of detailed presentations, both the Senate and the House completed their first reading of tthe budget Wednesday evening. Most sections of the budget won pro forma assent since the legislators tacitly agree to withhold real action until Second and Third readings. But the House abandoned that passive approach when it considered a section of the bill that authorized a $250,000 study to determine the feasibility of adding a men’s baseball team and women’s softball team to University of Wyoming athletics programs.

Marguerite Herman of the League of Women Voters contributed to this blog.

New bill promising to help employers will hit floor Tuesday in House, Senate

Dan Neal of the Equality State Policy Center wrote about a bill to promote workplace safety, the upcoming budget debate, and a proposed change to the way Wyoming’s severance tax applies to coal:

The Wyoming Legislature’s rapidly-moving budget session will focus attention Monday on workplace safety and the state’s appalling job fatality rate.

Wyoming had the nation’s highest or second highest workplace fatality rate in the country for eight of the nine years between 2001 and 2009. In 2010 there were 34 workplace fatalities in Wyoming, a 78% increase from 2009.

A bill proposed by House Majority Leader Tom Lubnau offers state aid to Wyoming businesses willing to work to improve the safety of their job sites. House Bill 89 – Workplace safety-employer assistance creates a $250,000 fund to finance grants to businesses that need help to implement safety programs and to buy necessary safety equipment. The bill also adds inspectors to the Occupation Safety and Health Division.

The bill is on the House Minerals Committee’s Monday (Feb. 20) schedule for consideration. The committee meets at 8 a.m. in Room H-18 at the Capitol.

The Equality State Policy Center, the Wyoming State AFL-CIO, the Spence Association for Employee Rights (SAFER), and the Wyoming Trial Lawyers Association have called for sweeping changes in the state’s job safety programs. House Bill 89 is at least a first step needed to end the killing and maiming of Wyoming workers.

Rep. Lubnau’s bill authorizes five new positions in the state’s Occupational Safety and Health division – generally referred to as “OSHA” – for courtesy inspectors and directs the Department of Workforce Services to shift three other positions in the department to OSHA to provide three more courtesy inspectors – a total of eight.

Courtesy inspections enable companies to have a state inspector visit their job sites to identify safety hazards and OSHA violations without fear of penalty.

These moves come in the wake of a December report to Gov. Matt Mead from former state epidemiologist Dr. Tim Ryan that documented 622 on the job deaths since 1992 in Wyoming. Ryan noted the state’s industries have failed to develop a culture of safety. Ryan’s report offered only mild recommendations, however, calling for continued data collection and analysis, promotion of courtesy inspections, and support of “efforts by industry to develop, monitor and enforce safety standards and practices.”

Few companies have availed themselves of the courtesy inspections despite all the hand-wringing over safety and the state’s fatality rate.

If companies do not take advantage of the assistance offered in HB 89, the ESPC believes that the state will have to back an active enforcement program that includes surprise inspections and penalties for violations of the law to see broader compliance, especially in the oil & gas industry.

Budget bills
The House and Senate will take up the budget bills, HB 1 and SF 1, on Tuesday. The bills will be presented in Committee of the Whole for a section-by-section explanation. The House is expected to take two days to handle its Committee of the Whole debate. One Appropriations Committee member said he expects the House to go through the bill until it reaches the Department of Health budget proposal. It will pick up the Committee of Whole debate with the Health department budget explanation on Wednesday.

The Senate will get through the entire bill on Tuesday, a Senate leader said. Senators will be expected to prepare amendments Wednesday for presentation on second reading Thursday. Third reading of the bill is expected on Friday.

With legislators as always looking for ways to trim the budget, the ESPC is particularly interested in retaining funding for a prison nursery at the Women’s Prison in Lusk. The Joint Appropriations Committee authorized spending just over $1 million to renovate a vacant building that already has some basic security needs in place.

Helping women to develop and maintain a bond with their children while incarcerated will reduce recidivism and improve prospects for the children. (See our Issue Fact Sheet on the nursery proposal.)

The ESPC also is concerned about the funding for the state’s HIV/AIDS services program providing treatment to more than 150 people who otherwise cannot afford the care. Cuts have been proposed but their ultimate impact is unclear, according to people interviewed this weekend. We will watch this appropriation closely.

Coal tax break
Once the House convenes for its floor session Monday, it will take up House Bill 38 – Coal severance tax industry factor. This bill will change the way coal is valued for tax purposes. The new formula will reduce the coal industry’s expected tax payments to the state by about $12 million through 2015.

It is proposed by the Wyoming Mining Association, which says the bill represents a compromise that produces winners and losers among its members. The WMA says the change will simplify calculation of taxes and eliminate litigation over tax assessments.

The association opposed an attempt by Rep. Mike Madden, HD 40, R-Buffalo of the House Revenue Committee to adjust the formula to reduce the impact on future revenues. WMA lobbyist Marion Loomis said the amendment would jeopardize the compromise among the association’s member coal mines.

A floor amendment doing the same thing was offered by Minority Leader Patrick Goggles, HD33, D-Ethete, in the Committee of the Whole debate but failed.

Nice deal if you can get it
The ESPC opposes the HB38. Other groups of taxpayers are not given this sort of opportunity to negotiate among themselves how they will be taxed. Furthermore, no company will promise that it will never challenge its tax assessment.

Meanwhile, Wyoming’s coal mines are thriving and planning to spend millions on new federal coal leases. They project an excellent market for Wyoming’s low-sulfur coal as the nation imposes new air quality regulations. Costs of producing a ton of coal in Wyoming are far less than in mines in the Midwest, according to public company statements.

At a time when legislators have been warned about the stability of future revenues, it is imprudent to erode the tax base by cutting Big Coal’s future tax obligations.

In a short budget Session, still some environment-related bills

Richard Garrett, Jr. of the Wyoming Outdoor Council discusses environmental bills at the fast-paced 2012 budget session of the Wyoming Legislature:

As I write this it’s 2 p.m., Friday, February 17 at the Wyoming State Capitol, which means the 61st session of the State Legislature has just about finished up its first week of the biennium budget session (which will include what many believe will be a spirited redistricting debate) in Cheyenne.

There are only three more weeks to go in this short session so both the House and Senate have been reluctant to approve for consideration too many bills that could distract legislators from their primary objectives—balancing the budget and preserving their legislative districts.

It’s against this backdrop that we’ve seen the rejection of some environmentally important bills, while at the same time others that have implications for our mission have survived introduction.

Puzzling that the nat gas powered vehicles bill was rejected

The House has just declined to support for further consideration House Bill 109 sponsored by Representative Jim Roscoe, which would have helped further the state’s evaluation of natural gas powered vehicles.

It’s a shame this bill was rejected since Wyoming operates more than 1,700 mostly diesel school buses, each of which achieves only about 7 miles per gallon in fuel economy.

With oil prices projected to continue to rise (and gasoline and diesel fuel with it)—and considering that those school buses cover a reported 76,000 route miles per day, and more than 12 million miles annually—it seems rather contrarian that the Wyoming Legislature is reluctant to explore a way to use an abundant, homegrown, and affordable fuel in its fleet.

What is even more puzzling is why this bill, which enjoyed strong support from the natural gas industry and Governor Matt Mead, could not muster the 2/3 votes necessary to move up the legislative ladder.

One Senate bill seeks an end-run around the judicial process

We’ve also seen the Legislature begin the process of trying to dismantle a victory that the Wyoming Outdoor Council won in district court last year regarding the way that the state’s Department of Environmental Quality issues water discharge permits for coalbed methane development.

The Outdoor Council’s watershed protection program attorney, Steve Jones, argued successfully that the DEQ’s one-size-fits-all approach to produced water permits in coalbed methane fields of the Powder River Basin was not only bad for the environment but also legally flawed.

The state is now scrambling to protect its approach to issuing general emissions permits across a broad range of activities including storm water management and pesticide spraying.

Senate File 85, if passed, will do an end-run around the judicial process and allow the state to issue general permits, applicable across the state, thus restricting the public’s ability to evaluate locally-specific impacts to the environment.

We’ve argued against this bill in committee and will continue to argue against it as it makes its way through the Legislature.

Tax credit for small renewables narrowly failed

Another bill that we (and a number of environmental organizations and renewable energy installation companies) supported, House Bill 79, narrowly failed introduction.

The bill would simply have extended a sales tax credit on the purchase of the equipment and materials needed for small-scale renewable installations, such as rooftop solar.

At $25,000 the fiscal impact to the state was insignificant while the benefits to individuals was significant. In a state where our leaders frequently argue that when it comes to energy we “need it all” their rejection of support for a fledgling industry seems shortsighted.

It’s worth noting, too, that this bill failed while a multimillion dollar tax reduction for the coal industry, House Bill 38, looks poised to have a much better fate (that is, if you’re a coal producer).

State could regulate greenhouse gases

All is not doom and gloom, though. We are supporting a bill, Senate File 86, that will enable the state to permit greenhouse gases in a way consistent with EPA regulations.

While this bill is limited and tentative, it represents the first time in memory that Wyoming legislators will link the two words (greenhouse and gas) together in any kind of environmentally responsible way.

Hybrid nuclear energy systems

Speaking of the “all of the above” approach to energy, the Wyoming Legislature is also considering any number of bills that are intended to fund further study of nuclear energy in the state.

One in particular, Senate File 14, will fund a state partnership with the Idaho National Laboratory for the evaluation of hybrid nuclear energy systems. The INL’s lead scientist on this project, Dr. Richard Boardman, is well credentialed and, as such, we expect him to be able to keep the state’s role in nuclear energy well focused and science based.

For now, that is all from Cheyenne. I’m lucky enough to be heading to Fort Collins, CO this weekend to watch the University of Wyoming versus Colorado State University men’s basketball game . . . Go Pokes!

P.S. If there are any bills about which you are particularly interested (and you can review them here) please let me know. (richard@wyomingoutdoorcouncil.org or 307-349-2423)

P.P.S. Next Friday, February 24, is our legislative reception at the Plains Hotel. Our board and staff will be there as will any number of legislators. We hope you can attend. See our website for more information.

Wolf management and sheep dip

In this Wyoming Capitol Outlook post (published on February 15, 2012) Geoff O’Gara of Wyoming PBS writes about the confusing and complex attempts at crafting a wolf management policy:

Geoff O'Gara

Wolves are pretty smart animals, but it’s not clear whether they understand that it will likely make a big difference in their lives later this year if they tread on the north side of the Wood River west of Wyoming Highway 120 or on the south side. It looks likely that the Wyoming Legislature will pass a wolf management plan that comes out of an agreement between the federal Interior Department and the administration of Gov. Matt Mead. When it does, on one side of that un-signed boundary – not that wolves can read, I don’t think – the wolves will be trophy animals, only to be hunted with a permit during certain seasons; on the other side they will be predators, to be shot on sight. If a wolf would like one of the handy color-coded maps, he or she will have to come to Cheyenne…but then, in Cheyenne, I’m pretty sure they’d be south of the Wood River, and they’d probably get shot before they picked up the map.

If the wolves are confused, you should see the legislators. Former Wyoming Game & Fish Director Steve Farrell (now with the Governor’s office) offered the Joint Travel, Recreation, Wildlife, and Cultural Resources Committee a color coded draft bill, and they groused about numbers (will it be 10 breeding pairs and 100 wolves Wyoming has to sustain? Or will it be seven and 70? Will Yellowstone National Park be home to five and 50 or eight and 80? If a wolf goes north of Jackson – the only place in Wyoming without a Predator Control Board, wouldn’t you know – will it be one of the 50 or one of the 80? This will be on the new PAWS test.)

Click here to read the rest of O’Gara’s post at Wyoming Capitol Outlook.

Walrus in the room

This Wyoming Capitol Outlook blog post by Geoff O’Gara originally published Tuesday February 14, 2012. Capitol Outlook is a program of Wyoming PBS.

Wyoming Senate President Jim Anderson and House Minority Leader Patrick Goggles provided some on-air Capitol Outlook commentary last night on Gov. Matt Mead’s State of the State address, and when we were done, Anderson lingered to talk a little bit about the compressed schedule of our “citizens legislature,” in which enormous amounts of work are done in a very short time. This year’s budget session will run 20 working days – with innumerable decisions to make in carving out a $3.4 billion budget.

Geoff O'Gara

“I’m not sure how well it works,” he admitted. “It’s not just the budget we’re doing – we’ve got 150 bills to deal with.”

It may have worked better when budgets were smaller and the reach of the state was less. Now, you have to be an adrenaline junkie – and that goes for journalists, too. Perhaps it’s just as well – for those of us from out of town, Cheyenne is not exactly a hot bed of culture, sports, and entertainment.

Start around 6 a.m. That’s when I go out for coffee, and who do I find? Legislators and lobbyists, of course, waiting in line at Starbucks, so right away we’re talking about lawmaking agendas. Then it’s up to the Capitol’s third floor for the Joint Tribal Relations Committee’s early morning meeting, talking about a bill that would allow peace officers on the Wind River Indian Reservation to enforce traffic violations and catch drunk drivers on state highways that run through the reservation. In an hour, legislators who live many miles away from Wind River try to grasp the complex historical and cultural differences that make it hard from some non-Indians to trust reservation peace officers to issue state traffic violations or DUI’s in the state-approved way.

Take a breath, run down the hall, it’s time for Gov. Matt Mead’s State of the State address, an affirmative and cautious assessment of where we are and where we’re going (not much eloquence, I’m afraid, but he did trot out the wonderful word: “petaflop”). Greetings to judges and dignitaries and a press conference with legislative leaders who mostly talk about tightening belts to adjust to revenue drops. (The Democrats – wouldn’t you know – ask whether it might make sense to spend some of the ‘rainy day’ money we’ve been squirreling away for a decade, figuring new roads and such might be a better investment than a bank account.)

Halfway through the day, and a bunch of bills are waiting in the wings to be introduced – a process that will have to move super-fast if a bill is to get the 2/3 vote required for introduction in a year when legislators have to okay a mammoth $3.4 billion budget. But first: a complicated presentation by some energy consultants that use a bunch of graphs to tell the legislators that the abundance of new natural gas means prices are going to stay low – and therefore state budgets, so dependent on severance taxes and royalties, may have to scale back after years of expansion. (One observor noted to me that these same consultants were telling legislators a few years ago – different set of graphs – that natural gas supplies were declining rapidly.)

Uh…lunch? Not going to happen.

So in go the legislators for the first wheel barrow full of bills…but, first, let’s say hello to our constituents in the gallery, in fact, let’s get some of these folks – how about the Goshen County Community Theater, hey? – to sing us a few songs. Quite a few actually – from “Guys and Dolls” and such – while not a few of us are wondering: Don’t we have a considerable amount of work to do? And somewhere in there – can’t remember if it was before, during or after the Broadway medley – the House leadership got up and laid out an agenda of sorts, with perhaps the most interesting lines coming from Majority Leader Tom Lubnau.

“Education,” said Lubnau, “is the walrus in the living room.” Perhaps a Republican isn’t allowed to say “elephant.”

And, talking about Wyoming’s top-notch retirement system: “In real terms that makes us the tallest leprechaun.”

Which, at that point, was as real as anything in a chamber with an impossible workload bearing down on it like, let’s see, a manatee in the bedroom. Or a petaflop in the attic. I half expected the Goshen County Community Theater to do an encore of “Tomorrow” from the musical Annie.

— Geoff O’Gara is a Wyoming Public Television producer and host of the influential Capitol Outlook and Wyoming Chronicle programs.  He is the author of What You See in Clear Water: Indians, Whites, and a Battle Over Water in the American West (2002) and A Long Road Home, Journeys Through America’s Present in Search of America’s Past (1989) and several other books. An avid cyclist, basketballer and fly fisherman, he lives in Lander.

Kicking and screaming toward climate regulation

State lawmakers held a special hearing Saturday (and held their noses) as Wyoming is steadily dragged, kicking and screaming, toward regulating greenhouse gases.

Dustin Bleizeffer, WyoFile editor-in-chief

“There are a lot of us who maybe don’t want to regulate (greenhouse gases) because we don’t believe it’s an issue. But that’s not what we’re here to talk about,” Joint Minerals, Business and Economic Development interim committee co-chairman Sen. Eli Bebout, R-Riverton, said in opening the hearing.

Lawmakers had to rush to draft legislation to allow the Wyoming Department of Environmental Quality to begin forming a program to regulate industrial greenhouse gases, which the world’s top scientists believe are a major contributor to global warming. Their urgency is to avoid relinquishing primacy of pending new federal air quality regulation to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

Ever since the Bush-era Supreme Court ruling determining that greenhouse gases are a pollutant, EPA has worked against political headwinds to prepare to regulate greenhouse gas sources ranging from agricultural activities to tailpipe emissions and major industrial sources such as coal-fired power plants. Content with Wyoming’s long heritage (albeit boom-and-bust) as a fossil fuel exporter, state leaders have vehemently defied calls for greenhouse gas regulations, fearing such policies would hobble the state’s coal mining industry.

For decades, Wyoming has been the nation’s largest supplier of coal. In 1999, in direct response to President Bill Clinton’s signing of the Kyoto Protocol on global warming, Wyoming lawmakers passed their own Kyoto bill strictly prohibiting the regulation of greenhouse gases in the Cowboy State.

That law will stay on the books, for now. And Wyoming will continue to fight — among several other state petitioners — against the federal government over EPA’s regulation of greenhouse gases. But, Saturday’s meeting was an admission of the practical need to get the state’s house in order in case the march toward greenhouse gas regulation cannot be stopped. Late last year it became apparent that Wyoming’s anti-Kyoto law would force industries emitting more than 75,000 tons of CO2 per year to obtain permits from both Wyoming DEQ and the EPA Region 8 office in Denver.

“What we didn’t know at the time is there is some hassle with that. … The hassle alone is not trivial,” Rob Hurless, energy policy advisor to Gov. Matt Mead, told the committee on Saturday.

Rocky Mountain Power has added pollution controls to its Dave Johnston coal-fired power plant near Glenrock in recent years, but it remains a major source of greenhouse gas emissions in Wyoming. The power plant has been in operation for more than 42 years. (Dustin Bleizeffer/WyoFile - click to enlarge)

In the face of “dual permitting” in Wyoming, companies might be tempted to locate their new major industrial facilities outside the state’s borders — a major threat for a state actively supporting advanced coal conversion projects such as DKRW Advanced Fuel’s coal-to-gasoline project near Medicine Bow.

For the past couple of months, the state worked closely with representatives from the coal sector and oil and gas sector — two industries that have differing interests in greenhouse gas regulations — to come up with a strategy: allow DEQ to draft a greenhouse gas regulation program so that the job remains with the state and not with EPA. Supporters also said DEQ should not be allowed to implement its greenhouse gas regulation program unless directed to do so by the federal courts or the Wyoming legislature.

“We’d much rather have the state regulating greenhouse gases if they’re going to be regulated,” said Hurless.

One major advantage of state-level regulation of greenhouse gases — as lawmakers and industry officials see it — is that an appeal of a DEQ-issued emissions permit doesn’t automatically place a stay on construction. A similar appeal under the EPA-administered program, could result in a stay on construction.

Basin Electric Power Cooperative enjoyed that state-level advantage when it built the new Dry Fork Station coal-fired power plant just north of Gillette. The company received an emissions permit from Wyoming DEQ. Environmental groups challenged the project based on, among other things, greenhouse gas emissions. But construction was allowed to continue during the legal process.

Those close to Wyoming’s effort to draft a greenhouse gas regulation plan noted that consensus is tentative among the ad hoc group of industry officials in Wyoming. For example, pressures for lower carbon emissions from major sources has contributed to a shift among electric utilities from coal to natural gas in recent years. Key to maintaining consensus support of Wyoming’s bill, according to those involved, is a stipulation that Wyoming DEQ may not implement greenhouse gas controls more stringent that the federal government requires.

Both lawmakers and industry officials continued seeking assurances that implementing a state-level greenhouse gas program would not stop the state from fighting EPA on greenhouse gas regulation in federal courts.

“If Wyoming — the largest coal-producing state in the nation — caves in to EPA, why should any other state continue the fight,” said Marion Loomis, executive director of the Wyoming Mining Association. “The key to keeping everyone on-board is the no-more-stringent language.”

A handful of lobbyists from Wyoming-based environmental groups who participated in the Saturday hearing had few comments to add.

Shannon Anderson, organizer for the landowner advocacy group Powder River Basin Resource Council, told the commission, “We support state regulation of greenhouse gases, and if this bill is a vehicle to do that, we support that.”

— Contact Dustin Bleizeffer at 307-577-6069 or dustin@wyofile.com.

— If you enjoyed this column and would like to see more quality Wyoming journalism, please consider supporting WyoFile: a non-partisan, non-profit news organization dedicated to in-depth reporting on Wyoming’s people, places and policy.

REPUBLISH THIS COLUMN: For details on how you can republish this column or other WyoFile content for free, click here.

Gov. Mead opens Legislature’s budget session

Dan Neal of the Equality State Policy Center wrote about Gov. Matt Mead’s speech at the opening of the 2012 Wyoming Legislative session, in which matters of workplace safety, lowered revenue expectations and infrastructure investment were the top topics of discussion:

“The 61st Wyoming Legislature opened Monday with Gov. Matt Mead declaring, ‘The state of the State is strong.’

Wyoming Gov. Matt Mead. (click to enlarge)

Wyoming must plan for lower revenues from natural gas extraction, he said. But he said the state remains strong financially and still has many options to explore thanks in large part to extraction of minerals worth more than $15.5 billion and a thriving tourism industry.

The governor touched briefly on worker safety, a top priority of the Equality State Policy Center in the 2012 budget session. Mead asked the legislature to support his proposal, which includes a request that the legislature create five new positions for courtesy inspectors for OSHA. On courtesy inspections, those inspectors would assess work sites and indentify potential hazards and violations of safety law but assess no penalties. The companies involved would be alerted and allowed a defined period to correct any violations.

In his very positive State of the State message, the governor spoke of the need to concentrate more on technology to diversify the economy by building on the presence of the NCAR super-computer in Wyoming and expanding the availability of broadband across the state. He also urged careful examination of “value-added technologies” such as coal-to-liquids – a reference to the big DKRW coal-to-liquids plant proposed near Medicine Bow – and gas-to-liquids.”

Click here to read the rest of Neal’s post.

It’s Your Legislature: Get Its Attention

With the 2012 Wyoming Legislative session already under way and likely to breeze through a few hundred bills in less than 20 days, getting your senator’s or representative’s attention regarding legislation you care about will require excellent timing and the right method of contact. Here’s an overview of the surprising variety of ways you can make your voice heard.

First, Know Which Legislators Are Yours

Many of the best ways to contact legislators require you to know, by name, which ones represent you. The Legislature offers a helpful “address lookup” function that will identify your lawmakers by name (click on “Locate Your Representative” or “Locate Your Senator.”)

Leave a Message on their Desk

You can leave a brief message for a member via phone. The House or Senate receptionist will take down a simple message (“Vote No on House Bill 255” or “Please call me about day care licensing” are about all they will transcribe for you) and deliver it to the lawmaker’s desk. Many legislators will call you back, but usually at the end of the day, so your particular issue might have already gone by if you’re not ahead of the game.

Senate Receptionist at (307) 777-7711

House Receptionist at (307) 777-7852

Send An E-Mail

Like many of us, legislators are on their computers and looking at e-mail while they work. If it’s between 10 a.m. and noon, or 2 p.m. and about 4 p.m., they are likely at their desk trying to keep up with the stream of messages. Emails for representatives and senators can be found on the Legislature’s website. Short personal messages are best, with clear messages in the subject line.

Drop Them a Line

Written mail may be directed to a legislator in care of the Wyoming House or Senate, State Capitol, Cheyenne, WY, 82002. This is an attention-getting method, as most folks don’t bother writing letters, but give yourself some time for it to be delivered. Thank-you cards certainly get a good reception, if you have someone to thank for their vote.

Just the Fax

Very few people do this, but there’s a working fax up at the Capitol still, and sometimes getting your message noticed is half the battle. Faxes to legislators can be sent to (307) 777-5466 and will get delivered to the member’s desk just like a phone message, but in your own words.

Tracking Bills at the Legislature

Now that you’ve let your lawmakers know what you want them to do, you can track how that went over. Again, there are many methods, some better for certain circumstances.

By Phone

Bills can be tracked using the Bill Status Information Service by calling 1-800-342-9570.  This service provides information about where a bill is in the process, but does not provide information about the details of the legislation, and does not allow callers to leave messages for legislators. This service is available on days the Legislature is in session from 8 a.m. until 5 p.m. The legislature’s employees who handle these calls are unfailingly polite and know the process well.

Online

The Wyoming Legislature’s website will have daily updates with important legislative information, including the text of all bills; information about amendments; a record of all roll call votes posted as soon as possible after each vote; record of actions taken on bills; bill status; Senate and House daily calendars; and standing committee meeting schedules.

To use the website to track voting at the Legislature, click on the “2012 Bill Tracking Information” link on the homepage and then on the “Roll Call Votes on Bills and Amendments” link. On the top of the page select  “Floor Votes” or “Committee Votes” from the drop-down menu. Then, select whether you would like the votes on House Bills or Senate Files. A list of all bills will then display on the page. Once you have selected the bill you want to review, the actions that were taken, as well as the day the actions were taken will display in the main section of the page. Click on the “view” link to see how each individual legislator voted.

Also available on the website are live and archived audio proceedings of the Wyoming Senate and the Wyoming House of Representatives. A link will be available on the Website when the session begins that provides the option of listening to live proceedings, if the House and Senate are convened, and an archive of daily legislative proceedings.

In Person

The Capitol is an open and historic building and the public is always invited to sit in on committee meetings, watch floor proceedings from the gallery, or wait in the lobby to chat. Seating can be quite limited — and so can standing room. Paper copies of bills and amendments can be obtained at the Legislative Service Office in Room 213 in the Capitol building. Additionally, schedules of floor proceeding for both the house and the senate can be obtained in the office and are posted in the capitol rotunda. Schedules of the committees’ meetings are also available at the LSO office, or on bulletin boards near the entrance to each house’s lobby (and on the committees’ meeting room doors).

Giving input on Bills

Keep in mind that any input you give using either of these services here, or by testifying in person, is considered part of the public record.

By Phone

You can use the telephone hotline to support or oppose legislation. Within Wyoming, the number is 1-866-996-8683 and for local callers within the Cheyenne area 777-8683. Callers will not be able to leave comments regarding a bill or leave any complicated details at all, including “vote no on the Burns amendment tomorrow.” On the plus side, your “vote yes” or “vote no” message will go to all legislators from your county, not just your specific members.

Online

You can voice your support for or opposition to a bill, as well as leaving brief comments, here. Comments will be made available to all legislators.

In-Person

During the session, when a bill is introduced in either the Senate or the House, it is sent to a standing committee for review and to receive public comment. You are welcome to attend standing committee meetings and to testify for or against legislation.  If you would like to provide written information to the Committee, you will be requested to fill out a Committee Handout Form at the meeting (copies of the form are also available on the Legislature’s Website).  You are encouraged to e-mail an electronic copy of your handout in advance to the LSO at: legdocs@wyoleg.gov, so staff can maintain an electronic archive of committee handouts.

Now What Are You Waiting For?

The days of legislators meeting at the spur of the moment to kill a bill or lingering into the wee hours after dinner are long gone, and not much remembered by the current, high-turnover memberships of the House and Senate. The legislative branch has been continually developing online resources and greater connectivity and is far more transparent to the public than it was even 15 years ago. While that doesn’t mean your lawmakers are any more likely to agree with you than they ever were, it does mean there are fewer reasons to sideline yourself from the process. Wyoming’s legislature meets less often than most states’ do — why not give them a little something to think about while they’re in town?