Featured Top Story

Senate kills $5M bill authorizing Legislature to sue the feds

After cutting $70 million from the original bill, senators failed to pass the measure to give lawmakers an independent account to sue the government over environmental regulations.

by Angus M. Thuermer Jr. January 29, 2025

The U.S. and Wyoming flags fly in Park County. (@andrewghayes/flickr)

The Wyoming Senate on Tuesday balked at giving lawmakers a $5 million fund to sue the federal government — separately from the executive branch — over environmental policies and regulations.

Senate File 41, “Federal acts-legal actions authorized,” failed on third reading on a 14-14 vote with two excused absences and one declared conflict of interest.

Senators a day earlier had trimmed $70 million from the original $75 million measure, which the Joint Agriculture, State and Public Lands & Water Resources Interim Committee had sponsored. In addition to worries about the cost, legislators were skeptical about giving the Legislature an account to fund legal action that many said was a function reserved for Gov. Mark Gordon’s executive branch. A change of administrations in Washington, D.C., emerged as a reason for diminishing interest in the fund.

“Vote, closed. Senate File 41 — 14 ‘aye’ 14 ‘no.’”
Senate clerk

The bill would have given the Management Council, the Legislature’s governing body, the authority to spend the money and initiate legal action. That power would have rested with as few as six legislators — a majority of the council — according to the bill.

Senate cuts $70M from Legislature’s sue-the-feds war chest

Gordon vetoes Legislature’s $75M land-use legal fund spurred by Rock Springs plan

Unlike earlier considerations of the measure, there was no debate during the third reading of the bill. Sens. Jim Anderson, R-Casper; Eric Barlow, R-Gillette; Evie Brennan, R-Cheyenne; Cale Case, R-Lander; Ed Cooper, R-Ten Sleep; Barry Crago, R-Buffalo; Gary Crum, R-Laramie; Ogden Driskill, R-Devils Tower; Bill Landen, R-Casper; Jared Olsen, R-Cheyenne; Stephan Pappas, R-Cheyenne; Chris Rothfuss, D-Laramie; Wendy Schuler, R-Evanston and Charlie Scott, R-Casper; voted against the bill.

Sen. Mike Gierau, a Teton County Democrat who successfully amended the original bill to cut out $70 million, was excused, as was Sen. Cheri Steinmetz, R-Torrington. Sen. Tara Nethercott, the Republican majority floor leader and a Cheyenne attorney, abstained due to a conflict of interest.

Angus M. Thuermer Jr.

Angus M. Thuermer Jr. is the natural resources reporter for WyoFile. He is a veteran Wyoming reporter and editor with more than 35 years experience in Wyoming. Contact him at angus@wyofile.com or (307)... More by Angus M. Thuermer Jr.

WyoFile's goal is to provide readers with information and ideas that foster constructive conversations about the issues and opportunities our communities face. One small piece of how we do that is by offering a space below each story for readers to share perspectives, experiences and insights. For this to work, we need your help.

What we're looking for:

Your real name — first and last.
Direct responses to the article. Tell us how your experience relates to the story.
The truth. Share factual information that adds context to the reporting.
Thoughtful answers to questions raised by the reporting or other commenters.
Tips that could advance our reporting on the topic.
No more than three comments per story, including replies.

What we block from our comments section, when we see it:

Pseudonyms. WyoFile stands behind everything we publish, and we expect commenters to do the same by using their real name.
Comments that are not directly relevant to the article.
Demonstrably false claims, what-about-isms, references to debunked lines of rhetoric, professional political talking points or links to sites trafficking in misinformation.
Personal attacks, profanity, discriminatory language or threats.
Arguments with other commenters.

Other important things to know:

Appearing in WyoFile’s comments section is a privilege, not a right or entitlement.
We’re a small team and our first priority is reporting. Depending on what’s going on, comments may be moderated 24 to 48 hours from when they’re submitted — or even later. If you comment in the evening or on the weekend, please be patient. We’ll get to it when we’re back in the office.
We’re not interested in managing squeaky wheels, and even if we wanted to, we don't have time to address every single commenter’s grievance.
Try as we might, we will make mistakes. We’ll fail to catch aliases, mistakenly allow folks to exceed the comment limit and occasionally miss false statements. If that’s going to upset you, it’s probably best to just stick with our journalism and avoid the comments section.
We don’t mediate disputes between commenters. If you have concerns about another commenter, please don’t bring them to us.

The bottom line:

If you repeatedly push the boundaries, make unreasonable demands, get caught lying or generally cause trouble, we will stop approving your comments — maybe forever. Such moderation decisions are not negotiable or subject to explanation. If civil and constructive conversation is not your goal, then our comments section is not for you.