Immigration bill dies, the validity of marriage and the concealed weapons bills move ahead. Amy Richards has more in Monday's Legislative Report.

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A house committee has shot down an Arizona-style crack down on illegal immigration. House Bill 94, sponsored by Cheyenne Rep. Pete Illoway, died Monday after no members of the House Minerals, Business and Economic Development Committee moved to consider it.

Illoway told the Committee his bill would authorize police to arrest people without a warrant if they committed offenses that made them eligible for deportation. Representatives from business and industry groups spoke against the bill. Illoway says while he is disappointed the bill failed, he was encouraged about the debate.

Rep. Pete Illoway:

"What we really got out of this testimony was Wyoming does have a problem and it needs to be addressed. That's never been admitted anywhere before, that Wyoming does have a problem."

House Bill 8 passed on third and final reading Monday as it's sponsor, Rep. Sue Wallis says the bill would keep the state from regulating potlucks and bake sales.

Rep. Sue Wallis:

"Food ways, the cultural food ways of our state are off limits--that they are not allowed to try and regulate or shut down or and prevent those things from happening, or put a bunch of onerous and ridiculous restrictions on them."

A bill which would set up a standard procedure for all coroners to follow regarding the release of certain records passed the House. the bill's sponsor House Speaker pro tem Rep. Keith Gingery explains House Bill 42.

Rep. Keith Gingery:

"What the bill would do is actually provide for a procedure, that certain things are public records, other things are confidential, but you still can obtain them if you go to a judge and say, judge, I need this photo of this dead person for this particular reason, and the judge say, yeah, you can have the photo of that dead person. It's just really setting up a procedure where we didn't use to have a system."

Jim Angell, executive director of the Wyoming Press Association says the bill will limit the public's right to certain information.

Jim Angell:

"Autopsy records or reports, for years, have been public, simply because they foster public discussion of the causes leading to that death, be it illness, be it alcohol use, be it drug use. Under House Bill 42, as it's now progressing, only the coroner's verdict, which has a cause of death, and brief description, time, that kind of thing, would be releasable. None of the supporting documents would go with it."

An update on a couple of bills we have been following, HB 74-validity of marriages bill passed third and final reading Monday on a 32-27 vote. The bill that would bar Wyoming from recognizing same-sex marriages performed in other states. That bill now moves on to the Senate.

The Senate meanwhile passed Senate File 47 on third and final reading by a 20 to 10 margin. The bill sponsored by Sen. Kit Jennings, will allow Wyoming residents to carry concealed weapons without a permit. That bill now moves on to the House.

With the Legislative Report, I'm Amy Richards for K2 radio news.

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