A bill that would give the state of Wyoming jurisdiction over the malt liquor license for Cheyenne Frontier Days cleared the first hurdle in the Wyoming Senate yesterday.

Senate File 134 survived the Committee of the Whole vote and still faces two more readings in the Wyoming Senate before potentially moving on to the Wyoming House of Representatives.

Sen. Ogden Driskill (R-Devils Tower) argued for the measure on the floor of the Senate, saying it would simply 'make sure things are being done the way they should be" in discussions between the City of Cheyenne and Cheyenne Frontier Days on the issue of paying for police security at CFD.

But Sen. Tara Nethercott [R-Laramie County] argued that the bill would be state interference in what should be a local issue involving Cheyenne and Cheyenne Frontier Days. Nethercott noted that only a couple of Laramie County lawmakers are co-sponsors of the measure.

The bill was proposed after Cheyenne officials reportedly tied the license to CFD paying for a police presence at the event. Opponents of the city's actions, including Sen. Driskill, have called the linking of the license to money for police security as "extortion."

But supporters of the city in the matter say there is nothing wrong with using the license as a bargaining chip to get Frontier Days to help pay for needed security.

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