Lawmakers tout legislative successes, talk key issues

CASPER, Wyo. — Nine state lawmakers representing Natrona County addressed constituents at a Thursday evening public meeting, sharing what they see as some of the key wins of the recent legislative session and fielding questions on a handful of issues, from education to nuclear energy.

Present in the meeting were Rep. Jayme Lien, Rep. Tony Locke, Rep. Art Washut, Sen. Bob Ide, Sen. Brian Boner, Sen. Bill Landen, Rep. Steve Harshman, Rep. Julie Jarvis and Rep. J.R. Riggins.

Several of the lawmakers had glowing remarks for the session as a whole.

“I’ve never had a session like this one,” Landen said. “Every bill that I sponsored passed.”

“We did get some good things done this session,” Washut added. “Legislative sessions are always a mixed bag. It’s where you sit [and] what is of interest to you, it may not be as important to the person sitting next to you. … I had a couple good bills that got through the session, and we did a lot of work on many different fronts.”

Looking back at the recent legislative session, Locke pointed to property tax relief as some of the work he’s most proud of.

From the House of Representatives, HB 169 provided homeowner property tax exemptions of 50% to the first $1 million of a home’s fair market value. Another stipulation of the bill ensures $125 million to reimburse local governments for the revenue loss.

“I think we did a great job of getting some property tax relief to our people,” he said.

Landen pointed to a pair of bills concerning law enforcement and safety as ones he’s especially proud of. SF 114 is designed to speed up the process of declaring a person as missing by requiring law enforcement agencies to accept “without delay” any credible report of a missing person. SF 101 allows those convicted to seek DNA testing post-conviction in attempts to prove innocent as well.

Landen said the missing person bill will save lives, while the bill pertaining to DNA testing will help exonerate those wrongly convicted.

The local lawmakers were unanimously in support of HB 18, which creates grants for career and technical education and boosts CTE funding for schools across the state.

Washut called the bill a step forward for CTE in Wyoming.

“If it weren’t for CTE, there’s an awful lot of Wyoming kids who wouldn’t graduate high school,” he said. “The only thing that keeps some of them getting up every day and coming to school is the satisfaction they get in that CTE class.”

Jarvis praised the CTE programs in the Natrona County School District, and said the local district’s approach to CTE could be a model for other counties to follow.

“I’m really proud of Natrona in general, in the way they have their CTE programs and the amount of options for students,” she said.

Locke pointed to the long-term benefits of robust CTE programs in schools, as the skills learned in CTE classes align with many of the state’s top industries.

“These CTE jobs — the jobs that this is preparing our kids for — these are jobs that are foundational to our core industries as well as many of our expanding industries,” Locke said. “It was very important that we move in this direction.”

On other matters, however, lawmakers were not as unanimous. HB 199 — which expands a new state education savings account program that gives funds to income-qualified families to help them pay for pre-K programs, homeschooling or private school tuition — drew praise from Boner, Ide and Locke, but criticism from Harshman, Washut and Landen.

“I was proud to support that bill. It’s $30 million in the context of a $2 billion a year public education system,” Boner said. “We have ample evidence that the competition that results from school choice improves both systems.”

Boner also assured attendees that the bill provides ample oversight by the Department of Education.

Landen said that while he is a strong supporter of school choice, he could not support this specific bill due to the effect it would have on taxpayers.

Harshman, meanwhile, referred to the bill as unconstitutional — a criticism many legislators levied against it during the session. He cited Article 3 Section 36, which states, “No appropriation will be made for charitable, industrial, educational or benevolent purposes to any person, corporation or community not under the absolute control of the state, nor to any denominational or sectarian institution or association.”

“I did not support this bill. I think it’s a clear violation of our state constitution,” Harshman said.

Jarvis said she polled her district with the vow of voting the way her district wanted her to. Her constituents were in favor of the bill. Despite that, she said she had reservations regarding the assessment function for the voucher system.

“We didn’t end up with an assessment component that is of quality in any way, shape or form,” she said.

Riggins said he was in favor of letting the program run for a year and revisiting it to see how well it worked.

Also discussed in Thursday’s meeting was SF 186, which would set the requirements and standards for the storage of nuclear fuel. The bill ultimately failed in the House.

The issue has drawn local attention in Natrona County, after California-based company Radiant announced plans to build a nuclear microreactor in the county.

Several of those in attendance said they want to do more research into the safety of storing nuclear waste before committing.

“I’m on board with the manufacturing; I have concerns with the spent waste,” Lien said. “I’m taking the opportunity to visit with all people, from the Idaho labs to the [Nuclear Regulatory Commission] to overseas individuals — not just Radiant who’s trying to sell me a product.

“I want to be truly educated when I make a generational vote for the people of Wyoming. This isn’t just about my kids and grandkids; it’s about their kids and grandkids and great-grandkids. Because once nuclear is brought in, there’s no undoing it.”

Locke agreed that he supported bringing new industry to the state, but wants to do more research into the safety of storing spent fuel.

Harshman, meanwhile, voiced support for the nuclear industry coming to the Equality State.

“There was a time in our history where we thought nuclear power was going to power the whole world and take us out of poverty, and I think it still can,” Harshman said. “Wyoming has some of the best uranium reserves in the whole world.”

Boner also supported the bill, and said his military background that allowed him to learn a great deal about nuclear power helped inform his decision.

Ide, who voted against the bill, said his “nay” vote was due to the power it gave to the federal government.

“It inappropriately and excessively defers to the federal government,” Ide said.

In all, the Wyoming legislature passed just over 160 pieces of legislation in the session this year, out of more than 550 bills that were proposed.