State officials provide legislative outlook for the coming year

The Wyoming Stock Growers Association (WSGA) held its annual Winter Roundup Convention and Trade Show in Casper Dec. 9-11 at the Ramkota Hotel and Convention Center, boasting three jam-packed days of committee meetings, educational programming and plenty of fun for the whole family. 

During the last half of the event, Wyoming’s elected officials addressed a full house, offering insight into work they have done over the past year and what they expect in the year to come. 

Governor’s address

Gov. Mark Gordon made an appearance during the event’s popular evening banquet and auction on Dec. 10 and voiced his optimism for the coming year and new administration. 

“I’ve got to say, maybe the West is going to get paid attention to,” he started. 

However, on a heavier note, Gordon noted one of the biggest challenges for Wyoming’s ag industry this year were the more than 2,000 wildfires scorching over 850,000 acres, 70 percent – or 500,000 acres – of which burned on private land. 

While this means some federal resources are not available, the governor and his team are working on providing producers with some relief. 

One of these efforts is the release of the Wyoming Wildfire Recovery Guide, which was detailed during the Wildfire Recovery Guide Webinar hosted by the Wyoming Grants Management Office on Dec. 18. 

Additionally, the governor requested nearly $130 million in his supplemental budget to replenish the state’s wildfire fund which was completely depleted this year.

On the topic of the budget, Gordon noted he fairly recently introduced his supplemental budget to the Joint Appropriations Committee and believes it is “as clean of a supplemental budget” as his team could put together. 

“There are about $7 million in ongoing expenses,” he explained. “The bulk of this is one-time expenditures I’ve requested like fire and restoration funds. There are a few more things we did not anticipate, and then there are some inflationary budget items.” 

Gordon concluded his presentation by mentioning Wyoming joined 11 other states in filing an amicus brief in support of Utah on their public lands claims pending before the U.S. Supreme Court, and his team is still working on action regarding the Kelly Parcel and the Bureau of Land Management’s Buffalo Resource Management Plan. 

Legislative update 

The last morning of the convention kicked off with a legislative breakfast, where State Reps. Chip Neiman and Barry Crago provided an update from the Wyoming Legislature. 

Crago started his address by recapping some legislation the Agriculture, State and Public Lands and Water Resources Committee was successful in pushing through this past year. 

He noted one of the biggest issues the Joint Ag Committee dealt with were state lands issues and cleaning up related statutes. 

The committee created a grace period for renewals, as well as a postmark rule, in which lease applications and renewals are now considered submitted the day they are postmarked versus they day they were received by the office. 

The Joint Ag Committee also worked on legislation regarding elk damage payouts, overregulation in slaughterhouses and secured additional funding for the University of Wyoming’s College of Agriculture, Life Sciences and Natural Resources. 

“Looking forward, the bodies are going to be somewhat different than they have been in the past, but what I keep telling everyone is election season is over so we don’t need any more campaign speeches,” Crago stated. “It is time to work together and figure out solutions to the problems facing the state of Wyoming. We need to put all of the rhetoric behind us and get to work because we have a lot of big things to tackle.” 

With this, Crago and Neiman noted in the coming legislative session, Wyoming’s ag industry can expect to see legislation move forward on fire recovery funds, eminent domain, delisting of the grizzly bear, livestock theft fines, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) electronic identification mandate, foreign ownership, state lands, taxes and water.

Neiman explained he has heard talk of more pushback from the industry and the coming administration on the USDA’s controversial Animal Disease Traceability Rule. 

“In my conversations with people from several states, the consensus is livestock producers and operations don’t want to see this as enforced legislation, they want to have a choice in how they ID their livestock,” Neiman said. “There is a lot of concern there, and we will likely discuss animal disease traceability a lot.” 

When it comes to state lands, Crago noted two bills have already been drafted out of two different committees to eliminate taxes on all state lands. Although the bills are fairly similar, one has a sunset of 2026, while the other does not. 

“Right now, the bill says all state lands are exempt from taxation, although I am not sure this is the right answer,” Crago stated. “I think all grazing lands should be exempt from taxation but there are other state lands for other purposes that maybe should qualify as taxable property.” 

“We have had a lot of thoughtful discussion over this, and I am more than hopeful – I am optimistic – one of these two bills will pass,” he added. 

On the topic of state lands, Crago noted he has been working with WSGA on a state lands fencing bill to subject the Office of State Lands and Investments to the current state fencing statute, which requires neighboring landowners to share the expense and labor of keeping up a good fence. 

Crago also mentioned a temporary water use bill that the Joint Ag Committee was able to kill this past year but has since resurfaced. 

“I am not a big fan of this bill because I believe it will be super harmful to all of our producers and anybody who has water rights,” he stated. 

To conclude, Crago said a lot of discussion in the coming legislature will obviously center around the budget.

“I would encourage everyone to pay attention to what we are doing in Cheyenne on the budget because it affects everyone every day,” he stated, encouraging producers to stay involved in the entire legislative process as well. 

Neiman further commented, “We are working very diligently to make sure we reflect our agriculture interests in the state of Wyoming, and I think we have done this. I am looking forward to having a very successful session.” 

Hannah Bugas is the managing editor of the Wyoming Livestock Roundup. Send comments on this article to roundup@wylr.net.