The 2024 Wyoming State Legislature adjourned earlier this month and Governor Gordon is working his way through a small mountain of bills passed during the short, but jam-packed, twenty-day budget session. This year was unfortunately fraught from day one, with petty disputes, climate denial, and other hurtful rhetoric that distracted from the important task at hand - thoughtful planning for Wyoming’s economic future. In the end, the House and Senate were able to adopt a two-year statewide financial plan and we are now patiently waiting for the Governor to review that budget, along with other bills remaining on his desk.
Outside of their budget related priorities, legislators also considered a slew of non-budget bills. A significant number of unfavorable proposals failed at introduction this session, but we won’t be revisiting those in this recap. We will however cover the good bills that you helped to pass, the bad bills that you helped to defeat, and the ugly bills that unfortunately got through in spite of our collective efforts.
Thankfully, Sierra Club supporters and many other members of the public spoke up to help beat back some of the worst proposals and to gain passage of the better ones. Your calls, emails, and texts made a real difference, and the future of Wyoming is better for it. Thank you! We will continue to support conservation of the environment, a transition away from fossil fuels, and policies that promote the rights, education, health, and wellbeing of all Wyoming residents.
And now, to recap the 2024 session…
Good bills that you helped get passed
House Bill 67 - Outdoor recreation and tourism trust fund administration - 2
HB 67 was passed and signed by the Governor! The bill creates a board for administering the Wyoming Outdoor Recreation and Tourism Trust Fund - a $6 million trust generated by tourism in the state. Without the bill, we had no way of spending those funds. Now we have a real opportunity to boost the state’s recreation and tourism industries.
House Bill 73 - Abandoned mine reclamation accounts
HB 73 has also received Governor Gordon’s signature! The bill establishes an account for federal funding assistance that supports abandoned mine reclamation projects. Who can say no to that?
Senate File 21 - Public utilities - net power cost-sharing ratio
SF 21 is a win! By passing the bill, Wyoming will maintain cost sharing between our public utilities and customers, ensuring that ratepayers will never get stuck paying 100% of electricity supply costs.
Bad bills that you helped to defeat
Senate File 72 - Utility donations
Victory! Net metering is here to stay! SF 72 failed in its attempt to target Rocky Mountain Power’s Blue Sky Grant Program, which uses voluntary customer donations in supporting onsite renewable energy projects at nonprofits, local governments, and small businesses around the state. The bill was failed by the House Travel, Recreation, and Wildlife Committee following important testimony from members of our conservation community.
Senate File 64 - Minerals royalties - proportional severance tax refunds
SF 64 has failed! For the last three sessions, lawmakers have asked to send unknown millions of dollars in state revenue to oil, gas, and coal corporations so we can backfill the cost of their mineral royalty rates. We need to be investing in the future of our state, not offering costly bailouts to fossil fuel corporations. Fingers crossed that third time's charm with this bad bill. It finally died when it was denied further discussion by the House Appropriations Committee.
Senate File 13 - Federal land use plans - legal actions authorized
Unlucky SF 13 had been passed in the House and Senate, but was vetoed by the Governor. Initially, the bill had proposed setting aside $75 million from our state general fund, for use in unconstitutional legal challenges against federal agencies. This and other bills from the session targeted federal land management practices and recent discussions related to the BLM’s Rock Springs Resource Management Plan. Thankfully, we don’t have to see these funds go to waste!
Ugly bills that passed, in spite of our efforts
Senate File 42 - Low-carbon reliability energy standards - amendments
SF 42 amends existing mandates for expensive and unproven carbon capture retrofits on coal-fired power plants in the state. The bill extends the deadline for those retrofits from 2030 to 2038 and slackens the acceptable effectiveness of those projects to just 75% carbon capture. We didn’t support the original mandate in 2020 and we don’t support moving the goalposts now.
Senate File 80 - Solid waste management - definition amendments
SF 80 permits a toxic and rarely successful form of chemical recycling that attempts to process plastic waste for use in new plastics. The process is highly inefficient and ends up doing more environmental harm than good. We’ll be keeping a close eye on this bad policy decision and what types of impacts it may bring to the state.
House Bill 36 - Natural resource protection act
More of a political statement than an actual legitimate policy change, HB 36 claims to give the Governor authority in choosing whether or not to cooperate with federal agencies, when federal directives seem to be at odds with the state’s interests. The constitutionality of this bill is downright questionable.
The Budget
It wasn’t easy for legislators this year but they finally fulfilled their constitutional obligation by agreeing on a two-year financial plan for the state. The final budget includes a number of items that we advocated for but it still leaves a lot to be desired in terms of conservation, energy freedom, and the wellbeing of our communities. Some line items in the budget that we are celebrating, include:
- $9 million for fighting invasive grasses with no strings attached,
- funding support for new positions at the Department of Environmental Quality, the Wyoming Energy Authority, and the Grants Management Office,
- and lastly, an opportunity - with unfortunate strings attached - to sell the Kelly parcel to Grand Teton National Park.
While we wait for the Governor review, we look ahead to continuing to do our part for the state, its ecosystems, and our communities. Once again, thank you for your diligent support throughout this legislative session. Without your voice we could not have achieved what we did, as we strive together for the future we all want for Wyoming.