February 18, 2022 |
In the legislature Thursday, the redistricting plan sponsored by the Corporations Committee survived a challenge to its core proposal of expanding the legislature.
As introduced, HB 100, also known as the 62/31 plan, would add 2 seats to the House and one to the Senate. Representative Clark Stith of Sweetwater County argued against the expansion, and offered an amendment that would keep the legislature at its current size of 60/30. Stith said the legislature has made permanent cuts to state agencies that deliver services to the people of Wyoming, while members are using the redistricting plan to reduce their own workload.
Stith argued against growing the size of government. House members who serve on the committee that produced the 62/31 plan all spoke out against the amendment. Most said the 60/30 plan just could not be made to work. Fixing one region created problems in another. House Majority Floor Leader Albert Sommers of Pinedale also opposed Stith’s amendment.
Representative Sommers said he could support a 60/30 plan if it did a better job at balancing the rural and urban areas of Wyoming. In a surprise revelation yesterday, Representative Mike Grear acknowledged that Corporations could have shrunk the size of the legislature but ran out of time to give a 54-member House plan adequate consideration. Grear said none of the 60/30 plans the committee looked at could solve the population issues on the east and west sides of the state simultaneously.
Stith responded by saying that “any bad 60/30 plan was better than a good 62/31 plan.” Representative Mark Baker of Green River, in supporting the amendment to keep the legislature at its current size, made a comment that drew a rebuke from the House Speaker.
At the conclusion of the debate a voice vote was taken, and HB 100 passed second reading with minor amendments to precinct lines in Laramie County and in Campbell County.
During the morning session in the House, 21 bills were considered for introduction. Among the ones accepted was HB 96, which would raise the salaries of the state’s top five officials. Representative Bob Nicholas of Laramie said the salaries of the governor, the chief justice of the supreme court and others have not seen an increase since 2002.
Meanwhile, a bill banning critical race theory – HB 97 – failed to garner the necessary 40 votes for introduction. Representative Chuck Grey was the sponsor. Grey described CRT as basic Marxism with a racial twist.
Grey’s bill failed on a 35-25-no vote, five votes shy the 40 needed. A similar bill in the senate – SF 103 – passed easily, 25-5, and was referred to Education. The no votes were Case, Gireau, Kost, Rothfuss and Wasserburger.
HB105 also passed introduction. It would reduce the severance tax on coal. Representative Tim Hallinan of Gillette was the bringer of the bill.
HB 105 would reduce the severance tax on surface coal from 7 percent to 6.5 percent. If the bill becomes law, the general fund is projected to see a about $10 million loss in revenue over three years. The Budget Reserve account would see an $18 million revenue decline during the same period.
Related: Statewide redistricting bill passes first reading in House with three amendments
