Lawmakers crank up 2010 session

Wednesday, February 10, 2010

By Jake Nichols

Jackson Hole, Wyo.-Governor Dave Freudenthal delivered his annual “State of the State” address to his constituents on Monday, focusing most of the hour-long message on fiscal concerns. The speech marked the opening of the 2010 Budget Session where the big question – is the economic forecast gloomy enough to crack open the ‘rainy day’ reserves? – was answered: Not yet.

Urging fiscal constraint, Freudenthal suggested legislators keep out of the $1 billion in state reserves, believing Wyoming may not have hit rock bottom.

Teton County representative Keith Gingery sponsored HB38, a bill that would toughen DUI laws – a campaign highlighted in recent local newspaper headlines when Jackson resident Ty Watson received three years probation for his 10th DUI charge. Prosecutor Brian Hultman said the case underlined the necessity for reforming state DUI laws.

“It’s the exact same bill I brought last year which passed the House, then [Sen. Tony] Ross killed it in the Senate,” Gingery said. “Well, he took a lot of heat for that, so he is making good now.” Ross introduced his own DUI legislation, which Gingery said is a watered-down version of his that removes both the aggravated DUI charge for offenders registering more than 0.15 percent BAC and criminalizes refusing a chemical test. 

The four-week session has generated a combined 115 bills from House and Senate, down from 153 in the previous budget session in 2008. Select bills from the House include HB28, which asserts that firearms made, sold and used solely in Wyoming are exempt from federal regulation. HB21 would raise the minimum wage in Wyoming to $7.25 per hour and from $2.13 for tipped employees like servers to $5 per hour.

Senate proposals include a ban on texting while driving , and possibly implementing a pay toll system on I-80.
State sovereignty

Maybe the most intriguing news out of Cheyenne this week was a perceived federalism groundswell.

Wyoming lawmakers appear to be joining the trend of states trying to win back power from Washington.

The Wyoming Senate introduced a file that could potentially allow Wyoming to opt out of any national healthcare bill policies, should such legislation pass. House Bill 47 would authorize the state attorney general to sue the federal government over any failure to follow the federal Endangered Species Act or the National Environmental Policy Act.

Gingery co-sponsored a joint resolution to repeal the Seventeenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, passed in 1913, which wrested senatorial selection from state legislators and allowed for an at-large election. The idea has received an undercurrent of support nationwide but University of Wyoming Political Science Dept. head Dr. James King said it wouldn’t pass.

“This has no chance of going anywhere,” King said. “You need two-thirds of the House and Senate; it’s a high bar to change any constitutional amendment. This repeal would be taking power out of the hands of the people. I don’t see any national movement that would deny voters playing a part in that process.”

Other proposed joint resolutions called for feds to back off when it came to state’s rights and balance their budget while they were at it. Wyoming lawmakers requested Congress to “cease and desist from enacting mandates that are beyond the scope of the enumerated powers granted to Congress by the Constitution of the United States.”

Perhaps anticipating being branded a zealot, Freudenthal attempted to head off controversy during his “State of the State” address Monday.

“Now I’m not one of these people that’s talking about secession from the union,” the governor said. “I think that the experiment of the United States is the most remarkable thing I’ve ever seen. But there are states and we have prerogatives.”
Freudenthal criticized the the federal government for “regulating nearly everything,” saying states need to be more than empty vessels that execute federal policy.

Other proposed legislation included identifying bullying tactics of street gangs, capping bogus ATM fees at $1.50, and making it a criminal offense for minors to get their ‘bronze on’ at tanning salons.  JHW
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