With final bills signed and vetoed, the Legislature switches focus to the ‘off season’

One of the final bills signed by Gov. Mark Gordon following the end of the 68th Wyoming Legislature’s general session voids all future non-compete agreements in the state. SF 107’s passage marks the beginning of the legislative off-season known as the interim.

Non-compete agreements prohibited

Non-compete clauses prevent employees from working for their employer’s competitors or from starting a competing business within a certain amount of time after leaving. They can include geographic stipulations as well, barring employees from working for a competitor if that business is located within a certain number of miles from their previous job.

Wyoming’s new law will make those kinds of clauses null and void, joining states like California, Minnesota and North Dakota.

The bill’s sponsor, Majority Floor Leader Sen. Tara Nethercott (R-Cheyenne), said she believes the elimination of non-competes will benefit free market growth in Wyoming, especially for those in the state’s healthcare industry.

“What we’ve seen in Wyoming is an increasing trend of employers to use non-competes in all forms of businesses and affecting all types of employees,” said Nethercott. “So there’s been increasing litigation making its way to the Wyoming Supreme Court in recent years at unprecedented levels.”

For healthcare workers, Nethercott says non-competes were stifling the development of an industry that’s desperately needed in the state. In particular, Wyoming suffers from a shortage of OB-GYNs and maternal health providers.

“I think it encourages physicians to stay in the communities of their choice,” Nethercott said in an interview. “What these non-competes do is oftentimes force physicians out. As it relates to physicians, it has a huge impact. So physicians are unable to continue to practice within their own communities, really impacting continuity of care for patients.”

The law goes into effect on July 1 and only voids non-compete clauses made after that date. It does not void clauses made before July 1.

Enter the interim

In between legislative sessions, Wyoming’s citizen Legislature disperses across the state to their home communities, rendering the Capitol building’s House and Senate chambers quiet once again.

In her own downtime, Nethercott works as an attorney specializing in employment law at the Cheyenne law firm Crowley Fleck.

During the interim, lawmakers like her are assigned to joint committees that study topics, hear constituent feedback across the state and sometimes come up with draft legislation.

Those kinds of bills are generally expected to do better than measures sponsored by individuals, because they’re more thoroughly vetted and have used taxpayer funding in the research process. But that wasn’t the case this year.

After the general session ended, the Legislative Service Office (LSO) reported that only 47% of all bills sponsored by interim committees passed both chambers. That’s compared to 61% in the last general session in 2023.

“Do the committee assignments in the interim need to be re-evaluated? I think that’s true,” said Nethercott.

Some lawmakers expressed dismay at the number of committee bills that died in the session and wondered about the point of the interim going forward.

Nethercott said she believes that while interim committee work shouldn’t stop, more education on the process is needed for rookie lawmakers, including the 23 representatives who were brand new to the House this year.

“There’s just a lack of knowledge about how the Legislature functions, or how committees function,” she said. “Some of that naivety, I think, has resulted in the committee bills failing.”

Committee chairs need to be the ones to educate their respective bodies on procedure, according to Nethercott.

But Wyoming Freedom Caucus member Rep. John Bear (R-Gillette) says he’s looking at the interim season much differently. Bear chairs the House Appropriations Committee and was present during numerous House leadership press conferences held in the speaker’s office during the session.

“I think you’ll see a different type of interim process,” said Bear in an interview with Wyoming Public Radio. “You’ll see bills that are being studied and subjects that are being studied that are near and dear to the hearts of the people of Wyoming. They’re not just things that basically the bureaucracy has asked for.”

He drew a comparison to the 67th Wyoming Legislature, which did not feature a Freedom Caucus majority.

“The 67th and prior, and probably for decades prior, there was much more focus on supporting the government,” Bear said. “Whereas this Legislature, it’s much more about supporting the people that have sent us to the Legislature to represent them.”

Beyond the caucus’ majority in the House, Bear said he believes the Senate “isn’t nearly as conservative as the House.” He penned an op-ed during the session that accused his fellow legislators of being lobbyists.

WPR asked Nethercott about Bear’s comments on the interim.

“It would be really refreshing if the media could stop going to him for every quote on every topic, where he criticizes everything,” she said. “The perpetual criticism by some members of the Legislature concerning previous and current legislators … is unproductive. I think when we really step back and look, good work is being accomplished and will continue to be accomplished, and the Senate will make sure that that occurs. That work will continue, regardless of some of the commentary that is constantly provided by those that always give a quote.”

Interim committee topics will be formalized and released on April 8.

This reporting was made possible by a grant from the Corporation For Public Broadcasting, supporting state government coverage in the state. Wyoming Public Media and Jackson Hole Community Radio are partnering to cover state issues both on air and online.