Wyoming
Wyoming Legislative Recap — Day 29
The 29th day of the 2025 Wyoming legislative session Monday featured a die-in protest on the floor of theCapitol rotunda and passionate debate over property taxes and abortion.
• Around 20 student protesters staged a “die in” on the floor of the Wyoming Capitol Monday afternoon in protest of a bill that would ban gun-free zones in Wyoming.
• A new trigger bill is moving its way through the Wyoming Legislature that aims to ban abortion in the event the Wyoming Supreme Court rules against the state’s 2023 law banning it.
• A bill that would attempt to stop mystery drones from flying over sensitive areas around Wyoming is nearing the finish line. Meanwhile, a state House committee heard Monday that giant SUV-sized drones are still being spotted.
• Fishing guides on both sides of the Wyoming-Colorado state line voiced support for a bill that could prevent the mobbing of Wyoming’s prized trout waters.
• A bill that would lift a requirement that homeschool parents submit curricula to local school districts easily passed the Wyoming Senate 28-2 on Monday. The bill moves on to Gov. Mark Gordon’s desk.
• The Senate Education Committee rejected a proposal Monday that would have required University of Wyoming trustees be elected instead of appointed.
• The Senate Corporations, Elections and Political Subdivisions Committee rejected a bill on a 3-2 vote that would have required delaying certain Public Service Commission proceedings pending the result of lawsuits.
• The House Education Committee passed by a 6-3 vote a bill that calls on Congress to call a convention of states. The bill will next move to the House for final consideration.
The Governor signed the following bills Monday:
HEA0001 HB0025 Vehicle accident reporting-amendments.
HEA0002 HB0027 Disabled parking windshield placards-revisions.
HEA0003 HB0092 Wyoming livestock board-memorandums of understanding.
HEA0004 HB0014 Solid waste municipal cease and transfer funding.
HEA0005 HB0022 Water and wastewater operator-emergency response.
HEA0006 HB0030 Driver’s licenses and IDs-revisions.
HEA0007 HB0041 Environmental quality-irrevocable letters of credit.
HEA0008 HB0061 State land lease preference amendments.
HEA0009 HB0069 Foreign adversary ownership or control of business entities.
HEA0010 HB0073 Recreation safety-rock climbing.
HEA0011 HB0075 Coal severance tax rate.
HEA0012 HB0082 Provider enrollment-standards.
HEA0013 HB0004 Snowmobile registration and user fees.
HEA0014 HB0023 Surrender driver’s license-repeal.
HEA0015 HB0045 Removing otters as protected animals.
HEA0016 HB0054 Chancery court judges-district and circuit court assistance.
HEA0017 HB0086 Public property and buildings-amendments.
HEA0018 HB0166 State auditor payment transparency.
HEA0019 HB0214 Local government payments-electronic payments.
HEA0020 HB0040 Sales and use tax revisions.
HEA0021 HB0017 Career technical education equipment grants amendments.
HEA0022 HB0132 Annual permits for specified commercial loads.
HEJR0001 HJ0001 Amending Wyoming’s act of admission for earnings.
HEA0023 HB0038 Ad valorem taxation-payment and credit of penalties.
SEA0001 SF0015 Oil and gas conservation commission-regulation of pits.
SEA0002 SF0016 Industrial siting-tribal notification.
SEA0003 SF0020 Oil and gas bonding-options and bonding pools.
SEA0004 SF0023 Handicap placards-health care providers’ approval.
SEA0005 SF0025 Electronic lien and title system.
SEA0006 SF0149 Wildlife conservation license plates-amendments.
SEA0007 SF0042 Resort hotel liquor licenses.
SEA0008 SF0049 Tangible personal property-index and depreciation.
SEA0009 SF0013 Reading assessment and intervention amendments.
SEA0010 SF0078 Distribution of unsolicited absentee ballot request forms.
SEA0011 SF0080 Abandonment of water rights-limitations.
SEA0012 SF0131 Charter school leasing.
SEA0014 SF0073 Charter school funding-amendments.
SEA0015 SF0081 Tax exemption-property owned by the state.
SEA0017 SF0088 2025 large project funding.
SEA0018 SF0063 State lands-fencing-2.
SEA0019 SF0048 Business property exemption.
SJ0001 SJ0003 Commemorating Nellie Tayloe Ross.
The Governor allowed the following bills to go into law without his signature. Click on the bill for a link to the Governor’s letter:
SEA0013 SF0096 Wyoming Gold Act
SEA0016 SF0120 Wyoming PRIME act.
SEA0020 SF0006 Residential property-removal of unlawful occupant.
Leo Wolfson can be reached at leo@cowboystatedaily.com.
CASPER, Wyo. — High school athletics in Wyoming could see some drastic changes in the coming years following legislative changes to the state’s education budget, the Wyoming High School Activities Association recently announced in a statement.
According to the WHSAA, Wyoming school districts are facing a projected $3.9 million shortfall in activities funding, forcing officials to consider significant cuts to high school sports and extracurricular programs.
The WHSAA shared details regarding a new “silo” funding model implemented by the Legislature, stating that the recalibrated block grant model reduced funding for student activities and extra-duty responsibilities from $46.3 million to $42.4 million, an approximately 8.4% decrease statewide.
WHSAA Commissioner Trevor Wilson said the restructuring also restricts district access to an additional $76.2 million in previously flexible funding.
“A significant portion of the [April 28 WHSAA Board of Directors] meeting was dedicated to discussing the projected funding shortfall,” Wilson wrote.
The WHSAA is weighing several strategies to address rising costs with fewer resources. Proposed changes include eliminating regional tournaments and reducing the number of teams qualifying for state events from eight to four; limiting wrestling to two classes and restricting track and field state participants to the top 16 marks; making cuts to soccer, indoor track and field, Nordic and Alpine skiing, swimming and diving, spring golf and tennis; and reducing in-person speech and debate events by half and centrally locating All-State Music events to minimize travel. The board also recommended increasing gate admission or implementing student participation fees to offset costs.
While the WHSAA release states that no plans have been finalized and the various changes are currently just possibilities, Natrona County School District 1 Board of Trustees member Mary Schmidt criticized the WHSAA’s handling of the news at Monday’s board meeting.
“I take some issues with this, [including] the sheer fact that we as Board of Trustees members have not talked about that at all,” Schmidt said. “It is not our intent and it has not been brought to us to cut our athletics or activities budget for the upcoming school year. … I take issue with them picking sports and getting the community upset and ginning them up to be upset that this is all going to be cut when that hasn’t been discussed.”
Later in the meeting, Superintendent Angela Hensley clarified that Natrona County School District 1’s athletics and activities budget saw a reduction of roughly $550,000 in the coming year’s budget, but said the local school district does not plan to cut any sports.
“Thank you, Trustee Schmidt, for saying this, because I think people are wondering — we are not planning to cut athletics and activities for next year,” Hensley said. “We do have to take a look at our entire budget as we have talked about, as we learn more about these new rules that come in.”
Related
Republished with permission from Wyoming News Now, a TV news outlet covering the Cheyenne and Casper areas.
Cheyenne City Council has introduced a temporary moratorium, or pause, on new data center construction.
“The end goal is to actually have regulations in place, to have really heavy public involvement with this with data centers,” said Councilman Mark Moody.
The proposed ordinance is not a permanent ban on data centers and would not affect data centers currently under construction.
Councilman Moody says this is a bipartisan issue.
“I just want to make this clear, I’m not against data centers. We do need them from a national security perspective,” he said.
He said there needs to be more public input and regulations regarding data centers in Cheyenne.
The ordinance would require city staff to study data center impacts such as electricity usage, electricity tariffs, closed-loop cooling systems, groundwater impacts, agricultural impacts, and land value.
Cheyenne LEADS, the economic development corporation for Cheyenne and Laramie County, reported in November 2025 that there are 12 operational data centers in Wyoming, five under construction and plans for 43 data centers announced across the state.
“There needs to be more public input with this, and also to see how many we can sustain here in this community, cause there are talks of 43, and then another day 70. How many can we sustain here?” said Councilman Moody.
The proposed moratorium will now go to the Public Services Committee on Monday, May 18 at noon in the Municipal Building.
Sheridan will play in the North Regional Tournament at Gillette, while the South Regional Tournament will be played at Rock Springs.
North Regional Tournament at Gillette:
Checking record vs. highest team in the quadrant not involved in the tie, Thunder Basin gets the #1 Northeast seed over Campbell County, because the Lady Bolts went 3-1 vs. Sheridan, whereas the Lady Camels went 2-2.
Friday, May 15th:
(#1 NE) Thunder Basin vs. (#4 NW) Jackson – 11am
(#2 NW) Natrona County vs. (#3 NE) Sheridan – 11am
(#2 NE) Campbell County vs. (#3 NW) Kelly Walsh – 1pm
(#1 NW) Cody vs. (#4 NE) Worland – 1pm
Semi-Finals:
Thunder Basin/Jackson winner vs. Natrona County/Sheridan winner – 3pm Winner qualifies for the state tournament.
Campbell County/Kelly Walsh winner vs. Cody/Worland winner – 5pm Winner qualifies for the state tournament.
Consolation Round:
Thunder Basin/Jackson loser vs. Natrona County/Sheridan loser – 3pm LOSER OUT!
Campbell County/Kelly Walsh loser vs. Cody/Worland loser – 5pm LOSER OUT!
Saturday, May 16th:
TBA vs. TBA – 10am LOSER OUT! Winner qualifies for the state tournament.
TBA vs. TBA – 10am LOSER OUT! Winner qualifies for the state tournament.
2 10am winners vs. each other – 1pm 3rd Place
TBA vs. TBA – 1pm 1st Place
South Regional Tournament at Rock Springs:
Friday, May 15th:
(#1 SW) Laramie vs. (#4 SE) Torrington – 11am
(#2 SE) Cheyenne East vs. (#3 SW) Green River – 11am
(#2 SW) Rock Springs vs. (#3 SE) Wheatland – 1pm
(#1 SE) Cheyenne Central vs. (#4 SW) Cheyenne South – 1pm
Semi-Finals:
Laramie/Torrington winner vs. Cheyenne East/Green River winner – 3pm Winner qualifies for the state tournament.
Rock Springs/Wheatland winner vs. Cheyenne Central/Cheyenne South winner – 5pm Winner qualifies for the state tournament.
Consolation Round:
Laramie/Torrington loser vs. Cheyenne East/Green River loser – 3pm LOSER OUT!
Rock Springs/Wheatland loser vs. Cheyenne Central/Cheyenne South loser – 5pm LOSER OUT!
Saturday, May 16th:
TBA vs. TBA – 10am LOSER OUT! Winner qualifies for the state tournament.
TBA vs. TBA – 10am LOSER OUT! Winner qualifies for the state tournament.
2 10am winners vs. each other – 1pm 3rd Place
TBA vs. TBA – 1pm 1st Place
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