Legislature

There’s a lot to celebrate this week! The Wyoming Legislature has passed an excellent public lands resolution and a wonderful electric-vehicle bill, and the Game and Fish Department is getting much-needed tax relief.

BIG WIN FOR PUBLIC LANDS

A resolution stating that Wyoming opposes the indiscriminate sale of public lands passed the House in a landslide and has been signed by Gov. Mark Gordon. While not legally binding, SJ9 is a huge win. It sends a clear message that public lands belong in public hands.

Thank you to everyone who contacted their lawmakers about this bill! It has been no small feat for the measure to get this far, and public support for the resolution played a major role in getting it passed.

GREAT NEWS FOR EV DRIVERS

Electric-vehicle drivers will no longer face triple taxation, thanks to a bill passed by the Legislature this week. HB145 eliminates sales tax on electricity sold at public charging stations, bringing it in line with gas stations, and removes red tape for smaller, low-speed charging stations. An amendment adopted this week also lowers the annual decal fee that EV owners pay from $200 to $100.

The bill now heads to the governor for his signature.

This legislation is a wonderful win for Wyoming! It makes the system fairer for Wyoming drivers, while ensuring that out-of-state EV drivers pay their fair share to maintain roadways. Thank you to everyone who helped get this bill passed.

GAME & FISH GETS A TAX BREAK

The Wyoming Game and Fish Department no longer has to pay property taxes on its office spaces, thanks to a bill passed in the Legislature this week. The move will save Game and Fish about $400,000 per year, at a time when costs are rising and revenue from hunting licenses is declining.

Game and Fish had been the only state agency paying property taxes on its offices. They will still owe taxes on other properties, such as herd management areas.

The bill has passed both houses of the Legislature and now goes to the governor for his signature.

Photo courtesy Gov. Mark Gordon

It’s been another good week for conservation at the Wyoming Legislature! Here’s a recap of where we stand, and where we need your help.

PUBLIC LANDS RESOLUTION CLEARS SENATE

A resolution stating that Wyoming opposes the indiscriminate sale of public lands has passed the Senate! This is wonderful news — but the fight is not over. The bill is now being considered by the House, and we expect to see more opposition there.

We need your help to get this bill passed. Contact your representative today and tell them to vote YES on SJ9.

GOOD EV BILL SAILS ALONG

A bill that would right-size taxation for electric vehicles in Wyoming and reduce red tape for charging stations has passed the House and is being considered on the Senate floor. This is great news! HB145 would allow Wyoming EV drivers to pay just one annual fee — rather than three separate taxes — while ensuring that out-of-staters pay their fair share.

Help this bill get through the Senate! Contact your senator and tell them to vote YES on HB145.

WILDFIRE package passes!

Wyoming should be better equipped to fight wildfires this year, thanks to a funding package passed by both houses of the legislature. The legislation provides funding for 24 new wildland firefighting positions, outfits teams with important equipment, and offers more competitive retirement and paid leave plans, to boost recruitment and retention. The bills now head to the governor for his signature.

GAME & FISH COST-CUTTING MEASURE PROGRESSES

A bill that would save the Game and Fish Department hundreds of thousands of dollars has passed the Senate and is now being considered by the House. The bill would exempt Game and Fish from paying property taxes on its offices, saving the agency ~$500,000 per year and bringing it in line with other state agencies.

Image: Meghan Riley

Just like that, the 2025 Wyoming Legislature has come to a close.

Over eight frenzied weeks, lawmakers debated hundreds of bills. Some made it into law, while the vast majority met their end. Now that the dust has settled, how did it all shake out for Wyoming’s lands, waters, wildlife, climate, and communities?

More than anything, this session was defined by the bills that never made it to the governor’s desk. Of the 22 priority bills that WOC engaged on, only four were signed into law. Whether you followed every moment or are just tuning in, here’s a look at this year’s conservation wins and losses.

RADIOACTIVE RECKONING: NUCLEAR WASTE STORAGE BILLS FAIL

Before the session even convened in mid-January, WOC’s legislative team had a watchful eye on House Bill 16. By redefining high-level waste to exclude spent nuclear fuel (which is by no means safe!), HB16 would have opened the door for Wyoming to “temporarily” store the country’s radioactive waste.

Thanks to overwhelming pushback from WOC supporters and others, HB16 died when the House Minerals Committee voted to table it. The failure of this bill represented an important victory for Wyoming’s environment, and for the future generations who would be shouldered with waste that turned out to be permanent rather than temporary — which very likely would have been the case.

The House Minerals Committee also voted against Senate File 186, another bill concerning temporary nuclear waste storage, citing the need for more information and public comment on such an important topic. HB16 and SF186 may not have survived this session, but policies embracing nuclear, including storage of nuclear waste, have momentum and will likely be discussed in this interim and future sessions. We’ll continue to keep a close eye on them.

ROOFTOP SOLAR’S ROLLERCOASTER RIDE

The session was a rollercoaster ride for rooftop solar and net metering, the policy that allows rooftop solar customers to be credited for power they generate but don’t use. We celebrated the early death of Senate File 111, a bad bill that would have made it harder and more uncertain for Wyomingites to invest in rooftop solar.

The path of House Bill 183 was a little more complicated: In its original form, HB183 would have expanded access to rooftop solar — but a poison pill amendment passed by the Senate Minerals Committee would have stripped key protections for rooftop solar owners. Because of this, and a number of other bad amendments that eroded the benefits and intent of the bill, we were glad to see HB183 meet its end in a close vote on the Senate Floor.

It’s important to note that the debate around net metering was different then in previous years. Although it was frustrating to see HB183 take a wrong turn, the strong bipartisan and community backing for rooftop solar highlights the progress we’ve made in the nine years since the discussion around net metering resurfaced at the legislature.

ANTI-PUBLIC LANDS MEASURES DEFEATED

The shortsighted effort to transfer public lands to state ownership has reared its ugly head again in states across the West. Senate Joint Resolution 2 demanded that Congress hand over all federal public lands in Wyoming (except for Yellowstone) to the state. While SJ2 wouldn’t create any law, it threatened the management of Wyoming’s public lands and urged Congress to take dangerous actions. In a dramatic sequence of events, SJ2 failed in a Senate vote, then was revived — before, thankfully, dying for good.

The legislature considered other anti-public lands bills, too: Senate File 105 would have limited opportunities for new public lands access and eroded private property rights. Similarly, House Bill 118 would have restricted future common sense land exchanges or sales that increased the percentage of federal public lands in Wyoming. Like SJ2, we’re glad to report that these bills died this session.

If you spoke out against any of these measures, thank you! The threats to our irreplaceable public lands are far from vanquished — but together, we’ll keep reminding decision makers how much these landscapes mean to Wyomingites and our quality of life.

In fact, you can take action on behalf of our public lands right now: Tell Wyoming’s congressional delegation that you oppose the mass layoffs of our public lands stewards — sign the letter now!

WILDFIRE RESTORATION FUNDING SURVIVES—WITH CUTS

After last year’s devastating fires in northeast Wyoming, Gov. Gordon requested $130 million to fend off an impending barrage of invasive grasses. After funding was slashed early in the session, Senate File 148 offered a way forward, reinstating the $130 million request and acting as an insurance policy against future attacks on these vital dollars.

But as the session hurtled toward its final days, senators threw funding priorities into chaos when they decided not to pass a supplemental budget. A compromise bill, Senate File 152, provided just shy of $50 million, rather than the original $130 million request, for invasive weed control, and gained approval from both the House and the Senate. Money for landscape restoration is sorely needed to maintain rangeland health and protect against future catastrophic wildfires. You can expect to see the discussion around these funds pick back up next year.

WINS FOR CULTURAL PRESERVATION AND TRIBAL NOTIFICATION

We saw important progress this session on tribal cultural preservation and notification: Senate File 91 strengthens protections for cultural resources by making the vandalism of petroglyphs and other historic inscriptions on state lands a criminal offense. Senate File 16 ensures tribal governments are notified of industrial siting permit applications and acknowledges their stake in development decisions, but falls short of granting tribes formal participation in the permitting process.

Both bills, which were supported by the Northern Arapaho and Eastern Shoshone governments, made it to the governor’s desk and were signed into law!

FUNDS SECURED FOR CONSERVATION PROJECTS

Each year, the Wyoming Wildlife and Natural Resource Trust invests in important conservation projects that improve watershed health, strengthen wildlife habitat, and benefit communities. Senate File 88 was the approval package for 11 such projects across the state, representing the largest annual investment the WWNRT has proposed to date.

We were excited to see near unanimous support for SF88 along its journey through both chambers and to the governor’s desk, where it was eventually signed into law. Now, Wyoming will see $16.4 million for wildlife, rangeland, and watershed projects in the next fiscal year.

From the entire team at WOC, a sincere thank you for sticking with us this session — and for your engagement throughout. Your many messages to legislators, your questions, and your support helped push many of the bills we’ve touched on above (and others we weren’t able to discuss here) in the right direction.

Next up: Keep an eye out for our Conservation Vote Report in the coming weeks, which dives deeper into the year’s most important bills. And there will be plenty of opportunities to stay engaged during the interim, when committees will pick up the discussions around nuclear waste storage and public lands issues, among other topics.

Only one day remains before Wyoming’s 68th Legislature is scheduled to wrap on March 6. Legislators are racing to debate the last bills standing and committees are beginning to narrow down topics to address during the interim.

There’s been no shortage of drama in the waning days of the session, with both successes and setbacks for our conservation priorities. Read on for the latest and a look ahead to what we can expect after the legislature adjourns.

BUDGETARY PANDEMONIUM AND WILDFIRE RESTORATION FUNDING

The big story at the Capitol in the past week was the Senate’s decision not to pass a supplemental budget, throwing funding priorities across the spectrum into disarray. With Gov. Gordon’s supplemental budget request for wildfire restoration funding suddenly at risk, Wyoming faced a tough situation — and an impending onslaught of invasive grasses. Fortunately, forward-thinking legislators worked two separate bills to ensure funding for this critical restoration work.

The more straight-forward and generous of the two, Senate File 148, failed to pass Committee of the Whole in the House in time. But the other, Senate File 152, made it past both chambers for the governor to sign. SF152 is a classic compromise: It falls short of the original $130 million request, but will allow the Wyoming Wildlife and Natural Resource Trust to distribute nearly $50 million in grants (not loans!) to combat invasive weeds. We are grateful to everyone who got this money out the door — and more will surely be needed when the legislature reconvenes next year.

GOOD-TURNED-BAD ROOFTOP SOLAR BILL FAILS IN THE SENATE

Hot off the press! Last night, after a lengthy debate and four new amendments from the Senate, House Bill 183 met its demise in a nail-biting 15–16 vote. The death of this bill means that no significant changes to the state’s net metering law will pass the legislature this year.

Rooftop solar advocates and customers can expect another year of retail-rate net metering. While it was disappointing to watch this well-intended bill take a turn for the worse, the strong bipartisan and community support rooftop solar received shows how far we’ve come. For the first time in nine years, we saw promising attempts at a compromise and made surprising alliances that will hopefully push us towards a better bill in years to come.

Thanks to all our supporters who spoke up in favor of rooftop solar this session — legislators noticed and it made all the difference in this debate!

DEAD BILLS: A MIXED BAG

Sometimes legislative deadlines work in our favor — other times, not so much! Last week, several bills met their end for failing to be reported out of committee or pass Committee of the Whole in their second house. One of these was House Bill 118, a terrible bill for public lands and private property rights. The death of HB118 is good news: It means that willing entities can still pursue land exchanges and sales with the federal government, creating opportunities to expand public land acreage and access in Wyoming.

Unfortunately, these deadlines cut both ways. Two bills we had high hopes for — Senate File 99 and Senate File 139 — went out with a whimper. SF99 would have improved financial stability for the Wyoming Game and Fish Department, while SF139 would have opened the door for common sense trapping reform that could keep Wyomingites and their pets safer. It was a disappointment to see these bills fall by the wayside and a reminder that sometimes it’s easier to kill a bad bill than pass a good one.

Thank you for sticking with us these past seven weeks! Each victory we celebrated would have been impossible if not for the steadfast engagement of citizens like you carving out time to write to your legislators on the issues that matter.

Now it’s time to catch our collective breaths and plan ahead for the interim, when we expect nuclear waste storage, renewable energy, and wildfire restoration to remain hot topics — among others! We’ll be sharing a Conservation Vote Report in the coming weeks for a deep dive on key legislation from this past session, so keep an eye out.