Karla's Kolumn: A session of good, bad and odd

More than 500 pieces of legislation have been introduced during the current Wyoming Legislative session; 500 pieces of legislation that could potentially impact your life.

Here are some thoughts on the good, the bad and the odd.

Let's start with the odd. With the stroke of a pen this week, Governor Mark Gordon signed into law a bill that recognized the blotched tiger salamander as the state amphibian. I know what you're thinking, why do we need a state amphibian? I'm thinking the same thing and I'm guessing it's similar to the state butterfly, the proposal came to a legislator from some students. Although that's just a theory as I haven't spoken with the primary sponsor, Sen. Cal Case of Lander.

According to the Wyoming Game and Fish, Wyoming is home to 41 different amphibians and reptiles.

The ugly. Well, where do I start? For a party supposedly known for lower taxes and smaller government, this year's Republican-led legislature is not living up to that.

There were 31 different pieces of tax legislation introduced this session, not all increasing taxes but several.

Several have already failed including sales tax revisions, wind energy production tax, uranium taxation rates and two related to tobacco/cigarette tax.

The bill to install a 5 percent statewide lodging tax, easily and quickly passed the House when the session started last month but has slowly moved through the Senate. It was referred to the Travel Committee on Feb. 11 and was approved by the committee Tuesday. According to the Associated Press, the committee voted 3-1 with one member declaring a conflict, to advance the bill out of committee.

House Bill 220, The National Retail Fairness Act, what some are calling the corporate income tax, has created quite the uproar from supporters and opponents. According to Andrew Graham with WyoFile.com, last week, "The Senate Corporations, Elections and Political Subdivisions Committee delayed a vote on House Bill 220 – National retail fairness act until Tuesday but took three hours of public testimony, nearly all of it opposed to the bill."

According to the Legislative Service Office, "A 7 percent tax would be imposed on vendors in the retail industry (classified in sectors 44 and 45) and in the hospitality industry (classified in sector 72), as defined by the North American Industry Classification System (NAICS). The tax would be levied on that portion of the taxpayer's adjusted federal taxable income that is apportioned to Wyoming. The tax would apply to any incorporated business with more than 100 shareholders that is required to file a federal Form 1120 with the Internal Revenue Service."

Chris Brown, executive director for the Wyoming Retail Association and Wyoming Lodging and Restaurant Association says the bill "unfairly imposes a new corporate income tax on a very narrow and select group of businesses. The bill arbitrarily targets the retail and hospitality industries and imposes a tax on corporations in those industries with more than 100 shareholders. Notably, large publicly traded corporations in other industries and privately held corporations in the retail and hospitality industries are not taxed under this bill."

The committee took no vote on the bill Tuesday night, essentially killing the bill. Some opponents said the bill would require more staff, thus growing government.

During this session there were conflicting bills introduced regarding personal state income tax, both being defeated. One would have created a state income tax, the other sought a constitutional amendment to ban a state income tax.

And now for the good. I'll be in trouble for saying but Rep. Dan Laursen's Mountain Daylight Time bill failed and that is good. Yes, I hate changing my clocks, (FYI we will be changing in three weeks), but there needs to be a block of states introducing legislation at the same time. Having just one state pass legislation and waiting and hoping others join just wouldn't work.

Better yet, perhaps Congress (I realize I'm asking for a miracle for Congress to do anything, or agree on anything right now), but Congress could just forget falling back and springing forward.

It's not going to happen, even our own Sen. Mike Enzi was instrumental in extending daylight saving time into November.

Another good thing is that the first bill signed by Governor Mark Gordon was Senate Joint Resolution 3, which is a resolution to recognize Dec. 10, 2019, as Wyoming Women Suffrage Day.

In 1869, 150 years ago this year, William Bright introduced a bill in the Wyoming Territorial Legislature to recognize the right of Wyoming women to vote.

December 10, 2019 marks the 150th anniversary of the date women's suffrage became law.

According to the resolution, "the Wyoming legislature commemorates 2019 as a year to celebrate the one hundred fiftieth (150th) anniversary of the passage of women's suffrage. Section 2. That the Wyoming legislature is proud of its heritage as the first state to recognize the right of women to vote and hold office, hereby affirming its legacy as the 'Equality State.'"

There is about week left of the Legislature and I'm sure there is still more good, bad and odd to come.

Stay tuned.