Serving the Big Horn Basin for over 100 years
Serving the Big Horn Basin for over 100 years
After cutting $70 million from the original bill, senators failed to pass the measure to give lawmakers an independent account to sue the government over environmental regulations.
The Wyoming Senate on Tuesday balked at giving lawmakers a $5 million fund to sue the federal government — separately from the executive branch — over environmental policies and regulations.
Senate File 41, “Federal acts-legal actions authorized,” failed on third reading on a 14-14 vote with two excused absences and one declared conflict of interest.
Senators a day earlier had trimmed $70 million from the original $75 million measure, which the Joint Agriculture, State and Public Lands & Water Resources Interim Committee had sponsored. In addition to worries about the cost, legislators were skeptical about giving the Legislature an account to fund legal action that many said was a function reserved for Gov. Mark Gordon’s executive branch. A change of administrations in Washington, D.C., emerged as a reason for diminishing interest in the fund.
The bill would have given the Management Council, the Legislature’s governing body, the authority to spend the money and initiate legal action. That power would have rested with as few as six legislators — a majority of the council — according to the bill.
Unlike earlier considerations of the measure, there was no debate during the third reading of the bill. Sens. Jim Anderson, R-Casper; Eric Barlow, R-Gillette; Evie Brennan, R-Cheyenne; Cale Case, R-Lander; Ed Cooper, R-Ten Sleep; Barry Crago, R-Buffalo; Gary Crum, R-Laramie; Ogden Driskill, R-Devils Tower; Bill Landen, R-Casper; Jared Olsen, R-Cheyenne; Stephan Pappas, R-Cheyenne; Chris Rothfuss, D-Laramie; Wendy Schuler, R-Evanston and Charlie Scott, R-Casper; voted against the bill.
Sen. Mike Gierau, a Teton County Democrat who successfully amended the original bill to cut out $70 million, was excused, as was Sen. Cheri Steinmetz, R-Torrington. Sen. Tara Nethercott, the Republican majority floor leader and a Cheyenne attorney, abstained due to a conflict of interest.
WyoFile is an independent nonprofit news organization focused on Wyoming people, places and policy.
This story was posted on January 29, 2025.