Wyoming Legislature begins in Cheyenne

The Wyoming Legislature kicks off today (Tuesday), and local lawmakers are boning up on issues ranging from education reform, to fuel taxes for highway funding, to Wyoming’s response to the federal Affordable Care Act, to state agency budget cuts.

“Probably the first thing I’ll be working on down there is education accountability,” said Sen. Hank Coe, R-Cody, who serves as chairman of the Senate Education Committee. “We will continue our pursuit of accountability, which is now directed by law.”

Rep. Dave Blevins, R-Powell, said education is one of the topics he expects to learn more about during coming weeks.

Blevins, elected in November, said, “It will maybe take some changes in the way we’re testing. That seems to be a component to this answer. We’re going to be taking a look at that, a really hard look, I’m sure.”

Rep. David Northrup, R-Powell, also elected in November, said education accountability might be pushed back for a year.

“Education will be a tough one to do,” Northrup said. “The (Wyoming) Department of Education has lost 16 full-time people. They have lost a lot of institutional knowledge.”

Therefore, additional time may be needed “to give the department of education time to get their arms around” accountability measures, he said. “That department will require some work before it is functioning as it should be.”

Fuel tax

A bill that would raise the fuel tax in Wyoming by 10 cents, from 14 cents to 24 cents per gallon, is getting resistance from local legislators.

“As it stands right now, I’m opposed to it,” Coe said. “I think this is the wrong time to increase taxes on the people of Wyoming. I don’t happen to share the philosophy of a lot of people in the state that we have terrible highways.”

Coe said he thinks most of the funding shortfall centers around Interstate 80 in southern Wyoming.

“I think we have an I-80 problem,” he said.

Coe said he has no idea how to address that problem, but raising the fuel tax statewide is not the answer.

“I drive a lot in Montana ... and I appreciate Wyoming roads when I get back,” he said.

Rep. Sam Krone, R-Cody, said he isn’t sure that adding 10 cents in fuel tax all at once is a good idea, though with decreasing federal funds, he says something has to be done.

“I’d feel more comfortable if the 10 cents was phased in over time,” Krone said, adding, “We’re going to have to pay more around road maintenance, but 10 cents is a lot.”

Northrup said he also opposes the fuel tax, which would raise the price of gasoline and diesel, at least for a while.

“I’m learning more and more to not be in favor of it,” Northrup said. “In the Big Horn Basin, it will raise the day after the bill is passed. Personally, that’s going to cost me, on my farm, in excess of $2,000 in round figures, and that’s a hard pill for me to swallow when we don’t get to pass that (cost) on.

“Everyone else gets to pass that on through increased prices. ... On every item it’s going to touch, it’s going to increase the price. It’s kind of a double hit — first at the gas pump, then you get hit again at the store.”

Fuel tax is higher in states surrounding Wyoming, but gas prices aren’t substantially higher in those states, so proponents say said it’s likely the price increase from a fuel tax increase would be temporary.

Northrup agreed that is likely.

“It will be high for a while,” he said, “but it will come back down. But commodity prices will probably remain high because of ... diesel surcharges that show up on the bottom of invoices.”

Blevins said he understands that some Wyoming highways are in need of repair.

“That’s an important issue,” he said. “The highway system, in Wyoming, that’s how we connect. We can’t take a plane to Cheyenne or a train to Rawlins.”

Still, a 10-cent hike in fuel tax may not be the best answer, Blevins said.

“I think there are many ways to skin this cat besides a fuel tax,” he said.

Those could include using mineral severance money, a graduated tax over several years, or targeting trucks and larger vehicles that do the most harm to highways, he said.

“I think we do have other alternatives, so I will continue to listen,” he said.

Northrup said many people have asked him how he feels about the proposed gas tax.

“They stop in the street,” he said. “I’m glad to have that kind of input; if you don’t have that kind of input, you don’t know what they’re thinking.”

Health care

Legislators agreed that health care is another big issue for the 2013 Legislature.

Blevins said health care is one of his main areas of focus as the Legislature begins.

“How we’re going to fit in with the (federal) Affordable Care Act is really the front-burner issue right now,” Blevins said.

Northrup said he’s waiting for more information on that, too.

“We need more information before we can even act on it,” he said. “Those (interim) committees need to come back and tell us what they’ve found. They have worked all summer on it.”

“I think we need to take some real proactive steps,” Krone said. He said legislators will have to make a lot of decisions about how to work towards affordable, quality care.”

Gov. Matt Mead has recommended that the Legislature reject $50 million from the federal government to expand eligibility for Medicaid, a cornerstone of the federal Affordable Care Act. Mead also has declined the invitation to set up a state health insurance exchange, an Internet marketplace that would allow state residents to shop for the cheapest deals on insurance, leaving the job for the federal government.

House Speaker Tom Lubnau, R-Gillette, told The Associated Press he believes the majority in the House is opposed to expanding Medicaid, a move that could extend coverage to some 30,000 Wyoming residents. He said he needs more information before deciding on his personal stand.

Hunting and fishing fees

Krone said he’s heard a variety of opinions about the proposed hike in hunting and fishing license fees and doesn’t have a position going into the session.

His primary concern is fees for youth and senior citizen licenses, which he said are proposed to mostly stay the same.

Northrup and Coe both take dim views of a bill that would raise resident and nonresident hunting license fees by large amounts.

“I’ve had an awful lot of input about it from an awful lot of people who are concerned about the (license fee hikes) and its effect on outfitters,” Coe said.

“I’m anxious to see what kind of amendments they’ll put on those,” Northrup said. “The full amount, I’m not sure is reasonable. You start chasing people away when the price is too high. It seems a little extravagant, too much of a jump. They need to find a better way to fund that. They get a lot of federal funding as well.”

That’s also true for the Wyoming Department of Transportation, and that federal funding makes those agencies’ budgets hard for legislators to get a grasp on.

“With the Department of Transportation and the Game and Fish, you never see the full story,” Northrup said.

Blevins said he has concerns as well.

“Game and fish are a natural resource, and we need to take care of them,” he said. “I think that has more facets than one might think. It’s not simply raising the license fee. I think it’s going to include other components that we need to talk about. ... Part of that is that we manage the herds and not let them get too large.”

Budget cuts

Northrup noted that the current state supplemental budget markup calls for an average state agency budget cut of 6.5 percent. Those cuts are needed to make ends meet while state revenues are down due to falling natural gas and coal prices.

But, he noted, those figures could change during the legislative process.

Coe said some people believe it’s time to use money from the Legislative Stabilization Reserve Account, the state’s “rainy day fund,” to reduce strain on state and agency budgets.

“Is it raining yet?” he asked.

Compared to most other states, Wyoming is in good shape financially. Wyoming has billions in savings and continues to operate largely on taxes on energy production, imposing no corporate or personal income taxes.

Nonetheless, state financial analysts warn that Wyoming needs to brace for flat revenues for years to come, given the slumping national demand for coal and increasing natural gas production in other states.

Senate President Tony Ross, R-Cheyenne, told The Associated Press that many lawmakers haven’t served long enough to remember the days before 2000 when Wyoming had to cut back on spending.

“Because budgets are tighter now ... there’s going to be more scrutiny and more discussion about allocations of funds and where they go,” Ross said.

Mead has asked the Legislature to redirect a $130 million annual stream of state energy revenues that currently is going into permanent savings. Instead, he’s calling for putting more money into the state’s rainy day fund.

New lawmakers begin

While the Legislature gets its official start today (Tuesday), work for newly-elected Blevins and Northrup began last week with six days of training for freshman lawmakers.

“I’m pretty impressed with the folks that I’ve met in the Legislature,” Blevins said. “They are here with the best intentions for helping Wyoming.

“We’ll start in earnest Tuesday afternoon. We’ll hear our first bill, and that’s right after we get sworn in. They don’t let any moss grow under your feet. It’s a very efficient process, especially when you look at other state legislatures.”

Krone, entering his second two-year term, said he plans to sponsor or co-sponsor some bills of his own.

For instance, he and Rep. Elaine Harvey, R-Lovell, intend to propose a measure that would keep the Powell and Lovell Circuit Courts from closing. The Wyoming Supreme Court plans to shut those courts down to consolidate in Cody and Basin, respectively.

Krone also wants to remove a provision of state law that keeps the name of a defendant charged with sexual assault confidential until and unless the case reaches the District Court level. Sexual assault cases are the only ones afforded such protections under Wyoming law.

Finally, Krone would like to make some changes to laws related to protective services for vulnerable adults (typically the elderly) who are being abused. Krone would like to make it easier to continue protective services by requiring less frequent court hearings; current law requires going back to the court for an order every 72 hours.

“There’s going to be 400 bills, so it’s going to be a crazy session for sure,” Krone said.

The public can listen to debate, obtain information about bills and about contacting legislators throughout the legislative session at http://legisweb.state.wy.us.