CHEYENNE – The 65th General Session of the Wyoming Legislature wrapped up in the early morning hours of February 28, 2019. With the session finished, Senator Steinmetz celebrated a successful first year representing Senate District 3 in the Senate.
“I am proud to say the State Senate refused to raise taxes on the Citizens of Wyoming and continues to champion fiscal responsibility. It is an honor to serve Goshen, Niobrara and Weston Counties as their State Senator.” Said Senator Steinmetz. “This session produced landmark legislation for our Veterans with the passage of the Veterans Skilled Nursing Facility to be housed in Buffalo. We passed innovative bills designed to benefit students and our community colleges by offering bachelor of applied science degrees and enabling Wyoming’s community colleges to offer technical and vocational education degree. We passed the Wyoming Works Program which provides for partnerships with local industry to train a skilled workforce along with adding Career and Technical Education to the Hathaway Scholarship program. Overall it was a successful session which will produce long term benefits to the Citizens of Wyoming. ”
One of the biggest topics of the year was the supplemental budget, also known as HB 1 – General Government Appropriations. The final bill appropriated an additional $112 Million and a net increase of seven state employees after Governor Gordon’s vetoes and subsequent overrides on two vetoes by the Legislature. Senator Steinmetz ultimately voted against the budget bill over concerns of spending for non-emergencies in supplemental budget and footnotes which included language that should have succeeded or failed as a bill but was included as a fail-safe in the budget to take effect if the proposed legislation did not pass.
“While I appreciate that the overall supplemental budget is lower than it has been in previous non-budget years, the supplemental budget was designed to fund emergencies in non-budget years,” said Senator Steinmetz “I also have concerns about the recent strategy of legislating through the budget bill and applaud the Governor for his veto of several inappropriate budget footnotes.”
Senator Steinmetz continued “I voted against SF 162 – State Funded Capital Construction as well. While many of the projects in this bill are worthy, I cannot justify spending money on projects that are not urgently needed when tax increases are a topic of consideration due to deficit spending. We will likely face a $200 million dollar deficit in the coming budget session. These projects could have waited until the next biennial budget session in 2020 when we have a clearer picture of our revenues and the impact of our supplemental spending.”
“I would like to dedicate this important piece of legislation to Hudson Moore and his family. Hudson was a young boy who lost his life in a motorboat accident involving alcohol. This tragedy highlighted the disparity regarding BAC between motorboats on the lake and vehicles on the road,” said Senator Steinmetz. “The Wyoming Game Wardens Association and the Wyoming Sheriffs and Police Chiefs Association championed this bill from the beginning. I am thankful my fellow Legislators and the Governor recognized the importance of SF40 and passed it into law.”
“Keeping our local fairs and fairgrounds economically viable is important,” said Senator Steinmetz. “Fairgrounds are community centers and an integral part of our Agricultural heritage. SF 41 will give county commissioners one more tool to ensure fairgrounds and county fairs operate well into the future.”
Senator Steinmetz’s other bill Senate File 94, Secretary of state-nomination qualifications will be taken up as an interim topic for the Joint Interim Corporations, Elections and Political Subdivisions Committee.
Topics and locations for interim committee meetings will be approved by the Management Council on March 22, 2019. “I look forward to serving Senate District 3 during the interim. As a Citizen Legislature, we realize the importance of holding interim meetings across the State rather than remaining in Cheyenne. We enjoy traveling and listening to our fellow Citizens as we continue to work on their behalf and consider our priorities for the next budget session.”
About Senator Steinmetz:
Senator Cheri Steinmetz (R-Lingle) was sworn in to serve Senate District 03 in January of 2019. Previously, she served in the Wyoming House, representing House District 05 from 2015 to 2019. She currently serves on the Senate Agriculture, State and Public Lands & Water Resources Committee and the Senate Transportation, Highways & Military Affairs Committee.
Citizens interested in following the work of the Wyoming State Legislature in the interim can listen online, track bills and contact their legislators at www.wyoleg.gov.
