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Articles written by Nick Reynolds


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  • Lawmakers mull over election changes

    Nick Reynolds|Jun 17, 2021

    Wyoming lawmakers are weighing a significant overhaul of the state’s elections. Members of the Joint Committee on Corporations, Elections and Political Subdivisions voted to draft bills to create either an open primary or a ranked-choice voting system. Either system would profoundly change how Wyoming elects its officials and would likely have significant political ramifications, according to elections experts. The decision follows months of pressure from conservative activists who have argued that vote splitting in Wyoming’s often crowded Rep...

  • House eyes new ways to fund education

    Nick Reynolds|Feb 20, 2020

    by Nick Reynolds Casper Star-Tribune Via Wyoming News Exchange CHEYENNE — As Wyoming begins dipping into its savings to cover the cost of its K-12 education system, state lawmakers have begun to reckon with the question of what happens when the state’s “rainy day fund” — the Legislative Stabilization Reserve Account, referred to as the LSRA — runs out. A Sublette County lawmaker believes he has the answer, however, pushing a bill through committee that could help stabilize the state’s reserve accounts. Carried in the House Appropriation...

  • Rep. John Winter sponsors legislation proposing compensation for wolf kills

    Nick Reynolds|Jan 16, 2020

    by Nick Reynolds Casper Star-Tribune Via Wyoming News Exchange CASPER — A new bill introduced in the Wyoming Legislature this week would create a new compensation program for ranchers whose livestock is killed or damaged by gray wolves outside of game hunting zones, providing new flexibility for those grappling with a protected species often blamed by ranchers in the Mountain West for losses to their herds. Sponsored by Rep. John Winter, R-Thermopolis, the legislation would create a $90,000 fund to compensate ranchers for any losses related t...

  • Gordon willing to look at lodging tax

    Nick Reynolds|Dec 12, 2019

    CASPER — Gov. Mark Gordon told lawmakers Monday that he would be “willing” to consider a statewide lodging tax if it came across his desk this winter. However, in his first budget presentation to members of the Joint Appropriations Committee this week, Gordon declined to entertain any other tax legislation, instead focusing his first hearing on cost-savings as the state faces a future of declining revenues. Kicking off the first of several weeks of budget hearings, Gordon seemed largely on the same page as leaders of the budget-making commi...

  • Changes possible for HSSP

    Nick Reynolds|Jul 4, 2019

    GILLETTE — After years in legislative limbo, Hot Springs State Park could be set for some changes. At last Thursday’s meeting of the Legislature’s Joint Committee on Transportation, Recreation and Cultural Resources, officials with the Department Of State Parks And Cultural Resources unveiled the next steps in a long-awaited plan to update one of the crown jewels of the state parks system. Though no immediate actions were announced, the agency updated committee members on a new law sponsored by the committee chair – Sen. Ogden Driskil...

  • New Wyoming laws take effect

    Nick Reynolds|Jul 4, 2019

    CASPER — The first week of July is often a slow one in state government, shortened by a federal holiday and marked by a light legislative schedule. However, the first week of July also means something else in Wyoming – the time many of the laws passed by the Legislature this winter finally go into effect. As the clock hit midnight on Monday, more than 200 laws passed during the 2019 legislative session went into effect, impacting the lives of Wyoming residents in some ways major, some ways not. A common centerpiece in many homes around Wyo...