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LegisLetter – January 17

Welcome to the 2025 Legisletter! As New Mexico’s state legislative session hasn’t yet begun, today’s information will focus on Wyoming and Colorado.

The 67th Wyoming Legislature began this week on Tuesday, January 14th, and already, some bills have died while others are advancing through their first chambers. As of Wednesday, there were already over 325 bills! Though bills will continue to drop for another week, clear themes have emerged, including changes to property taxes and election reforms. The RMFU team is most focused on bills modifying eminent domain laws, addressing electronic ID devices in cattle, foreign ownership of property or infrastructure, and, as always, water. 

Both the Wyoming House and Senate continue to have Republican supermajorities. While there are only a few new legislators in the Senate and the House, it will be another session with a steep learning curve for new members. 23 of the 62 representatives were sworn in on Tuesday, and all but another 8 or so have been new within the past 4 years. Following the November elections, the Wyoming Freedom Caucus gained a majority in the House, a first for any state chamber. The question isn’t what issues are going to rise to the top; it is how the new Freedom Caucus leadership is going to manage their new-found power to, for example, organize and run committees and committee hearings. Over the last forty years, there have never been this many new standing committee chairs. 

The Colorado state legislative session began on January 8th. Among the hundred plus bills that have been introduced at this point, RMFU has taken an official position on sixteen of them. For a complete list, please visit https://rmfu.org/legislation/colorado-legislation/

In general, we are focused on supporting bills that decrease tax and regulatory burdens, improve government efficiency, preserve and protect water resources, and otherwise increase the resources and infrastructure available to agricultural communities. While the Democratic Party controls both legislative chambers and the governorship in Colorado, they do not hold a supermajority in the legislature. Therefore, bipartisanship and wide stakeholder engagement will be necessary for most things to pass, which is an excellent opportunity for RMFU given our bipartisan reputation. While there are a few new legislators in Colorado, there are not nearly as many as in Wyoming, and we certainly benefit in Colorado from the reputation RMFU has with returning legislators. In addition to tracking the bills that RMFU has taken official positions on, we are also following hearings related to wolf reintroduction. Finally, though it is still early in the session, one of the big headlines for Colorado this year will likely be legislation that in some way reforms the laws around labor unions. 

Finally, our Government Relations team is looking forward to New Mexico’s 60-day session beginning on January 21st. Across all three states, we will remain focused on advocating for RMFU members and our agricultural communities.

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