Wyoming’s 2025 Legislative Round Up

Wyoming

Legislative Session Wrap-Up 2025

After almost 8 weeks, the General Session of the Sixty-Eighth Wyoming Legislature is over. In 37 days, 178 of the 556 (32%) bills numbered for introduction passed both chambers. While most bills will not take effect until the new fiscal year in July, some have gone into effect upon the governor‘s signing. 

As we represented you in Cheyenne, we tracked almost 90 bills. These bills were related directly, or at times indirectly, to policy matters you adopted at our convention this fall. Where we had clear policy, we testified before committees, sent notes to the floor, and worked with diverse partners to support, oppose, or amend these bills. Others we monitored to make sure that they stayed relatively neutral relative to our policy. 

The Session

General themes of the legislative session included a new dynamic within the House where the Freedom Caucus controlled a majority of the body and its leadership. This combined with the large number of legislators in their first term led to some tension between the House and Senate. This new dynamic led to an interesting session and some historic changes to norms. 

A casualty of this new dynamic was the Supplemental Budget Bill. Wyoming passes a biennial budget in even years. In odd years, a supplement is debated to address unforeseen expenses and emergencies not covered in the biennial budget. This is the first year since they began having annual sessions in the 1970s when a supplemental budget was not passed. This left legislators scrambling to try to find a constitutional way to include some funding in various bills. We were most focused on the funding to fight future wildfires and to mitigate the spread of invasive species in areas impacted by the historic 2024 fires. Fortunately, this funding was passed as part of SF152–Wildfire Management Amendments, which took up a significant portion of the legislature’s time and energy. 

While we saw multiple property tax bills, one bill we would like to highlight is the contentious SF69-Homeowner Property Tax Exemption that was passed and signed into law. In its final form, it creates a property tax exemption of 25% on the first one million dollars of fair market value. It goes into effect for the 2025 tax year. Example – a single-family residential structure and its associated improved land, valued at $480,000 X 25% = $120,000, so with $480,000 -$120,000 your valuation would be $360,000 for 2025.  The bill doesn’t provide a means of backfill for schools or local and county governments whose primary funding source is property tax. 

On the waterside, we saw fireworks over SF43–Temporary Water Use Agreements Amendments. This bill was considered in at least two previous sessions and it finally passed this session. The bill sought to simplify the current process but several water right holders were concerned that it could open the door for more instream flow rights. In the final version, the parties agreed that this was not a deal breaker, so the bill passed.  

In the omnibus water bills, money was committed to Goshen Irrigation District to ensure the completion of the tunnel rehabilitation which started after the tunnel failure in 2020. Additionally, the LaPrele Dam in Converse County has faced structural issues for several years culminating in a breech order issued last fall. The dam is currently being removed and the construction of the new structure will start immediately, which will have a total project cost of $182,000,000.  

Additional Bills of Note

*Note: All bills listed below passed the legislature and were signed by the governor. 

• HB90–Anthrax Outbreak Protocol 
  • After Wyoming’s first anthrax case since the 1970s, this bill formalizes the Livestock Board’s Anthrax notification protocol to inform veterinarians, brand inspectors, and other agencies. It mandates reporting to the Joint Agriculture, State and Public Lands, and Water Resources Interim Committee on the protocol’s status. We supported this bill. 

• HB92–Wyoming Livestock Board-Memorandums of Understanding
  • This bill codifies a resolution by the Wyoming Livestock Board allowing Wyoming livestock to be identified by methods other than electronic ID when sent to other states. The Livestock Board must establish MOUs with receiving states and report progress to the Joint Agriculture Committee. We opposed this bill. 

• SF63–State Lands-Fencing
  • This bill authorizes private landowners whose land adjoins state land and who are not leasing the state land to construct lawful partition fences. The Office of State Lands and Investments or the current lessee will now be required to pay for half of the cost of the construction and maintenance of the partition fence as with other shared fences. We supported this bill. 

• SF64–Wyoming Opposes Mandatory Electronic ID Devices-Livestock
  • This bill makes Wyoming’s opposition to mandatory electronic IDs clear. It requires the Livestock Board to inform producers of alternative ID options and shifts tagging responsibility to buyers in states that require electronic IDs unless voluntarily used by Wyoming owners. It does not restrict veterinarians from following the required guidance in issuing inspection certificates. We supported this bill. 

• SF81–Tax Exemption-Property Owned by the State
  • A recent Wyoming Supreme Court ruling determined that state land leased for non-governmental use is not exempt from property taxes, impacting agricultural leases. This bill exempts all state-owned land from property tax and defines agricultural leases as a “governmental purpose.” The exemption lasts until January 1, 2027, allowing time to refine leasing policies and determine if and how these property taxes will apply. We monitored this bill. 

• F84–Country of Origin Label-USA Beef
  • This bill allows beef to be labeled “Product of the USA” only if born, raised, slaughtered, and processed in the U.S. Additionally, “Product of Wyoming” labeling can only apply to cattle born and raised in Wyoming, although it can be slaughtered and processed elsewhere due to our lack of processing capacity. We supported this bill. 

• SF108–Recreation Safety-Agritourism
  • This bill adds agritourism to the Recreation Safety Act, which states participants assume inherent risks in recreational activities and therefore adds liability protection for producers. We supported this bill. 

What’s Next and The Importance of Getting Involved

One of the wonderful things about Wyoming is the accessibility of our legislators. Now that they are back in their communities, we encourage you to reach out to them with a call or email. You can find their contact information on the legislature’s website. Since they do not have staff, they answer their own phones and emails. We recommend meeting them for a beverage, inviting them to your property, or sharing what is important to you so they have that in mind as they consider future legislation.                             

As a citizen legislature, our legislators only meet in session in Cheyenne for a few weeks every year, however, the work does not stop outside of session and much is done in the interim. The interim is an ideal time to become engaged with legislators since they have less on their plate, more time to meet with you in person (give them a call!), and travel around the state for committee meetings. Upcoming meetings can be found on their website. You can also sign up to get notifications of meetings through the legislature’s free email subscription service. Reach out to us if you would like a hand getting involved! 

Follow the Wyoming bill tracker here.