CHEYENNE - A bill to force health care facilities to allow for visitation if a patient has been in the facility for more than five days stalled on second reading in the State House Friday but was approved on Monday.

Rep. Mike Greear (R-Worland, HD27) said about House Bill 27, "The only concern with this Bill is the 'what ifs' in the future, where somebody needs to be in isolation due to a very contagious disease and the liability the care facility may have. I think we can get this worked out."

The House passed House Bill 43 on trophy big game hunting on third reading last week with the Senate Travel Committee passing it on to the floor last Friday.

The bill brought forward from the Interim Travel Committee changes the percentages for residents and nonresidents to draw grizzly bear, mountain goat, bighorn sheep, wild bison and moose licenses.

According to the bill, the Wyoming Game and Fish Commission "shall reserve 90% of the ram bighorn sheep, wild bull bison, bull moose, mountain goat and grizzly bear licenses to be issued in any one year for resident hunters." The remaining 10% of the licenses will be reserved for nonresident hunters.

The bill then changes the percentage for cow moose licenses from 80% reserved for resident hunters to 90% reserved for residents; and from 75% reserved for resident hunters for ewe and lamb bighorn sheep to 90% reserved for resident hunters.

In an earlier interview, Rep. John Winter (R-Thermopolis, HD28) said the state Wildlife Task Force brought the bill idea to the interim joint committee in hopes of providing more hunting opportunities for resident hunters.

Winter said he opposes the bill.

"Small communities depend on the income from nonresident hunters," Winter said.

Winter was one of 11 representatives who voted against the bill last week.

Greear supported the bill. He said, "The Bill is limited to the top five trophy species and gives 90% of the licenses to residents. The testimony was that most of the outfitting business is tied to elk, deer and antelope, which were not affected by this bill."

House Bill 5, Wild Horse and Burro Management that would require notice to federal land management agencies of the costs of wild horse grazing on state lands and request reimbursement passed out of the House Monday.

This was one of two bills filed addressing wild horse management. Greear said this was the only one to come out for consideration. "It is basically a push back to get the federal government to do something (regarding wild horses that roam off of the herd management areas)."

The two bills regarding elected county official salaries, HB91 and HB63 were moving through the House. House Bill 91 on salaries other than county and district attorney was approved on second reading Monday. House Bill 63 regarding county attorney salaries passed third reading Monday.

The two bills would increase the cap that could be paid to elected county officials to near or equal to that of district court judges, which is currently $160,000.

A bill that would have prohibited the release of mugshots for persons arrested until after a conviction, House Bill 51, was not considered by Committee of the Whole by deadline on Friday. It barely passed out of the Judiciary Committee on a 5-4 vote last week.

FAILED BILLS

Many bills failed introduction this budget session or were not even considered for introduction.

A few bills of note include:

• House Bill 14 that would have raised the fuel tax in increments over the next several years.

•House Bill 28 that would have allowed students a lump sum payment for Hathaway scholarship.

•House Bill 40 would have provided housing assistance for judges.

•House Bill 74 would have required a runoff election after a primary election for specified offices when no candidate receives a majority of the vote.

• House Bill 97 would ban teaching and training critical race theory.

House Bill 99 would have designated Wyoming Highway 258/Wyoming Boulevard near Casper as President Donald J. Trump Highway. House Bill 153 also was not considered for introduction and would have provided an "honorary state designation" of the same highway as the President Donald J. Trump Highway. State funds were allocated for signage in HB99, but no funds were allocated in HB153.

•HB 106 and 143 would have decriminalized cannabis with 106 eliminating criminal penalties for possession or use of marijuana and 143 would have created the Wyoming Patient Cannabis Act of 2022 and would have provided for "the acquisition, growth, cultivation, extraction, production, processing, manufacture, testing, distribution, use, retail sales, licensing, transportation and taxation of medical marijuana and medical marijuana-derived products."