The 2025 General Session of the Wyoming Legislature is set to convene in a two-month General Session on Tuesday, January 14th.

Technically, this year's session is slated for 37 business days. Three more days are available to lawmakers if needed.

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It could be a busy few weeks. Greater Cheyenne Chamber of Commerce President and CEO Dale Steenbergen says he's been told that as many as 600 bills could be filed for the session. The deadline for filing bills in the Senate is January 29, while House members have until  Feb. 3.

Property Taxes Expected To Be Front And Center

Residential property taxes are likely to get a lot of attention, as lawmakers have been hearing for a while from outraged homeowners who say their taxes have gone too high too quickly.

Rep. Daniel Singh [R-Laramie County] says he has heard that last year's House Bill 203 is expected o be back in some version. That bill proposed an exemption on taxes for residential properties valued at under $1 million. That would have been offset by an increase of two percent in state sales taxes. Singh says something similar  may be filed this session, although as of Saturday he had not seen that bill filed so it's unclear whether the numbers might be exactly the same or slightly changed.

It's also worth noting that bills can be amended through the legislative process, so a bill using that general concept might look somewhat different when and if it passes the legislature in 2025.

Another piece of property tax legislation that will be considered by lawmakers this session is a version of last year's  Senate File 54, This bill was vetoed by Governor Mark Gordon in 2024. In his veto message the governor called the bill "socialistic," adding that it would cost the state over $220 million over two years.

It's back this year as Senate File 69.

The bill would provide a 25 percent tax exemption on the first $2 million in fair market value on residential properties. The bill would direct county treasurers to keep track of the amount of revenues lost by the exemption to local governmental entities, and the state would backfill the lost revenues to make up the difference, with up to $100 million of the backfill coming from the state's ''rainy day fund." If that isn't enough, the state would distribute the additional money needed on a pro-rated basis from the state general fund.

The bill would have the exemption end in 2027.

Laramie County's Most Wanted Fugitives

The Laramie County Sheriff's Office is currently looking for these individuals:

Gallery Credit: Joy Greenwald