Legislative Alert: Several items: City, State and National

***warning** a lot of informaiton all at once- digest each section!

LaramieCity Council Work Session tomorrow night Jan 24th, 6 pm Council chambers. Attend in person or on zoom to make comments.Email all members at once:  council@cityoflaramie.org 

TIP:  If you cannot attend or attend any City Council or State Legislative Committee meeting or can attend only part of the time, do this to signal that people are watching and listening to the Council. You can tune in on zoom or youtube and just leave your computer on even when you have to leave. You count as one watching the proceedings.Re: Cherrywood Loop on-street parkingThis issue is interesting in that it illustrates that we should be checking out the agenda each week. This week is a work session and at first glance one would think the issue is no big deal. However, the outcome is very important to at least one of our local businesses. Please consider sending your comments to the Council, and/or attending and commenting in person.Commerce is so important to Laramie and On The Hook is a big business. Timberline Business Park where it is located was developed for business. However there is a problem and dispute over parking on the street. This might prove to be a very interesting discussion and outcome.It seems as though the problem could be partially solved by speedily giving On the Hook its requested permit to create a parking lot onsite. Another point made by Ocean points to the need for a large temporary parking area in this area for people car-pooling and trucks.

This link explains there was an error regarding on-street parking. It wasn't so designated when they built it, but now they want to fix the error. https://www.cityoflaramie.org/AgendaCenter/ViewFile/Item/13990?fileID=19138

This next link tells about the business park developer and why Mr. Spires wants it passed.https://www.cityoflaramie.org/AgendaCenter/ViewFile/Item/13990?fileID=19134.

This link is a letter from Ocean Andrew about the impact of this ordinance on his business, On The Hook. He explains why he doesn't want it passed.

See paragraph 3.https://www.cityoflaramie.org/AgendaCenter/ViewFile/Item/13990?fileID=19137.

This one may get interesting to watch. Ocean Andrew is the only conservative member of Albany County's legislative delegation and the council (though technically non-partisan) is predominantly Democrat.

STATE Business FYI     Legislature is 37 days in length and ends Mar 3I am regularly getting "Action Alerts" from a conservative source in the state.  I've sent you one or two of them. They are handy in that they come with the committee members and a sample email you can just edit a bit or send as is. Someone is doing an amazing job of tracking the bills and doing us a great service. In the interest of getting them out in a timely fashion, I am going to just start forwarding them as is. I am not able to research every one of them and they often come just before a committee meeting is going to happen.

So in the interest of getting them to you and in time for you to send out emails, I'll just forward them on. When you get them, you'll be able to do your own research and send your emails as you wish. If it's an especially important issue to me, I'll tell you my opinion for what it's worth.1) Cowboy State Daily is usually a good source of news from around the state. Cowboystatedaily.com2) Wyoming News Chronicle (new and states that it publishes reliable facts from multiple viewpoints plus conservative opinion pieces) Requires a subscription of $2/mo. or $20/yr. I just signed up. Read this interesting little piece about the legislature as an example.

The issue discussed is an important one in the process of getting bills heard rather than buried in committee. https://wyomingnewschronicle.com/articles/wyfc-blocksnbspnbspdemocrat-minoritynbspnbspfrom-determiningnbspnbspstate-policy3)

This next link is for a podcast that gives an unabashedly conservative point of view and will point out important bills to follow. It's David Iverson, Cowboy State Politics. Here is the link:https://cowboystatepolitics.podbean.com/4)

Go to the legislature's website to look up this and all bills, follow their progress, Go to wyoleg.gov Spend some time on this and learn to navigate the information; it's well worth the time. You can see which meetings can be watched and can sign up to testify on zoom or in person if you want.

I don't have an "Action Alert" on these next three bills yet. Hopefully I will but here is some information and you can send emails now. wyoleg.gov has email addresses of the committee members and I've given you the names in each case. Remember that votes in committee either kills the bill or keeps it alive and heard in general sessions

HB 87 Crimes of Obscenity Revision: Vote Yes  Watch this and stay tuned. It revises the obscenity law to include cartoon and drawing images such as found in Gender Queer and Trans Bodies, Trans Selves which has been widely publicized around the country as found in school and public libraries across the country and in Wyoming. This bill is going to be amended because the first part is already in the obscenity statute but the main thing is that it removes the exemption for educators so charges can be brought against educators using these materials and librarians who are using public money to purchase this kind of stuff. Casper's school board just voted to keep these books I listed!   It is not book banning as the Casper Star, Laramie and Cheyenne papers want to editorialize. Nor does their removal hurt or discriminate against LGBTQ students; these kinds of pornographic books are available in the public market place. The bill is in the Revenue Committee and hasn't been scheduled for a hearing as yet. Watching this one discussed with public comment will be very interesting. There is quite a mixture of legislators on the committee. You can email now. I may try to go in person for this one!Revenue Committee-Representatives: John Bear, Andrew Byron, Steve Harshman, Tony Locke, David Northrup, Ember Oakley, Liz Storer, Tomi Strock, Dan ZwonitzerSF109 Chemical Abortions : Vote Yes  Bill is to be heard by committee

Wed  Jan 25, 8am Committee Senators: Fred Baldwin, Eric Barlow, Anthony Bouchard, Dan Dockstader, Lynn Hutchings (a)  Notwithstanding any other provision of law, no person shall manufacture, distribute, prescribe, dispense, sell, transfer or use any chemical abortion drug in the state for the purpose of procuring or performing an abortion. (b)  The prohibition in subsection (a) shall not apply to: (i)  The sale, use, prescription or administration of any contraceptive agent administered before conception or before pregnancy can be confirmed through conventional medical testing; (ii)  The treatment of a natural miscarriage according to currently accepted medical guidelines; (iii)  Treatment necessary to preserve the woman from an imminent peril that substantially endangers her life or health, according to appropriate medical judgment, or the pregnancy is the result of incest as defined by W.S. 6‑4‑402 or sexual assault as defined by W.S. 6‑2‑301.SF111 Child Abuse-Change of Sex Urge a Vote Yes Same Committee as the above will hear this bill on

Friday Jan 27 8 am.6‑2‑503.  Child abuse; penalty. (d)  A person is guilty of child abuse, a felony punishable by imprisonment for not more than ten (10) years, if a person intentionally inflicts upon a child under the age of eighteen (18) years any procedure, drug, other agent or combination thereof that is administered to intentionally or knowingly change the sex of the child. Consent of the child, the child's parents, guardian or any other person responsible for the child's welfare shall not be a defense to the crime defined by this subsection.NationalHelp South CarolinaFreedom Caucus members should not be barred from talking about how legislators vote in the S.Carolina legislature.Whether you are a "conservatives' conservative" or not this is a free speech violation and attempts to disempower a group out of existence. Read the following link and help them by signing the petition.https://www.change.org/p/stop-the-sc-republican-caucus-from-throwing-out-conservatives-stand-for-transparency