Weekly state legislative updates are provided as a resource for Association member credit unions during each states' legislative session.  

Arizona
Arizona State Legislature Update
Tuesday, January 22, 2013
The First Regular Session of the 51st Arizona Legislature convened on Monday, January 14th, and is scheduled to last 100 days.  Log in to READ MORE

Colorado
Colorado General Assembly Update
Tuesday, January 22, 2013
The second week of the 2013 session of the Colorado General Assembly was somewhat uneventful last week. The reporting requirements of the SMART Act seem to have bogged down the start of the session, as very few bills were considered in committee.  Log in to READ MORE

Wyoming
Wyoming State Legislature Update
Tuesday, January 22, 2013
The second week of the Wyoming State Legislature proved to be busy, as several proposals mentioned by Governor Mead during his State-of-the-State were considered in committee.  Log in to READ MORE

Budget Bill Expected To Go to Full Legislature
Late last Friday, the Joint Appropriations Committee of the 62nd Wyoming Legislature finished its markup of the state's supplemental budget.

The legislative staff is putting together mirror budget bills that are expected to hit the floor of both the House and the Senate in the next couple of weeks.

The Wyoming Legislature adopted a two-year, $3.2 billion budget in 2012 and the supplemental budget is an adjustment at midpoint.  Read More

Legislature Wraps Up First Week
While the 2013 Wyoming Legislature is off to a controversial start, so far the controversies only affect business tangentially.

Bills changing the role of the superintendent of public instruction and attempting to nullify potential federal gun regulation are getting a lot of attention in the first week of the 40-day general session that began last Tuesday.  Read More

Wyoming Legislature Faces Weighty Issues
Over the next seven to eight weeks Wyoming lawmakers will consider cutting state agency budgets, increasing fuel taxes, determining health care availability and holding schools accountable.
Those are just a few of the critical issues lawmakers face in the 40-day session that began today for the 62nd Legislature. "There is so much to learn, and it is all so important," said Lynn Hutchins, a new lawmaker. Read More

2013 Wyoming Legislative Report
The 62nd Legislative Session is now underway and there's a lot of major tasks ahead of Wyoming lawmakers.

They'll have to craft a supplemental budget, address the proposal to expand state health care programs and discuss issues of school accountability.  Read More

Wyoming Lottery Bill Proposed Again
More than 189 million tickets were sold across the country for the record-setting $587.5 million Powerball jackpot in November.  But Wyoming residents who dreamt of instant fortune were left out of the contest - unless they drove across the state border.  A group of state lawmakers hopes to keep that revenue in the state by proposing legislation to bring a lottery to Wyoming.  Read More

Wyoming Legislature Begins Jan. 8 - Legislative Services Offered To The Public
The Wyoming Legislature offers a variety of services to help Wyoming residents actively participate in the legislative process during the upcoming 2013 General Session, which begins Jan. 8. Click Here for a list of offered services

Russia Trade Bill Good for Wyoming
Wyoming Senators Mike Enzi and John Barrasso say a Russian trade and human rights bill that has cleared Congress will benefit Wyoming products.  Read More

Trona Valley Community FCU Highlighted As One of NerdWallet's 11 CU Money Market Accounts
NerdWallet has highlighted 11 credit unions that it says have good and sometimes unique money market accounts.
NerdWallet.com is a personal finance and credit card comparison website launched in March 2010. It delivers recommendations on credit cards, personal finance options, discounts and gas prices. Read More

Lawmakers Look Outside Wyoming For Insurance Relief                                                      ~trib.com

Hoping to address escalating health insurance costs, Wyoming legislators are exploring ways to make it easier for residents to buy policies from out-of-state companies.
Lawmakers have already drafted legislation that would allow Wyoming to accept policies approved in other states. Read  More                                                                             

GOP Re-elects Wyoming U.S. Sen. Barrasso To Lead Policy Committee
U.S. Senate Republicans re-elected John Barrasso to serve as chairman of the Senate Republican Policy Committee, according to a release issued Wednesday by the senator’s office. It is a two-year term and it is his second time on the job.  Read More

Wyoming Legislators Debate Diverting Mineral Taxes

Wyoming House Minority Leader Patrick Goggles was back to work less than 24 hours after his re-election, sponsoring a bill aimed at diverting a portion of the Permanent Mineral Trust Fund to fill gaps set in place by Gov. Matt Mead's planned 8 percent budget cuts.

The bill doesn’t suggest taking money out of the fund. It proposes taking a percentage of severance taxes from mineral revenues and putting them in the general fund instead of the Permanent Mineral Trust Fund.  Read More                                                           ~billingsgazette.com

Third-Party Candidates Fail in Wyoming Legislative Races

New third parties failed to upend the political cart in the Wyoming Legislature, as 10 third-party candidates all lost their races by wide margins to Republicans in Tuesday’s election.

The GOP expanded its control of the state House by two seats, according to unofficial results. Entering the election, the GOP had a 50-10 advantage over Democrats in the chamber. The Senate did not see any changes in its makeup of 20 GOP senators to 10 Democrats.  Read More                                                                                                    

                                                                                                                                                              ~trib.com