Wyoming Gov. Mark Gordon has signed House Bill 49 and has not vetoed House Bill 100, allowing it to be enacted.

House Bill 49 defines what an “organization” is in relation to campaign finance reporting and establishes criteria for when an organization must file a statement of formation.

The bill restructures references of the term “organization” and raises the limit an organization can expend before it must file an itemized statement of contributions and expenditures to $1,000.

The bill increases the penalty of not filing a required report with the secretary of state to $500 per day and increases the penalty of not filing a required report with the county clerk to $200 per day.

Gov. Gordon, while not signing House Bill 100, did not veto the bill, approving the redistricting bill and permitting it to become law.

House Bill 49 is effective April 1, 2022, and House Bill 100 is effective immediately.

Wyoming Gov. Mark Gordon signed a campaign finance bill into law on March 10.

House Bill 80 states all political action committees or candidate’s campaign committees must file an itemized statement of contributions and expenditures at least seven days but not more than 14 days before any election, regardless if funds were expended in the election.

The bill also increases the penalty of not filing an expenditure report to up to $500 per day past the due date. This bill becomes effective July 1.

Judge John G. Fenn has been appointed by Gov. Mark Gordon to the Wyoming Supreme Court.

Fenn has sat on the Fourth Judicial District Court bench for the previous 14 years and was a private practice attorney in Sheridan for 13 years prior to his appointment.

He will be replacing Justice Michael Davis, who is retiring after serving nine years on the high court.

Justice Michael K. Davis of the Wyoming Supreme Court announced his plans to retire in January.

The retirement gives Republican Gov. Mark Gordon his first Supreme Court appointment.

Currently, all five sitting justices were appointed by former Gov. Matt Mead, also a Republican.

Gordon will select a justice from a list of three names submitted to him by the state Judicial Nominating Commission.

Wyoming Gov. Mark Gordon and statehouse leaders announced there will not be a special session this July.

The July special session was to be called for deliberation on how to best allocate the federal relief money given by the American Rescue Plan, but lawmakers decided the discussion would be better served if it was delayed until the 2022 legislative session.

The Legislature’s first special session since 2004 ended Saturday night with three bills headed to the desk of Gov. Mark Gordon for his consideration.

The main task of the special session was to set up programs and time frames for the spending of $1.25 billion Wyoming received through the federal CARES act.

Though Gov. Gordon has the ultimate authority to spend the money, the approved legislation provides a broad outline of where that money will go.

Gov. Mark Gordon called a special session of the Wyoming Legislature to help respond to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The two day special session will start at 8:00 a.m. on May 15.

Lawmakers will gather both online and in the state Capitol, which will be open to those legislators who wish to go there, to distribute federal stimulus money to Wyoming businesses, healthcare facilities and workers.

Through four draft bills, lawmakers will determine how to distribute $500 million of the $1.25 billion the state received through the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act passed in March.

In addition, lawmakers are eyeing new programs to provide loans to businesses, recompense landlords for lost rent to halt evictions, and help fund healthcare facilities and other needs.