Wyoming lawmakers to delay start of 2021 session due to COVID-19

Wyoming legislative leadership officially voted to delay the start of the 2021 legislative session until later this spring on Tuesday, though a specific date for when lawmakers will convene – or what the session will even look like in the age of COVID-19 – remains an open question.

The decision to delay the two-month general session has been a topic of discussion since earlier this fall, when cases of COVID-19 began to spike around the state. Though lawmakers weighed numerous options to try and make it happen on time – including limiting the public’s access to the building – numerous logistical and health concerns ultimately proved impossible to overcome in time for the session’s scheduled start on Jan. 12.

Instead, lawmakers will meet for a single day in January to clear business mandated by the Wyoming Constitution, delaying the rest of their work until later in the spring. At this point, however, an exact start date remains uncertain.

“The plan is for an abbreviated January session and to reconvene later in the first or second quarter of 2021, depending on the public health situation and other factors,” Legislative Service Office Director Matt Obrecht wrote in an email following the vote. “[The Legislature] might set some tentative dates before January 12 or the might wait until after the adjournment of the start of the General Session to set that date. Desire was to remain as flexible as possible to respond to the public health crisis and the needs of the state.”

Read more: https://billingsgazette.com/news/state-and-regional/govt-and-politics/wyoming-lawmakers-to-delay-start-of-2021-session-due-to-covid-19/article_9355f6ce-8675-5e7e-a191-d6bddfbc11da.html