'Critical infrastructure' bill rides again; criminalizes protest against the fossil fuel industry

A Lander lawmaker has again introduced the controversial critical infrastructure protection bill from the 2018 legislative session, which opponents said was designed to criminalize protest against the fossil fuel industry.

Rep. Lloyd Larsen (R-Lander) is lead sponsor on a new iteration of the bill, which died in the waning hours of the 2018 Legislative session when the Wyoming House rejected the Senate’s attempts to override Gov. Matt Mead’s veto.

The new bill offers modest changes to the previous version — mostly cleaning up language after hectic attempts to make the bill workable last session. A flurry of amendments on the House floor in the session’s waning hours made it difficult for Legislators to keep track of what was and wasn’t in the measure, Larsen said. Last year, “there were a lot of people scratching their heads and kind of saying ‘where are we at now?’” he said.

Like the first version, Larsen’s House Bill 10 would create new crimes for people who impede, or trespass with the intent to impede, “critical infrastructure.” The bill defines critical infrastructure with a long list of types of facilities related to Wyoming’s key industries.

Read more: https://www.wyofile.com/critical-infrastructure-bill-rides-again/