Wyoming State Legislature

From Ballotpedia

The Wyoming State Legislature is the state legislature of Wyoming. It is a bicameral legislature, consisting of a 60 member Wyoming House of Representatives, and a 30 member Wyoming Senate. The legislature meets at the Wyoming State Capitol in Cheyenne.

History

The Wyoming State Legislature began like other Western states as a territorial legislature, with nearly (though not all) the parliamentary regulations that guide other fully-fledged state legislatures.

Women's Suffrage

During its territorial era, the Wyoming Legislature played a crucial role in the Suffragette Movement in the United States. In 1869, only four years following the American Civil War and 35 years before women's suffrage became a highly visible political issue in the U.S., Britain and elsewhere, the Wyoming Legislature granted all women above the age of 21 the right to vote. The legislature's move made Wyoming the first portion of the U.S. where women were explicitly granted the voting franchise. News spread quickly to other neighboring territories and states. In 1870, the Utah Territorial Legislature similarly granted the voting franchise to women.

The move by the legislature was motivated by a number of factors, including bringing Eastern women to the territory to increase its population, to publicize the new territory, to bring more voters into the fold for existing political elites, and by genuine concerns that women should be allowed the vote.

Due to the territory's change of voting laws in 1869, the anti-suffrage U.S. Congress was hostile to Wyoming and its legislature. During proceedings to make Wyoming a U.S. state in 1889 and in writing a new constitution in 1980, Congress threatened to withhold statehood unless the law was changed. The Wyoming Legislature and territorial government sent a threatening telegram back to Washington, insisting that Wyoming would remain out of the United States 100 years rather than become a state without women's suffrage. The federal Congress withdrew its threat, and on July 10, 1890, President Benjamin Harrison signed into law Wyoming becoming the 44th U.S. state.

Wyoming's early entry into female politics continued into the 20th century. In 1925, Democrat Nellie Tayloe Ross became the first elected female governor of a U.S. state.

Population

Wyoming remains the smallest state by population in the United States. However, the Wyoming Legislature is not the smallest. The Nebraska State Legislature, with only 49 members, is the smallest legislative body out of the 50 states.

Senate

The Wyoming Senate is the upper house of the Wyoming State Legislature. There are 30 Senators in the Senate, representing an equal amount of constituencies across the state, each with a population of at least 17,000.

Like other upper houses of state and territorial legislatures and the federal U.S. Senate, the Wyoming Senate can confirm or reject gubernatorial appointments to the state cabinet, commissions, boards, or justices to the Wyoming Supreme Court.

The current make-up is 23 Republicans, 7 Democrats.

House of Representatives

The Wyoming House of Representatives is the lower house of the Wyoming State Legislature. There are 60 Representatives in the House, representing an equal amount of constituencies across the state, each with a population of at least 9,000. The current make-up is 43 Republicans, 17 Democrats.

Term limits

Members of the Senate and House of Representatives have served without term limits since the Wyoming Supreme Court declared term limits unconstitutional in 2004, overturning a decade old law that restricted Senators and Representatives to serving no more than twelve years.

Joint Committees

The Wyoming Legislature has 12 standing committees.

• Judiciary Committee, Wyoming Legislature
• Appropriations Committee, Wyoming Legislature
• Revenue Committee, Wyoming Legislature
• Education Committee, Wyoming Legislature
• Agriculture, Public Lands and Water Resources Committee, Wyoming Legislature
• Travel, Recreation, Wildlife and Cultural Resources Committee, Wyoming Legislature
• Corporations, Elections and Political Subdivisions Committee, Wyoming Legislature
• Transportation and Highways Committee, Wyoming Legislature
• Mineral, Business and Economic Development Committee, Wyoming Legislature
• Labor, Health and Social Services Committee, Wyoming Legislature
• Journal Committee, Wyoming Legislature
• Rules and Procedure Committee, Wyoming Legislature

External links

• Official website

External links

• Wikipedia: Wyoming Legislature
• Official website
• Project Vote Smart - State Senate of Wyoming

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