Committee advances interim study on constitutional apportionment after wide public testimony from Weston County

Speaker Chip Nyman presented House Bill 296, asking the committee to authorize an interim study of legislative apportionment and to report back to the legislature by Dec. 1, 2025. "What we're attempting to do here…is to go back and to evaluate that and see if we can more align with what our state constitution asks us to do," Nyman said.

The bill would direct the management council to assign a committee (the draft envisions assignment to an existing or select committee) to study apportionment during the 2025 interim, conduct community meetings, and report recommendations for possible constitutional or statutory changes for introduction in the 2026 budget session. The sponsor cited specific provisions of the Wyoming Constitution—Article 3, Sections 3 and 48—and the equal-protection objectives of the U.S. Constitution's 14th Amendment in arguing the legislature should examine compliance.

Public testimony was concentrated and substantial. Several witnesses…