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Committee adds tribal governments to exempt publicly owned vehicle plates; House Bill 26 passes committee
Summary
The committee amended and passed House Bill 26 to add the Eastern Shoshone and Northern Arapaho tribal governments to the list of entities eligible for exempt license plates under the publicly owned vehicles statute (31-2-207). The committee also approved immediate effect. Roll-call: 8 ayes, 1 excused.
House Bill 26, sponsored by Representative Posey, was amended and passed out of the Transportation, Highways & Military Affairs Committee on Feb. 12, 2026.
The bill adds vehicles owned by the Eastern Shoshone and Northern Arapaho tribes of the Wind River Indian Reservation to the state statute that governs exempt license plates for publicly owned vehicles. "This is basically a pretty simple bill," Representative Posey said, describing the change as a correction of a long-standing gap.
Lacey Bruckner of the Wyoming Department of Transportation (YDOT) told the committee the department had no administration concerns but recommended explicitly adding tribal governments to statute 31-2-207 so the department would issue exempt plates in the same manner it does for other public agencies. "If the intent is for the tribal government vehicles to get exempt plates as well, we might need to add those specific owned vehicles to a different statute," Bruckner said.
Representative Larson moved an amendment to insert language into 31-2-207 naming the Eastern Shoshone and Northern Arapaho tribes; the motion passed on voice vote. The committee also voted to make the bill effective immediately. The committee then approved House Bill 26 as amended by roll-call vote: 8 ayes, 1 excused.
The chair indicated the bill’s cosponsors are likely to carry it on the floor.
