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2003 General Session
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Wyoming is the only state that produces natural trona, an ore that is refined into soda ash. Soda ash is an ingredient in glass manufacturing, and also in the manufacture of toothpaste, detergents, and other commonly-used products. Soda ash also can be manufactured synthetically.
Like the coal or petroleum industries, trona producers pay severance and property taxes on trona production. And like processed gas (see HB 87), setting a value on trona for tax purposes is problematic, because Wyoming law requires setting a value on the trona as it leaves the ground. The trona itself is not sold until it is refined into soda ash; so the state must use a valuation formula that works back from the sales price of the soda ash.
However, unlike the gas producer-processors, Wyoming's four trona producers present a united front on taxation matters. They lobbied together on trona valuation when it was overhauled over a decade ago. One of the key components of the valuation formula is the "industry factor," which is intended to equalize costs among the four producers for tax purposes. The idea is to keep a producer whose mine is further from its processing plant from being taxed more than a producer whose mine is closer.
The industry factor is calculated each year from each producer's cost structure. Over the past decade, it has moved up slightly. HB 6 takes the average industry factor for the past decade and puts that specific figure into the law for valuation purposes.
Proponents of HB 6 argue it will provide needed stabilization in taxes for a strapped industry.
Opponents argue it will not have any effect on the industry's health but the revenue losses (about $1 million a year) are unnecessary and will adversely affect state and local governments.
HB 6 was amended during its passage through the Legislature to require the Department of Revenue to review the industry factor to ensure that it is reflecting full fair market value for the mineral. The Department was directed to evaluate whether a fixed or calculated industry factor would more accurately reflect full market value, and to recommend alternative methods to achieve a more accurate market-based valuation of trona ore.
An amendment that would have added trona to the econometric model to evaluate the effect of mineral tax incentives failed in the Senate.
HB 6 passed the House, 59-0 (one conflict-of-interest, Rep. Fred Parady R-H17, Rock Springs) and passed the Senate, 25-5.
The votes listed below are Third Reading (final passage) votes in the House and Senate.
A YES vote means the legislator supported using a fixed industry factor (using the average factor from the past decade) to estimate trona ore value for tax purposes.
A NO vote means the legislator did not support changing the way trona is valued for tax purposes in this way.
| Bighorn Basin Legislators | House 3rd 1/30/03 | Senate 3rd 2/14/03 |
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| S 18 | Hank Coe (R) | Yes | |
| H 24 | Colin Simpson (R) | Yes | |
| H 50 | Pat Childers (R) | Yes | |
| S 19 | Laness D. Northrup (R) | Yes | |
| H 25 | Alan Jones (R) | Yes | |
| H 26 | Elaine Harvey (R) | Yes | |
| S 20 | Gerald E. Geis (R) | Yes | |
| H 27 | Jane Wostenberg (R) | Yes | |
| H 28 | Micheal Baker (R) | Yes | |
| Casper-Area Legislators | House 3rd 1/30/03 | Senate 3rd 2/14/03 |
|
| S 27 | John Barrasso (R) | Yes | |
| H 35 | Roy Cohee (R) | Yes | |
| H 36 | Liz Gentile (D) | Yes | |
| S 28 | Keith Goodenough (D) | Yes | |
| H 56 | Tom Walsh (R) | Yes | |
| H 57 | Thomas A. Lockhart (R) | Yes | |
| S 29 | Bill Hawks (R) | Yes | |
| H 37 | Steve Harshman (R) | Yes | |
| H 59 | Mary Gilmore (D) | Yes | |
| S 30 | Charles K. Scott (R) | No | |
| H 38 | Bob Brechtel (R) | Yes | |
| H 58 | Ann Robinson (D) | Yes | |
| Cheyenne-Area Legislators | House 3rd 1/30/03 | Senate 3rd 2/14/03 |
|
| S 4 | April Brimmer Kunz (R) | Yes | |
| H 7 | Tony Ross (R) | Yes | |
| H 41 | Becket Hinckley (R) | Yes | |
| S 5 | John Hanes (R) | Yes | |
| H 8 | Larry Meuli (R) | Yes | |
| H 42 | Pete Illoway (R) | Yes | |
| S 6 | Rich Cathcart (D) | No | |
| H 9 | Wayne Johnson (R) | Yes | |
| H 10 | Rodney "Pete" Anderson (R) | Yes | |
| S 7 | Kathryn Sessions (D) | Yes | |
| H 11 | Wayne Reese (D) | Yes | |
| H 43 | Ed Prosser (R) | Yes | |
| S 8 | E. Jayne Mockler (D) | Yes | |
| H 12 | Layton Morgan (D) | Yes | |
| H 44 | Floyd Esquibel (D) | Yes | |
| Gillette-Area Legislators | House 3rd 1/30/03 | Senate 3rd 2/14/03 |
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| S 23 | John Hines (R) | Yes | |
| H 31 | Jene Jansen (R) | Yes | |
| H 52 | George McMurtrey (R) | Yes | |
| S 24 | Richard A. Erb (R) | Yes | |
| H 32 | Jeff Wasserburger (R) | Yes | |
| H 53 | Frank Latta (R) | Yes | |
| Lander/Riverton-Area Legislators | House 3rd 1/30/03 | Senate 3rd 2/14/03 |
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| S 25 | Cale Case (R) | Yes | |
| H 33 | Harry Tipton (R) | Yes | |
| H 54 | Del McOmie (R) | Yes | |
| S 26 | Robert A. Peck (R) | Yes | |
| H 34 | Frank Philp (R) | Yes | |
| H 55 | David Miller (R) | Yes | |
| Northeast/East Central WY Legislators | House 3rd 1/30/03 | Senate 3rd 2/14/03 |
|
| S 1 | Bill Barton (R) | Yes | |
| H 1 | Mark Semlek (R) | Yes | |
| H 2 | Ross Diercks (D) | Yes | |
| S 2 | Jim Anderson (R) | Yes | |
| H 5 | James C. Hageman (R) | Yes | |
| H 6 | Dave Edwards (R) | Yes | |
| S 3 | Curt Meier (R) | Yes | |
| H 3 | Deborah Alden (R) | Yes | |
| H 4 | Edward A. Buchanan (R) | Yes | |
| Sheridan-Area Legislators | House 3rd 1/30/03 | Senate 3rd 2/14/03 |
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| S 21 | Bruce Burns (R) | No | |
| H 29 | Jerry Iekel (R) | Yes | |
| H 51 | Rosie Berger (R) | Yes | |
| S 22 | John Schiffer (R) | No | |
| H 30 | Jack Landon (R) | Yes | |
| H 40 | Doug Osborn (R) | Yes | |
| South Central WY Legislators | House 3rd 1/30/03 | Senate 3rd 2/14/03 |
|
| S 9 | Mike Massie (D) | No | |
| H 13 | Jane Warren (D) | Yes | |
| H 45 | Lorna Johnson (D) | Yes | |
| S 10 | Irene Devin (R) | Yes | |
| H 14 | Phil Nicholas (R) | Yes | |
| H 46 | James Slater (R) | Yes | |
| S 11 | Bill Vasey (D) | Yes | |
| H 15 | George Bagby (D) | Yes | |
| H 47 | Kurt Bucholz (R) | Yes | |
| Southwest WY Legislators | House 3rd 1/30/03 | Senate 3rd 2/14/03 |
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| S 12 | Rae Lynn Job (D) | Yes | |
| H 48 | Marty Martin (D) | Yes | |
| H 16 | Pete Jorgensen (D) | Yes | |
| S 13 | Tex Boggs (D) | Yes | |
| H 17 | Fred Parady (R) | Conflict | |
| H 60 | Bill Thompson (D) | Yes | |
| S 14 | Larry Caller (D) | Yes | |
| H 18 | Mick Powers (R) | Yes | |
| H 39 | Chris Boswell (D) | Yes | |
| S 15 | Ken Decaria (D) | Yes | |
| H 19 | Owen Petersen (R) | Yes | |
| H 49 | Saundra Meyer (D) | Yes | |
| West Central WY Legislators | House 3rd 1/30/03 | Senate 3rd 2/14/03 |
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| S 16 | Delaine Roberts (R) | Yes | |
| H 20 | Stan Cooper (R) | Yes | |
| H 21 | Randall Luthi (R) | Yes | |
| S 17 | Grant Larson (R) | Yes | |
| H 22 | Monte Olsen (R) | Yes | |
| H 23 | Clarene Law (R) | Yes | |
See Southwest Region for H 16 and S 12 | |||