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2006 Budget Session
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HB 24 supplemented funding for local predatory animal control boards by providing $6 million for their use over the next biennium. Local predator control boards are currently funded primarily by brand inspection fees on livestock.
Each county in Wyoming is designated as a predatory animal district, with a board of directors elected by district (i.e., county) livestock owners who pay taxes or predator control fees.
HB 24 added predacious birds to the group of predatory animals that may be controlled.
HB 24 very carefully replaced all reference in current statutes to "predatory animal control" with "predatory animal management" (or "predator management"), and modified all reference to "predatory animal districts (or advisory boards)" to read "predator management districts (advisory boards)".
As introduced, HB 24 would have appropriated $10 million from the general fund to the Wyoming Department of Agriculture, which would distribute the money over the next two years to the local predator control ("management") boards through a grant process. During the legislative process, that amount was amended down to $6 million.
Supporters of HB 24 believed that predators are causing unacceptable levels of damage to livestock and wildlife in the state. They noted that local predator control boards are unable to raise enough money from local livestock producers to fund predator control efforts to the degree they believed necessary.
Opponents argued that those who directly benefit from predator control, livestock owners, should pay for the program, and that it should be sized to what they are willing to invest. Opponents believed that using general fund money to expand predator control efforts so dramatically would be nothing more than a direct subsidy by general taxpayers to agricultural interests. They also noted that dramatically increasing control efforts against one wildlife species that is viewed as an undesirable predator (for example, coyotes) often has far-reaching, unintended negative consequences for other wildlife species, and that, in general, predator control is not an affective wildlife management tool.
The House amended HB 24 to reduce the funding to $6 million, and passed the bill, 49-8 (2 excused, 1 conflict-of-interest).
The Senate further amended HB 24 to require that local predator control boards must first fully tax livestock through brand inspection fees at $1 per head of livestock before they could apply for state funds. They specified that three members of the local boards must be sportsmen not affiliated with the livestock industry, and that county commissioners would appoint one seat to their county's board. With these amendments, the Senate passed the bill, 18-12.
The votes listed below are the House and Senate third reading (final passage) votes. A YES vote means the legislator supported giving $6 million to local predator control boards over the next two years. A NO vote means the legislator did not support giving this money to local boards for predator control.
| Bighorn Basin Legislators | House 3rd 2/27/06 | Senate 3rd 3/9/06 |
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| S 18 | Hank Coe (R) | Yes | |
| H 24 | Colin Simpson (R) | Yes | |
| H 50 | Pat Childers (R) | Yes | |
| S 19 | Ray Peterson (R) | Yes | |
| H 25 | Alan Jones (R) | Yes | |
| H 26 | Elaine Harvey (R) | Yes | |
| S 20 | Gerald E. Geis (R) | Yes | |
| H 27 | Debbie Hammons (D) | Yes | |
| H 28 | Lorraine Quarberg (R) | Yes | |
| Casper-Area Legislators | House 3rd 2/27/06 | Senate 3rd 3/9/06 |
|
| S 27 | John Barrasso (R) | Yes | |
| H 35 | Roy Cohee (R) | Yes | |
| H 36 | Gerald Gay (R) | No | |
| S 28 | Kit Jennings (R) | 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) | No | |
| S 30 | Charles K. Scott (R) | No | |
| H 38 | Bob Brechtel (R) | No | |
| H 58 | Ann Robinson (D) | Yes | |
| Cheyenne-Area Legislators | House 3rd 2/27/06 | Senate 3rd 3/9/06 |
|
| S 4 | Tony Ross (R) | No | |
| H 7 | Doug Samuelson (R) | Yes | |
| H 41 | Becket Hinckley (R) | Yes | |
| S 5 | John Hanes (R) | No | |
| H 8 | Larry Meuli (R) | Yes | |
| H 42 | Pete Illoway (R) | Yes | |
| S 6 | Wayne H. Johnson (R) | Yes | |
| H 9 | Bryan Pedersen (R) | Yes | |
| H 10 | Rodney "Pete" Anderson (R) | Yes | |
| S 7 | Kathryn Sessions (D) | No | |
| H 11 | Wayne Reese (D) | Yes | |
| H 43 | Dan Zwonitzer (R) | Conflict | |
| S 8 | E. Jayne Mockler (D) | No | |
| H 12 | Layton Morgan (D) | Yes | |
| H 44 | Floyd Esquibel (D) | Yes | |
| Gillette-Area Legislators | House 3rd 2/27/06 | Senate 3rd 3/9/06 |
|
| S 23 | John Hines (R) | Yes | |
| H 31 | Thomas E. Lubnau II (R) | Excused | |
| H 52 | Burke Jackson (R) | Yes | |
| S 24 | Michael Von Flatern (R) | No | |
| H 32 | Jeff Wasserburger (R) | Yes | |
| H 53 | Erin Mercer (R) | Yes | |
| Lander/Riverton-Area Legislators | House 3rd 2/27/06 | Senate 3rd 3/9/06 |
|
| S 25 | Cale Case (R) | No | |
| H 33 | W. Patrick Goggles (D) | 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 2/27/06 | Senate 3rd 3/9/06 |
|
| S 1 | C.L. Townsend (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 2/27/06 | Senate 3rd 3/9/06 |
|
| S 21 | Bruce Burns (R) | No | |
| H 29 | Jerry Iekel (R) | Yes | |
| H 51 | Rosie Berger (R) | Yes | |
| S 22 | John Schiffer (R) | Yes | |
| H 30 | Jack Landon (R) | No | |
| H 40 | Doug Osborn (R) | Yes | |
| South Central WY Legislators | House 3rd 2/27/06 | Senate 3rd 3/9/06 |
|
| S 9 | Mike Massie (D) | No | |
| H 13 | Jane Warren (D) | No | |
| H 45 | Kevin A. White (R) | Yes | |
| S 10 | Phil Nicholas (R) | Yes | |
| H 14 | Kermit C. Brown (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) | Excused | |
| Southwest WY Legislators | House 3rd 2/27/06 | Senate 3rd 3/9/06 |
|
| S 12 | Rae Lynn Job (D) | No | |
| H 48 | Marty Martin (D) | Yes | |
| H 16 | Pete Jorgensen (D) | No | |
| S 13 | Tex Boggs (D) | No | |
| H 17 | Stephen Watt (R) | No | |
| H 60 | Bill Thompson (D) | Yes | |
| S 14 | Stan Cooper (R) | Yes | |
| H 18 | Mick Powers (R) | Yes | |
| H 39 | John Hastert (D) | Yes | |
| S 15 | Ken Decaria (D) | Yes | |
| H 19 | Owen Petersen (R) | Yes | |
| H 49 | Bruce Barnard (R) | Yes | |
| West Central WY Legislators | House 3rd 2/27/06 | Senate 3rd 3/9/06 |
|
| S 16 | Pat Aullman (R) | Yes | |
| H 20 | Kathy Davison (R) | Yes | |
| H 21 | Randall Luthi (R) | Yes | |
| S 17 | Grant Larson (R) | No | |
| H 22 | Monte Olsen (R) | Yes | |
| H 23 | Keith Gingery (R) | No | |
See Southwest Region for H 16 and S 12 | |||