Law Enhancing Fentanyl Penalties, Several Other Bills Pass Wyoming Legislature

With the 2026 budget session of the Wyoming Legislature nearing the home stretch, several bills were approved on Third Reading on Thursday in the opposite house from where they originated.

While such bills will now have passed both houses of the Wyoming Legislature, that doesn't always mean they are headed to Governor Gordon just yet. In some cases the House and Senate have passed different versions of the bill, and a conference committee will have to hammer out a compromise that both the House and Senate can agree with because changes have been made in the original bill along the way.

Senate File 0009 Doubles Penalty For Selling Fentanyl To Minors

One bill that is headed to Governor Gordon is Senate File 0009, which essentially doubles the penalties for adults who sell fentanyl to minors in Wyoming. The bill applies when someone at least 18 years old sells fentanyl to a minor who is at least three years younger. That means someone selling he drug to a minor could now be facing a prison sentence of 20 years, a $20,000 fine or both.

The bill sailed through the House on Thursday by a 58-2 margin on third reading. It previously passed the Senate 30-0. There were no amendments to the bill in either house.

A bill specifying that Wyoming Medicaid recipient must prove they are U.S. citizens or not in the country illegally and meet several other criteria has won final approval with a 55-5 House vote. You can read Senate File 6 here.

Another bill headed to Governor Gordon is Senate File 80. That bill allows the Wyoming Department or Revenue to contact people by email about sales and use taxes. The law currently requires such notices to be mailed to recipients. The bill passed the House by a vote of 60-0 after previously clearing the Senate by a 30-0 vote.

Other bills winning approval on Third Reading in the House after having already passed the Senate on Thursday included measures dealing with funding for 911 and contacts for holding and treating mentally ill detainees. You can see bills passed by the Wyoming House on Thursday here.

Bills passed by the Senate on Third Reading included measures on local government distributions and on Firefighter Retirement Plans

But a bill on post-election audit procedures was resoundingly defeated by a margin of 21-9. House Bill 85 had sailed through the House on a 60-1 vote.