Governor Gordon on CARES Act and Possible Special Legislative Session

Wyoming Governor Mark Gordon discussed the recently passed CARES Act and the possibility of the Wyoming Legislature holding a special session to deal with the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. Sheridan Media’s Ron Richter has the details.

The Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security, or CARES Act was approved by Congress late last month and signed into law by President Donald Trump on Friday, March 27. Wyoming Governor Mark Gordon, at a recent news conference, talked about the timeline on when the state may be seeing some of the funding from the stimulus package.

Wyoming State Senate President Drew Perkins and House Speaker Steve Harshman recently issued a letter to legislators that stated “what is becoming clearer every day is the need for a special session or even potentially multiple special sessions this interim to address the health and economic impacts on Wyoming wrought by this virus and collapse of the energy commodity markets.”  Governor Gordon weighed in with his thoughts on a special session of the Legislature.

According to the letter issued by House Speaker Harshman and Senate President Perkins, the Legislature’s Management Council will meet on April 16, where the council will assign specific topics to committees related to coronavirus that will include the economic impact the virus has had on the state, and how to appropriate the $1.25 billion stimulus funding that Wyoming will receive from the federal government. It is anticipated that the committees would then draft legislation for a special session that would take place in either late May or early June.