A handful of legislators met in person at the Wyoming Capitol and the rest by computer video Friday for a special session to address the coronavirus pandemic and its growing economic toll. At issue was the disbursement of $1.25 billion in federal Coronavirus Aid Relief and Economic Security Act funding for Wyoming. From that, lawmakers sought to allocate up to $275 million in interest-free loans and other aid for businesses. Another $10 million would go to a new program that would help landlords cover the rent of tenants put out of work by public health orders involving the coronavirus. Still more was set aside as funding for medical infrastructure to hospitals and clinics dealing with the COVID epidemic. Teton County Senator Mike Gierau, however, says the legislature’s work is not done yet.
Gierau said, “This week the revenue committee’s going to be meeting – and those meetings are going to be virtual in some cases. I think most all of them, in fact all of them will have a virtual component. But we’ll all keep looking toward the next special session which is [on] a tentative date of the end of June.”
Gierau says during the weekend special session, over 3000 constituents were watching the proceedings on YouTube; which he points out is unprecedented.
