Winter listed as co-sponsor of five bills heading into budget session

Rep. John Winter, R-Thermopolis, will enter the 2026 legislative budget session as chair of the House Agriculture, State and Public Lands and Water Resources Committee, his second year in the position. He has been a member of the committee since his first term in 2019, and it is his only committee assignment for 2026. 

Winter, who represents Big Horn, Fremont, Hot Springs and Park Counties in House District 28, did not respond to requests for comment by deadline. While no sponsored bills are listed for the representative on the Wyoming legislature website this session, Winter is reported as a cosponsor of five bills: 

• House Bill 13, also co-sponsored by Sen. Dan Laursen, R-Powell who represents Big Horn and Park Counties, would require ivermectin be provided over the counter without consultation with a healthcare professional. 

• House Bill 14, again supported by both Winter and Laursen, would require the expungement of records for cases dismissed as use of self-defense and authorize reimbursement for costs incurred in defensing criminal prosecution in such cases. 

• House Bill 40 would require Wyoming school districts to provide suicide prevention education to students. 

• Senate File 38 would authorize the state to assess a management fee for services provided to the Wyoming Beef Council, not to exceed 3% of the annual fees collected by the council where the expenditure is at the discretion of the council. 

• Senate File 58 would require the state engineer to conduct groundwater studies not less than once every 10 years in counties that have a control area designated by the Board of Control and appropriate $250,000 from the general fund for the action. 

Winter has been found to vote in line with the Freedom Caucus, with the Better Wyoming Action + Research nonprofit reporting he supported all 28 of the Freedom Caucus priority bills during the 2025 session. 

The Wyoming Freedom Caucus has released its top five legislative priorities for this session, which include returning to pre-pandemic government spending levels, requiring pen and paper ballots for elections in Laramie County, codifying parental rights, removing “obscene pornographic materials from the children’s sections of all public libraries in Wyoming,” and requiring public access to judicial opinions, court orders and oral arguments. 

Legislative action can be followed online at wyoleg.gov, with Winter’s contact info listed as John.Winter@wyoleg.gov or 307-690-0185.