Wyoming Lawmakers Seek to Boost Tribal Relations Committee

Wyoming lawmakers will consider whether to make a select committee on tribal relations permanent.

The Wyoming Legislature's Management Council endorsed a bill Thursday to boost the stature of the Select Committee on Tribal Relations.

Lawmakers will next consider the change during a four-week legislative session in Cheyenne that begins Feb. 10.

Proponents say the change would improve the state's relationships with the Northern Arapaho and Eastern Shoshone tribes sharing the Wind River Indian Reservation.

The Legislature established the select committee in 2000 as a liaison to the tribes but the panel only meets a few times a year at most.

A typical standing committee meets four to five times a year and sponsors its own legislation.