Transportation bills could impact all Wyoming driver

CHEYENNE — Three recently proposed bills would impact how Wyoming residents approach driving and transportation.

If passed during the legislative session that begins Monday, the changes would remove front-plate requirements in Wyoming, make family vehicle transfers tax-free and form a new highway investment task force.

Front plate requirement

House Bill 81, titled the “Less Is More Plate Act,” proposes eliminating Wyoming’s long-standing requirement that most vehicles display a front license plate. This bill would specify that vehicles require only a rear plate.

Specialty plates for disabled veterans, former prisoners of war, Pearl Harbor survivors, National Guard members and others would continue to be issued, but only as single plates. Motorcycles and multipurpose vehicles, which already use a single plate, would see no change.

If passed, the act would take effect July 1.

This would create a minor impact on residents as they would no longer need to drill front-plate mounts into new vehicles, and it could reduce the cost for new plates.

It could also save the state money on plate production. According to the bill draft, the change would save the state $408,268 annually. A similar bill was proposed in Wyoming in the 2019 legislative session but failed in committee.

Laramie County Sheriff Brian Kozak said removing this requirement could reduce law enforcement capabilities. He cited examples of residents’ front door cameras that picked up front license plates of cars, which helped in solving crimes.

He also said his department tested an automated license plate reading technology to help identify stolen vehicles, where at least eight out-of-state stolen vehicles were identified by his department in a two-month period.

Although he didn’t keep the technology since it could not accurately read Wyoming plates, Kozak said the stolen vehicles taken in valued more than $400,000, and he would implement the technology if the Wyoming Department of Transportation took necessary steps to address how its registration numbers are read.

Taxfree family vehicle transfers

Senate File 61 would exempt certain motor vehicle sales or gifts between immediate family members from Wyoming’s sales and use taxes. Under the proposal, parents, children, spouses and siblings could transfer vehicles among themselves without paying excise tax, provided the original owner had already paid the required sales or use tax when the vehicle was first acquired.

It also would require that the transfer be a genuine sale or gift between those family members. If enacted, the measure would take effect July 1.

For Wyoming residents, the change could reduce the cost of exchanging those vehicles. The fiscal impact, in the form of decreased sales and use taxes, cannot be determined, according to the bill’s fiscal note, as the Department of Revenue and Department of Transportation can’t estimate the number of transactions that qualify for the exemption.

Major highway investments, new interstate study task force

The largest of the three proposals, House Bill 82, called the “Wyoming Interstate Study and Safe Highways Investment Act,” would authorize up to $250 million in loans from the state’s Permanent Wyoming Mineral Trust Fund to finance major highway construction projects.

The loans, issued through the state treasurer with approval from the State Loan and Investment Board, would carry a fixed interest rate capped at 2.5%. Repayment would begin in 2027, with annual transfers of up to $50 million from the Strategic Investments and Projects Account until the loans and interest are fully repaid.

The bill identifies several high-priority projects:

• New passing lanes on U.S. Highway 20 between Casper and Thermopolis, with specific segments determined after traffic studies.
• Widening U.S. Highway 287 between Laramie and the Colorado state line to four lanes.
• Expanding Wyoming Highway 59 between Wright and Gillette to five lanes.
• Constructing an alternative paved route between Rock Springs and Green River on the north side of Interstate 80.

These projects target some of the state’s more accident-prone corridors.

HB 82 also creates a 15-member Interstate Highways Traffic Study Task Force, composed of legislators, state officials and representatives from transportation industries. The task force would study traffic patterns and explore strategies to reduce congestion and road wear.

One option under consideration is transporting commercial trucks by rail across certain stretches of the state, funded by fees paid by trucking companies. Another is adding lanes to key interstate segments. 

The proposed bill requires the task force to deliver recommendations by July 1, 2027 and dissolve later that year.

The 68th Wyoming Legislature’s budget session gets underway Monday, with lawmakers considering the state’s proposed biennial budget over the next four weeks, along with a slew of other proposed bills.

This story was published on Feb. 5, 2026.