“At no time in my life have I seen our state so divided,” Sommers, a rancher from Pinedale, said during Tuesday’s swearing-in ceremony in Cheyenne. “We must pull back from the abyss. The bitterness that divides Wyoming is spawned by fear, a fear that is fueled by the inability to discern the truth and by feeling our voices aren’t heard.”

Unlike many of the 27 new representatives in the 62-member House, Sommers, an incumbent, is an establishment Republican. The upcoming session will be a test of rising tension between traditional Republicans and the growing influence of the Wyoming Freedom Caucus, a consortium of hard-line conservative lawmakers whose membership is kept secret, though members aren’t prohibited from identifying themselves.

Though the Freedom Caucus has been aggressive, now part of a national network that has hired a lawyer to serve as Wyoming state director, Sommers called for collaboration and civility.

“We are here to solve problems, and that can only be done by starting conversations, building trust and forming relationships,” he urged the assembly on the House floor. “Building relationships is impossible if we lack civility and foment discord. We will disagree on many issues, but we must maintain decorum and civility to each other and to the public that we represent.”

Teton County’s lawmakers already have set about building the relationships and trust Sommers spoke of, particularly during committee work.

With the support of the Wyoming Department of Transportation, a bill spearheaded by county officials and transportation planners could clear the way for the state’s first high-occupancy vehicle lane on Highway 22. The bill, which already has cleared the Transportation Committee, allows counties to enforce a carpool lane if they desire.

Other issues are looking at a much more muddled future.

The evergreen topic of legalizing medical marijuana, brought up by Jackson Councilman Jim Rooks, doesn’t have support from state law enforcement, according to Sheriff Matt Carr. No bills on the topic have been filed yet.

Another perennial and locally popular proposal for a real estate transfer tax isn’t in great shape, according to Rep. Mike Yin, a Jackson Democrat entering his second term and newly elected minority floor leader.

Though the tax on high-value real estate transactions to boost affordable housing would be optional for counties to impose, it still would face opposition from many legislators who ran on pledges of no new taxes.

When it comes to other “tools in the toolbox” for affordable housing, Yin said he saw residential property tax relief as being closely related.

“I think this has been on a lot of other members’ minds,” Yin said. “There will be almost certainly some sort of property tax refund or property tax relief that passes through this session.”

Residential property taxes, which are obligated by the Wyoming Constitution to keep up with the market value of a home, shot up across the state last year, including about an average 30% jump in Teton County.

The statewide squeeze inspired legislators last year to earmark $5 million in one-time funds — $4 million more than Gov. Mark Gordon recommended — for existing relief programs.

One bill proposes knocking off the first $100,000 of a home’s value from a property tax assessment if it is used as a primary residence.

That “homestead exemption” is essentially a drop in the bucket for residences in Teton County — where the average single-family home was $2.7 million in November — “but it would be something,” Yin said.

Another bill proposes a constitutional amendment that would allow for more tax flexibility. Part of the debate about that bill, Yin said, is a “California-style” cap on the annual increase in property tax.

Amending the Constitution requires a high bar, a two-thirds vote from both House and Senate, before being put to the people on the next election ballot.

Rep. Liz Storer, a newly elected Teton County Democrat, said she was interested in legislation that would provide tiered tax relief based on a person’s property tax-to-income ratio.

Yin said he also wanted to draft a bill allowing residential development on state lands. The Revenue Committee, which he used to serve on, killed such a bill in November. The goal would be to raise more stable funding for schools and create more room for affordable housing across the state, Yin said.

State school trust lands, which statutorily are required to raise revenue for Wyoming schools, have made headlines over the past year after state officials permitted glamping and storage on a 20-acre parcel near Teton Village, sparking three lawsuits among the state, the county and the water quality nonprofit Protect Our Waters Jackson Hole.

County commissioners asked lawmakers to bring bills that make clear what permits lease-holders on such parcels must obtain to protect buildings from electrical fires and waterways from sewage disposal.

“If the state is going to be an absentee landowner and let the permit holder decide what happens, there needs to be more explicit, upfront direction from the state,” said Commissioner Natalia Macker, vice president of the Wyoming County Commissioners Association.

In addition to local control of land use, one of the biggest social and health issues in the session will be access to abortion.

Nearly one year ago lawmakers passed Wyoming’s trigger bill in anticipation of the U.S. Supreme Court overturning Roe v. Wade. Yin pushed to put exceptions into Wyoming’s total abortion ban for victims of rape and incest and if the mother’s life is threatened. The law, which places criminal liability on the doctor to determine those conditions, was blocked in court through a lawsuit in Teton County. Yin told health and human service experts last week he isn’t sure of the law‘s future.

Acknowledging the uphill battle to erase that law in such a conservative state, Community Safety Network Director Shannon Brooks Hamby made a specific plea to lawmakers to fight for language in any further abortion-related bills that takes away burden of proof for rape victims seeking pregnancy care.

“For people who experience rape, sexual assault, sexual coercion as part of domestic violence,” Hamby said, “the right to abortion is often instrumental in allowing them to lead independent and safe lives.”

Yin said he probably would bring a bill that repeals the trigger ban altogether.

“But the likelihood of that even being sent to committee is probably low,” he said. “My hope is that the Supreme Court just overturns it.”

Lawmakers also are bracing for debate on the state’s budget. State revenues are exceeding projections by $1 billion heading into this year, in large part due to higher-than-expected prices for oil, natural gas and coal — costs that hit consumers hard but brought profits to energy companies, the state’s biggest businesses.

As of Tuesday 185 bills had been uploaded to the legislative website, WyoLeg.gov, with more on the way. The News&Guide and Jackson Hole Daily will be tracking important bills through the approximately 40-day session.

Lawmakers have until the end of the month to introduce bills.