Although he was rather vague on some details, the people of Wyoming got a preview of what a Wyoming House speakership under state Rep. Chip Neiman, R-Hulett, would look like Wednesday.
Neiman is running for House Speaker this November, as first reported by Cowboy State Daily.
Neiman, now the majority floor leader and a prominent member of the Wyoming Freedom Caucus, reiterated multiple times Wednesday during an AARP webinar that he wants to turn the Legislature in a more conservative direction.
“I recognize the state of Wyoming has an agenda and mind involved to move things in a more conservative direction,” he said.
He also believes the people of Wyoming have spoken loud and clear about supporting the same agenda as the Freedom Caucus. As a result of the primary election, the group likely gained 10-11 legislators supportive of the group’s goals.
“The people that are part of the Freedom Caucus, they’re people that stand for and believe in the Republican Party platform,” Neiman said. “They believe in the principles and timeless truths that the Republican Party has voted on.”
Few Specifics
Senate President Ogden Driskill, R-Devils Tower, was one of the attendees at Wednesday’s webinar. He found Neiman’s plan lacking in details.
“The Freedom Caucus continues to talk about all kinds of things, but there’s no detail yet to see,” Driskill said. “The devil is in the details.”
When asked about reducing state spending and what would be cut, Neiman said he wouldn’t support making cuts as large as 30%, but wants to study the issue further before making any hard commitments to specific areas.
“At my ranch, we have to look at what’s working and look at what’s not working. You can’t just throw money at everything,” he said.
Neiman also made it clear that reducing property taxes will be one of his main priorities of the 2025 legislative session.
“Making sure people can live in their homes and can age in their homes,” Neiman said. “I hope the Legislature will recognize the need and respect that.”
When asked if he would support backfilling revenue lost from reducing taxes that goes to local schools and governments, Neiman was noncommittal and said he would need to look at all of the relevant numbers first.
Similarly, Neiman said even though many of his constituents have expressed support for making emergency medical services an essential service in Wyoming, he would still have to look at the issue further before committing support.
He also expects border security, inflation, the cost of doing business, school of choice and state spending to be major topics in the 2025 session.
About Those Vetoes
Neiman said he expects the Legislature to address some of the bills Gov. Mark Gordon vetoed last year, and specifically plans to bring abortion bills up early in the session in order to give the Legislature to override any potential vetoes from Gordon.
“Those will be front-burner discussions, they will come out early,” he said.
One topic Neiman said he could support when speaking to Cowboy State Daily after the webinar is making the attorney general an elected position in Wyoming. Currently, the AG is appointed by the governor.
Although he hasn’t seen any legislation proposing this change, Neiman said he wouldn’t be surprised to see a bill attempting to do that in 2025.
Neiman believes many Wyomingites are unhappy with Gordon’s leadership, which he sees as the main driver behind the bill rather than a real desire for a change in the way attorney generals come into their roles.
“People are frustrated with what’s going on right now because there’s a lot of frustration with what’s been going with the governor,” Neiman said. “If that wasn’t happening this probably wouldn’t be an issue.”
Adamantly pro-life on abortion, Neiman said he’s been disappointed with how Attorney General Bridget Hill has managed the state’s lawsuit defending its law outlawing most abortions in Wyoming.
“I wish they were more aggressive about it,” he said.
Vision For Leadership
Neiman said he wants to be fair with his leadership and take a collaborative approach, similar to the running of a corporation.
“I plan to work in concert with other leadership teams and other legislators to get done what we need to accomplish,” Neiman said. “This is a corporate process.”
After the Freedom Caucus had its successful election night in August, Neiman said he was taken aback by the excited calls he received from other legislators and lobbyists about passing legislation they felt would have never seen the light of day before.
One of the duties of the speaker is to decide which bills are assigned to committees and legislators to those committees. When asked if he would put certain bills in his drawer as House Speaker Albert Sommers, R-Pinedale, did throughout his tenure, Neiman said he would have to judge that on a case-by-case basis.
Under current rules, the House can only pull a bill out of the speaker’s drawer with a two-thirds vote.
Neiman has already shown a propensity to shut down bills. During the 2023 legislative session, he voted to end discussion on a slate of bills to avoid talking about a single piece of legislation that came with a $10 million price tag.
Former Casper state legislator Pat Sweeney expressed confidence during the webinar that Neiman would be fair, but questioned if he would continue to support direct state distributions to local governments.
Without this money, Sweeney said small towns like Midwest and Edgerton would wither away and die.
Some have expressed concern about the future of this money in response to comments then-Freedom Caucus Chairman Rep. John Bear, R-Gillette, made in this year’s session saying Wyoming’s small towns will continue to thrive no matter what.
Neiman said he unequivocally supports continuing this funding but wants to remain flexible about how much is given out. He mentioned one town mayor who already approached him about initiating a food tax in the town.
“Nobody down there wants to limit these small communities’ ability to thrive and grow,” Neiman said.
Who’s Neiman?
Neiman grew up in Hulett and has worked on a ranch most of his life.
He had never been in politics before he was tapped to run for the Legislature in 2020 when he was the chairman of the Crook County Republican Party, to take on former legislator Tyler Lindholm, a rising star at the time.
“I felt it was difficult to get infomation or a good relationship from my representative at that time,” Neiman said. “I also felt my representative was going in a direction not necessarily appreciated of the people they served here.”
After serving just one term, Neiman was voted in 2022 by one vote as majority floor leader, the No. 2 position in the House. Now he’s gunning for the No. 1 job.
“I feel that if elected for that position, I feel a responsibility to the people of Wyoming to forward good policy,” Neiman said. “I want good policy that is going to bless and benefit the people of Wyoming.”
He dismisses concerns about his lack of experience, mentioning how he also wasn’t fully prepared to be a father when he had first child.
“This is going to be a very difficult lift,” Neiman said. “There’s going to be times where this is not going to be fun.”
Similarly, Neiman admitted the Freedom Caucus will have some learning to do when it comes to being in a position of power with an expected majority in the House.
“People are saying, ‘Now you caught the car, what are you going to do with it?’” Neiman said. “I think we’re going to drive and drive it the way people of Wyoming want. There is going to be a learning curve to get over here.”
Leo Wolfson can be reached at leo@cowboystatedaily.com.
