Wyoming House Speaker-elect Chip Neiman, R-Hulett, said he was trying to be as fair as possible with his committee assignments for the upcoming 2025 legislative session announced Saturday.
“I tried to be as fair as I could be,” he told Cowboy State Daily. “I tried to be as balanced as I could and reflective as possible of the election.”
That hasn’t stopped some from giving him heat about his selections, especially Democrats, who say they’re being left off important committees.
Members of and people politically aligned with the Wyoming Freedom Caucus took over a majority of seats in the House this year.
As a result, Neiman, a member of the Freedom Caucus, could have taken a much more aggressive approach to asserting the group’s dominance in his committee selections. But he said he consciously chose not to, and that it’s not needed.
“The votes are already there to move the conservative legislation we need to move,” he said.
The state Senate is roughly split down the middle on political ideology between more conservative Republicans and the more moderate contingency that includes the two Democratic members.
Democrats Mad
The Democratic caucus of the Legislature put out a statement Saturday night, blasting Neiman and Senate President-elect Bo Biteman, R-Ranchester, for removing Democrats from the Joint Education Committee even though they gained one seat in the Legislature in the November election.
"Our schools are the heart of Wyoming’s communities," said state Rep. Karlee Provenza, D-Laramie. “Wyoming schools face challenges like teacher shortages, declining enrollment, increases in student mental health issues, and rural school funding. Excluding Democrats means fewer voices advocating for transparency and honesty in education decisions.”
Legislative rules state that committee membership must reflect the overall makeup of the body.
“I made a conscious effort to be as fair and balanced as I can,” Neiman said.
In the Senate, there are only two Democrats, making it difficult to fill every committee with Democratic representation. In the House, it’s only a slightly easier task, as Democrats now hold six seats, up from five last session.
In the 2024 session, Democrats held two seats on the Joint Education Committee, one each from the House and Senate.
"This move silences families and makes it easier to pass harmful policies without oversight," said Sen. Chris Rothfuss, D-Laramie, in the Democratic response. "Wyoming deserves better."
Neiman said after conversations with new House Education Chair Rep. Ocean Andrew, R-Laramie, he determined it would be the right call to hold Democrats off this committee.
This committee is particularly conservative on the House side, with six of the nine seats held by legislators that are either members of the Freedom Caucus or politically aligned with it.
Neiman said pushing conservative education reforms will be a particular focus in the upcoming session.
Other Committees
Democrats also lost a seat on the Senate Travel, Recreation, Wildlife and Cultural Resources Committee.
They were also held off of the House Minerals, Business and Economic Development, and Senate Judiciary, Agriculture, Transportation, Labor, and Revenue committees again.
Democrats did gain representation on three committees that they don’t currently hold membership — the House Transportation and Military Affairs and Agriculture committees and Senate Corporations, Elections and Political Subdivisions committees.
Rep. Trey Sherwood, D-Laramie, was also returned to the House Appropriations Committee, dispelling rumors that no Democrats would be given a seat to serve on this critical committee.
“I thought it would be more fair and balanced for a Democrat to be on there,” Neiman said.
The Joint Appropriations Committee will look drastically different as a whole, with only three returning members. Sherwood will be the only ranking member on the House side, and Sens. Tim Salazar, R-Riverton, and Mike Gierau, D-Jackson, returning on the Senate side.
Longtime Appropriations members Reps. Bob Nicholas, R-Cheyenne, and Lloyd Larsen, R-Lander, were kept off the committee. These two veteran lawmakers and Rep. Steve Harshman, R-Casper, the longest serving member of the House, were only put on one committee each.
State Rep. John Bear, R-Gillette, will be the new co-chair of the Joint Appropriations Committee with Salazar.
Conservatives Mad Too
Neiman said some conservatives also are upset about the committee selections for another reason — the committee assignments of more moderate Republicans not aligned with the Freedom Caucus.
“Some were saying they couldn’t believe I would do that,” Neiman said.
More moderate Republicans like Sen. Jared Olsen, R-Cheyenne, and Rep. Art Washut, R-Casper, were named co-chairs of the Judiciary Committee. In addition, Rep. Landon Brown, R-Cheyenne, was retained as chair of the House Transportation Committee.
The Travel Committee is also very politically moderate on the House side and has two Democratic members.
Neiman said he got calls from some to hold certain veteran Republicans off every committee, but also didn’t feel that was the right thing to do.
“I didn’t see any purpose in that,” he said. “The people have spoke and their desire is to see this Legislature.”
But Neiman said he was also surprised by some of the committee selections in the Senate.
Neiman said he did minimal coordination with the Senate on his selections and only made a minor revision based on what he saw for its committee assignments.
“We will do what’s necessary to do to work with the Senate to pass good policy,” Neiman said.
The committee assignments in the Senate appear to be roughly split down the middle between more conservative and moderate legislators, with the more moderate camp possibly holding a slight advantage.
Sens. Cheri Steinmetz, R-Lingle, Larry Hicks, R-Baggs, and Brian Boner, R-Douglas, who ran as a slate in the leadership election against Biteman’s slate in the Republican leadership elections last month, each only got two committee seats and no chair positions.
Freedom Caucus Still Gets A Lot
Legislators associated with or members of the Freedom Caucus have a majority on all but two of the 10 committees and will hold the chair on seven of those committees.
State Rep. Rachel Rodriguez, R-Cody, chairman of the Freedom Caucus, will be the new chair of the Labor, Health and Social Services committee. Four other Freedom Caucus members — Reps. Scott Heiner, R-Green River, Majority Floor Leader John Winter, R-Thermopolis, Chris Knapp, R-Gillette, Tony Locke, R-Casper — will respectively lead the Minerals, Agriculture, Revenue and Corporations committees.
In the House, every freshman legislator associated with the Freedom Caucus got multiple committee assignments, while all the other freshmen got one.
Rosters
The following Senate committee assignments have been made for the 2025-2026 biennium:
• Judiciary: Sens. Jared Olsen, chairman; Barry Crago; Gary Crum; Larry Hicks; John Kolb.
• Appropriations: Tim Salazar, chairman; Ogden Driskill; Mike Gierau; Dan Laursen; Darin Smith.
• Revenue: Troy McKeown, chairman; Cale Case; Tim French; Bob Ide; Stephan Pappas.
• Education: Sens. Wendy Schuler, chairman; Evie Brennan; Bill Landen; Jared Olsen; Charlie Scott.
• Agriculture: Tim French, chairman; Barry Crago; Bob Ide; Troy McKeown; Laura Pearson.
• Travel, Recreation, Wildlife and Cultural Resources: Sens. Bill Landen, chairman; Brian Boner; Larry Hicks; Stacey Jones; Wendy Schuler.
• Corporations, Elections and Political Subdivisions: Sens. Cale Case, chairman; Brian Boner; Dan Dockstader; Chris Rothfuss; Cheri Steinmetz.
• Transportation, Highways and Military Affairs: Sens. Stephan Pappas, chairman; Jim Anderson; Evie Brennan; Ed Cooper; John Kolb.
• Minerals, Business and Economic Development: Sens. Jim Anderson, chairman; Ed Cooper; Stacey Jones; Tara Nethercott; Chris Rothfuss.
• Labor, Health & Social Services: Eric Barlow, chairman; Gary Crum; Lynn Hutchings; Charlie Scott; Cheri Steinmetz.
The following House committee assignments have been made for the 2025-2026 biennium:
• Judiciary: Reps. Art Washut, chairman; Marlene Brady; Laurie Bratten; Ken Chestek; Lee Filer; Tom Kelly; Jayme Lien; Daniel Singh; Joe Webb.
• Appropriations: John Bear, chairman; Bill Allemand; Abby Angelos; Jeremy Haroldson; Ken Pendergraft; Trey Sherwood; Scott Smith.
• Revenue: Tony Locke, chairman; Gary Brown; Kevin Campbell; Jayme Lien; Ann Lucas; J.R. Riggins; Liz Storer; Clarence Styvar; Bob Wharff.
• Education: Ocean Andrew, chairman; Laurie Bratten; McKay Erickson; Joel Guggenmos; Tom Kelly; Martha Lawley; Daniel Singh; Tomi Strock; J.D. Williams.
• Agriculture, State and Public Lands and Water Resources: John Winter, chairman; Dalton Banks; Bob Davis; John Eklund; Steve Johnson; Pepper Ottman; Mike Schmid; Tomi Strock; Karlee Provenza.
• Travel, Recreation, Wildlife and Cultural Resources: Andrew Byron, chairman; Elissa Campbell; Karlee Provenza; Marilyn Connolly; Steve Harshman; Julie Jarvis; Liz Storer; Pam Thayer; Bob Wharff.
• Corporations, Elections and Political Subdivisions: Christopher Knapp, chairman; Gary Brown; Tony Locke; Paul Hoeft; Steve Johnson; Ann Lucas; Joe Webb; Nina Webber; Mike Yin.
• Transportation, Highways & Military Affairs: Landon Brown, chairman; Dalton Banks; Rob Geringer; Lloyd Larsen; Darin McCann; Bob Nicholas; Ivan Posey; Reuben Tarver; Cody Wylie.
• Minerals, Business and Economic Development: Scott Heiner, chairman; Kevin Campbell; Christopher Knapp; J.T. Larson; Martha Lawley; J.R. Riggins; Mike Schmid; Reuben Tarver; Nina Webber.
• Labor, Health and Social Services: Rachel Rodriguez-Williams, chairman; Ken Clouston; Joel Guggenmos; Paul Hoeft; Darin McCann; Pepper Ottman; Mike Yin; Clarence Styvar; Jacob Wasserburger.
Additional assignments for select committees, task forces and miscellaneous committees will be made available in March, following the legislative session.
Leo Wolfson can be reached at leo@cowboystatedaily.com.
