Being a leader in the legislature takes clear vision, a plan of action and measured steps to a goal.
Yet chaos, deception and a churn of campaign sound bites have marred this legislative session.
Before the session, House leadership held a press conference promising unity and respect.
Speaker Chip Neiman, R-Hulett, claimed he believed past legislative leaders were preaching a message of unity but what they were really saying “you be silent, respect what’s coming down the pike, don’t cause waves.”
“We’re going to make every effort to reach across the aisle and try to be amicable and responsible and willing to work and to have the conversation with debate,” he promised at the time.
But Neiman’s commitments vanished upon announcing his committee appointments. He consolidated power in the most important committees with very few legislators. Except the lone Democrat, all members of the appropriations committee are Freedom Caucus zealots.
The Rules Committee – the committee that determines questions of parliamentary procedure – are Freedom Caucus members. Freedom Caucus members chair the Management Council, Appropriations, Rules, Education, Revenue, Labor and Minerals, Business and Economic Development committees.
The promise of reaching across the aisle was empty.
Platte County preacher and Republican Rep. Jeremy Haroldson promised, “Not a single voice doesn’t matter. We will truly be a different body and make sure every voice is counted. We’re going to infuse honor into the fabric and culture of the body.”
Yet, the experienced members of the house were relegated to Transportation Committee, which doesn’t control the body’s purse strings or vet its most controversial bills. Whether it was to punish the more experienced members or to silence them, the effect was to stifle their important inputs.
Guess their voices did not matter.
The Freedom Caucus has apparently decided they only want people to tell them what they want to hear, not what they need to hear. As a result, we have ill-considered bills, bolstered by campaign-advancing sound bites.
Wyoming passed a constitutional amendment that said health care decisions were not state’s business. This session, the House has passed an unconstitutional bill mandating sticking an ultrasound probe into a woman before a chemical abortion – in other words – legislatively mandated sexual intrusion – which some would call rape.
Wyoming’s Constitution requires the establishment and maintenance of a complete and uniform system of public instruction.
Despite constitutional objections, the House bills gut education funding, fund private and religious institutions and could lower the standards of teachers to anyone 18 years old who can pass a criminal background check. Get ready for the lawsuits.
Most recently, Sheridan Rep. Ken Pendergraff, supported by the Freedom Caucus, moved to limit debate on the budget. Instead of making sure every voice was counted, the Freedom Caucus sought to silence dissenters. The message was clear -- unless you tell the Freedom Caucus what it wants to hear, you will be silenced.
Cody Rep. Rachel Rodriguez-Williams, Freedom Caucus Chair, pledged in the press conference, “For far too long, the people in charge of this building have ignored the everyday man and woman throughout the state; they’ve laughed at our very real concerns; they’ve grown government to an unrecognizable monster; and they’ve lied to us on the campaign trail, I can tell you ladies and gentlemen, those days are over.”
Unless you are in the Freedom Caucus groupthink echo chamber, everyday people from all over the state have been ignored.
The list of ignored voices includes sportsmen, parents, educators, county clerks, health care providers, county commissioners, city council members, women, students, family members and non-freedom caucus legislators. The everyday man must mean Freedom Caucus supporters and no one else.
Ninety-five bills died in the Speaker’s drawer – bills that were created at the request of constituents to be considered by the Wyoming legislature.
Speaker Neiman substituted his judgment for the wisdom of the entire body. For example, a bill meant to reorganize the gaming industry in Wyoming, which has grown into a $2 billion dollars business, died in that drawer.
Small bills foundered: like assisting people with dementia make treatment decisions while they are still able. Bills protecting student safety by allowing expulsion of students bringing firearms to school, died at the Speaker’s hands.
The judgment of the Speaker should not override the collective wisdom of the entire body, but this man took it upon himself to kill one-quarter of all bills brought to his body. So much for being willing to have conversations.
A lot of promises were made. A lot of promises were broken. Keeping one’s word does not seem to be a priority for the Freedom Caucus leadership.
Tom Lubnau served in the Wyoming Legislature from 2004 - 2015 and is a former Speaker of the House. He can be reached at: YourInputAppreciated@gmail.com
