A lot of rumors seem to be coming out of Cheyenne – some of the craziest rumors you ever heard -- rumors that the Freedom Caucus members vote as instructed, that their votes are dictated by some nebulous secret organization out of Washington, D.C., and that Wyoming legislators – elected to represent the citizen of Wyoming – have ceded their votes to some other folks or group of folks.
I don’t know if these rumors are true or not. Only the members of the Freedom Caucus know for sure.
Tuesday, Rep. Landon Brown, R-Cheyenne, had enough when Freedom Caucus members did not understand the bill they were presenting. He said on the floor, “This is what this body does — we debate, we don’t just take marching orders, we don’t just get told this is how we need to vote on a bill.”
He went on to explain, “It shows me how many people are voting on bills now because they are told to vote a certain way but not because they have any clue what the bill actually does.”
Rep. John Bear, R-Gillette, former Grand Poohbah of the Freedom Caucus, denied the allegations.
“When accused by a fellow member of untoward behavior, conservatives do not complain about false accusations,” countered Bear. “No one is told how to vote, but I believe people are sick and tired of his (Brown) and others’ filibustering.”
Contrast that statement with what Rep. Tomi Strock, R-Douglas, told Cowboy State Daily on Feb. 22, 2023: “Although Freedom Caucus members receive messages each day on how to vote, there are full discussions on the votes and no pressure placed on members to vote certain ways.”
But, in 2024, the WY Freedom PAC – which is the Wyoming Freedom Caucus’ campaign arm – spent $154,875.78 supporting their chosen candidates in Wyoming’s elections.
Bear’s carefully-worded Tuesday comments are at odds with comments he made in a 2023 Wyofile article, where he said the difference in the 67th Legislature, was that the Freedom Caucus had an employee, Jessie Rubino, to “do research” on the bills and consult with “resources back in Washington [D.C.] she can access.”
“Simple text messages” conveyed in digest form informed the bloc of Rubino and the Freedom Caucus’ preferences about bills and amendments, Bear said. “There is no requirement that members and aspiring freshman members bend to the Freedom Caucus on every vote, he said, “though there are unpublicized adherence thresholds to retain membership.”
Bear, in a Dec. 9, 2022, Wyofile article, said, “If they follow us, that’s a good mark. If they don’t, that’s a bad mark. And there’ll be certain thresholds.” Estimating the threshold of adherence to retain membership, he said, “let’s call it 80%.”
The implications of Bear’s comments are concerning, indicating that if you support the Freedom Caucus with your votes, you will receive election support from the Wyoming Freedom PAC. If you don’t you will bear the consequences of the group’s wrath.
The indications, bolstered by the comments of the Former Grand Poohbah of the Freedom Caucus, are that certain legislators are participating in a scheme where if they vote as instructed 80% of the time, they receive campaign support.
The allegation goes to the very heart of Wyoming’s representative democracy. Bear’s carefully-worded denials are no longer enough.
When serious allegations appear in public debate, responsible leaders need to take extraordinary measures to prove our system of government is working.
That is why I am calling on all the members of the House to release any written, email or text message documents which indicate Wyoming Freedom Caucus positions on bills. Demonstrate to the public they are doing nothing wrong.
I am calling on the Freedom Caucus to disclose the puppet master who gets to decide the positions on certain bills and the criteria for those decisions.
If legislators are slanting their votes in anticipation of Wyoming Freedom PAC backing in the next election, or they received support in the last election based on their voting on predetermined Freedom Caucus bill slate, the citizens of Wyoming need to know.
I am also calling on the Wyoming Freedom PAC to release its internal criteria for supporting candidates, and whether the support is based upon a statistical analysis of voting records on a predetermined set of bills.
The information should be released to remove any implication that certain lawmakers are doing anything improper. If nothing wrong is happening, nothing should be hidden.
Votes should not be for sale. If they are, there should be consequences.
Hopefully we don’t see a Hillary Clinton like phone bashing epidemic.
The Wyoming public deserves answers.
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
