CHEYENNE — With only a week to go, this legislative session has not been the finest in Wyoming history.
It seems that the far right Freedom Caucus that is in control of the House and half the Senate is pedaling backwards.
I am referring, of course, to the unprecedented decision not to pass the governor’s supplemental budget.
That budget policy was the result of the evolution of the Legislature in the 1970’s.
The first session I covered was in 1971. It was 40 days.
The lawmakers had the same schedule in 1973.
This was the same since statehood.
Then came legislation to create the Legislative Service Office and the framework of what we have today.
It called for a general session in odd numbered years and a short budget session in even numbered years
The first budget session in 1974 was awkward as I have written before.
The budget bill — there was only one — first went to the House. While it was in the House for the required three days of votes, the Senate members had nothing to do.
So they flew paper airplanes all day and chatted or played tricks on each other.
The legislative leaders of that day decided changes were needed. Since the lawmakers were already in Cheyenne for the duration of the budget work they might as well be working on other bills, other ideas.
It was a logical decision.
The general session also was changed to include a budget session as the state grew and financing became more complex.
The purpose, I believe, was to prevent a lot of special sessions.
Meanwhile, there was an entire new structure which provided legislators with staff members who could help them draft bills. They could become bill sponsors just like the lawyers who held seats in the chambers.
They became an independent, active leg of state government.
Wyoming finally had a legislature that rated more a than F grade with the National Council on State Legislatures.
This recent movement to ignore the supplemental budget is clearly Freedom Caucus-inspired and is meant, at least partially, to target and embarrass Gov. Mark Gordon -- who is not a caucus member.
The following is a message from the State Freedom Caucus network which directs Wyoming caucus legislators.
”As we've mentioned before, the Wyoming Freedom Caucus is fully in charge of the Wyoming state house. When their legislative session started last month, they launched their ambition 'Five and Dime' plan to pass five conservative reforms within the first ten days. They succeeded in that plan, but the Wyoming Senate is not playing along. Once a respected conservative, Senate Leader Bo Biteman, has instead watered down and blocked WYFC-sponsored legislation like a property tax cut and universal school choice.
However, one key 'Five and Dime' proposal has passed the State Senate and is now heading to the governor's desk - a ban on driver's licenses for illegal aliens. It remains to be seen if Wyoming's liberal Republican governor, Mark Gordon, will sign the bill.”
This is the group that earlier advised caucus members to watch the state Senate and the governor in preparation for identifying whom they will target in the next primary election.
Anyway, as a result of the scuttling of the governor’s supplemental budget, lawmakers are scurrying about trying to “Christmas tree” bills that are still alive by adding appropriations for their pet projects or essential money for things like wildfire suppression.
Sadly, this doesn’t work on most cases because the Wyoming Constitution requires a bill to have only one subject.
So you can’t adorn a bill intended to ban something — there are a lot of those — with money for something else.
But then there is always the prospect of a special session which would require the legislators to come back to Cheyenne and pass what they should have done in the first place.
And that is what the Legislature in the 1970’s was trying to avoid.
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I predicted wrongly last week that the 50 percent property tax bill would die in joint conference.
Instead it came out with a haircut.
The bill now calls for a 25 percent reduction in property tax for a certain class of resident and with no sunset, meaning it could be permanent.
But it remains with no backfill which may result in a whole lot of backlash from local governments if this becomes law.
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Contact Joan Barron ar 307-632-2534 or jmbarron@bresnan.net
