Gov. Mark Gordon said he’s wary of national influences in Wyoming politics, which was one of the reasons he vetoed a bill Tuesday that would have required legislative approval for major rule changes for state agencies.
On Wednesday, the Wyoming Senate overrode Gordon’s veto by a 21-10 vote. The bill will next move to the House for veto override consideration.
Wyoming state agencies now have to give public and legislative notice about all major rule changes and hold public hearings, but the rules can only be vetoed by the governor. The Legislature can repeal rules after the fact through statutory changes in legislation.
Senate Enrolled Act 59 isn’t Wyoming-centric or inspired, Gordon said.
“This act, originally based on an out-of-state template used in places like Florida and Kansas, purports that by further expanding bureaucratic review, the process will be more efficient and fiscally conservative,” Gordon wrote in his Tuesday veto letter. “Instead, this step would introduce an element of uncertainty and delay into a process that is already considered diligent, and at times overly burdensome.”
The rulemaking process, typically a dry affair that catches little attention, came under the spotlight last year when Gordon vetoed two of Secretary of State Chuck Gray’s proposed election rules.
DOGE-Esque
In some ways, SEA 59 follows the lead that Elon Musk is taking with his Department of Government Efficiency efforts to reduce federal spending and bureaucracy.
The Wyoming bill requires a fiscal analysis for every rule and examination of alternatives, which Libertarian group Americans For Prosperity supported.
“The best explanation why this is Wyoming’s own version of DOGE has a lot to do with accountability,” said Tyler Lindholm, Wyoming state director for AFP. “When we’re talking about administrative rules, the only one you can really hold accountable for any of these regulations that may be overarching, may be costing the private sector a ton of money, and may be not the intent of the Legislature is the governor.”
Lindholm acknowledges that SEA 59 is based off similar legislation passed in three other states
AFP believes the Legislature should also be held accountable to the public in the rulemaking process, which SEA 59 instructs.
Lindholm brought up the example of SEA 48, a bill Gordon signed into law that clarifies commercial hair braiding is exempt from the Wyoming Cosmetology Act, but an owner of a salon may require certification for the practice of natural hair braiding.
He said this bill created extra work for the Legislature in having to proactively stop an unlicensed practice.
“It was never the intent of the Legislature that hair braiding was regulated and licensed, and yet here we are,” Lindholm said. “That means we’ve got a regulatory environment that is out of control and is not responsive to the people of Wyoming.”
Still, Gordon warned in his veto letter of SEA 59 that it would actually increase regulatory bureaucracy and unpredictability.
SEA 59 passed the Senate on a 25-6 vote and after that the House on a 56-5 vote.
All Politics
Gordon said he considered approving the bill after changes were made to it in the Senate, but then reconsidered when “zombie measures” were added back into the bill in the House.
He said he believes this shows the true intent of the bill was to use the executive branch to craft rules so they can be questioned afterward as political fodder.
“Creating uncertainty for Wyoming citizens and businesses to fill a bingo card for some national organization or another is unfortunate,” Gordon wrote. “Wyoming is not Florida, thank God, so it is unclear why we have to emulate it.”
Lindholm said as a result of Florida passing similar legislation, that state saw a 50% reduction in state rules created over a 10-year period.
“That’s huge, I do think people would notice that over time,” he said.
Administrative State
Gordon said the Legislature would be better off altering or eliminating the Wyoming Administrative Procedures Act so it can make agency rules itself.
Former state legislator Anthony Bouchard disagrees and said the Legislature should abdicate its role in the rulemaking process.
He mentioned last month that the state of South Dakota has a smaller state government budget than Wyoming despite having nearly twice the population and a much smaller percentage of federal land.
Bouchard told Cowboy State Daily he believes the size of Wyoming’s government is a reflection of the days when it received more mineral revenues.
“We’ve had so much money in minerals and fuels in the past that it put us on track to just keep growing government,” he said.
He also said the governor and state agencies have far too much discretion about how they use revision money, unused funds from previous years that they can repurpose in the future for different purposes than originally approved for.
Rep. Bob Nicholas, R-Cheyenne, disagrees and said the size of Wyoming government is fair when considering the state has fewer employees and teachers than it did 15 years ago and the state already made 10% to 15% cuts around 2018.
Since that time, he said the Joint Appropriations Committee has taken a measured approach and fine-toothed comb toward state growth.
“It’s a pretty good equilibrium,” he said.
Nicholas agrees with Bouchard that Wyoming grew its government more aggressively in the past when it had a stronger financial picture.
Rep. Karlee Provenza, D-Laramie, echoed that, saying reducing the number of state employees and the budget doesn’t automatically equate to a better-run government.
“We might find out soon since we’re cutting hundreds of millions of dollars from our School Foundation Program and the rest of our accounts are going to be hurting,” she said. “So, we’ll see what it looks like to have less people in government because we’re creating an artificial financial crisis.”
Leo Wolfson can be reached at leo@cowboystatedaily.com.
