"I read the bill” —Wyoming House Majority Whip Al Simpson
CHEYENNE — As the House Republican Whip in the Wyoming Legislature, Al Simpson was different.
It wasn’t his ideology; In the late 1970’s Simpson fit in nicely with the Republicans as a traditional conservative — a Reagan conservative.
He got along well with the minority Democrats.
But while most of the House members stayed at the Hitching Post Inn during the session — and frequented the bar there — Simpson rented an apartment.
One day when the representatives were wrangling over a bill — it could not be called a real debate — Simpson took over.
He said he did something “amazing” the night before — “I read the bill.”
After he explained it, the members continued on to the vote.
No one seemed to resent Simpson for what was a rebuke to them for not doing their homework.
That was his gift — his personality. He was so very likable.
Afterwards, he may have told the members a joke to put them in a better mood.
He also unloaded some criticism during a debate over a bill to increase the penalty for drunk driving.
The debate had been going on for some time as members plucked at the bill with lots of questions over penalties.
Finally, Simpson stood up and said that the members were making a mistake.
“You are applying this bill to yourselves,” he said. He was suggesting the representatives were poking at the bill because they were concerned how would affect them personally.
He also had a knack for generating fresh descriptions of old problems.
At that time the old formula based on classroom units was a big issue.
Trying to understand school finance, Simpson told the house in a near whisper, “is a mystical experience.”
I have borrowed that phrase a number of times in trying to explain other government complexities, like how to assess natural gas tax values.
His solution to the school finance dilemma was that the the Legislature allocate enough money to run schools and give it to the state superintendent of public instruction to dole out.
That would be too simple, he added. And it was. And it didn’t happen.
During Simpson’s final years in the house, Democrat Ed Herschler was governor. They were friends.
As colleagues in the house in 1969, they teamed together in the fight between the trona industry and the Union Pacific Railroad.
The beef was over the trona industry’s plan to cross part of the railroad property on its checkerboard mile along the tracks to make it easier to ship out their product.
Calling themselves ‘just a couple of country lawyers,” Simpson and Herschler outsmarted the hot shot railroad attorneys who flew in from New York and D.C.
The trona industry won and the defeated eastern lawyers flew out of Cheyenne.
Later in the U.S Senate, Simpson became prickly about critics. His style was to fight back always; never let a slur go unanswered.
He had almost universal support by Wyoming newspaper of that era.
One Wyoming editor who was not won over was Dick High of the Casper Star Tribune
High felt Simpson got a free ride too often; he could joke his way out of a legitimate question he wrote. It was a gutsy editorial; High had a point.
Simpson’s response was predictable and quick. Despite the pleas of his staff, he sent a 17 page letter to the editor, generally excoriating High and the paper for its criticism.
I recall that one long page got in the paper. Not 17.
Simpson got in other worse fights with the D.C ’s much more aggressive news media over the years. He never lost his popularity at home though.
I think Simpson over years grew to be a statesman (that is my name for the very, very best politicians); someone willing to work across the aisle for betterments of the nation like immigration reform and methods to reduce the national deficit.
And much more.
Good job Big Al
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Contact Joan Barron at 307-632-2534 or jmbarron@bresnan.net
