Former House Speaker Booted From Committee Schedule Over Column

A Wyoming legislative committee chair booted former House speaker and public records expert Tom Lubnau from a committee agenda, citing Lubnau's confrontational political columns and concerns over maintaining decorum after recent heated legislative meetings.  

CM
Clair McFarland

August 13, 20257 min read

A Wyoming legislative committee chair, Christopher Knapp, R-Gillette, left, booted former House speaker and public records expert Tom Lubnau from a committee agenda, citing Lubnau's confrontational political columns and concerns over maintaining decorum after recent heated legislative meetings.
A Wyoming legislative committee chair, Christopher Knapp, R-Gillette, left, booted former House speaker and public records expert Tom Lubnau from a committee agenda, citing Lubnau's confrontational political columns and concerns over maintaining decorum after recent heated legislative meetings.

A Wyoming legislative committee chair is removing a former speaker of the state House from the schedule of an upcoming meeting because of a political column he writes.

Former House Speaker Tom Lubnau, one of the state’s foremost public records law experts, writes a political column for Cowboy State Daily that is sometimes fiery in tone and often critical of the Wyoming Freedom Caucus, a group of Republican lawmakers with a social-conservative focus.

A Republican himself, Lubnau, who served in the House from 2005-2015, including a two-year stint as speaker, is a longtime attorney representing multiple governmental entities who’s also a leading expert on the Wyoming Public Records Act.

Lubnau had a reserved a time slot on the agenda to speak on proposed revisions to the act at Thursday's legislative Corporations, Elections and Political Subdivisions Committee meeting.

Committee Co-Chair Christopher Knapp, R-Gillette, asked his co-chairman, State Sen. Cale Case, R-Lander, to remove Lubnau from that reserved spot.

Lubnau can still testify during the public comment period of the meeting, but he no longer will be given a reserved spot during the hearing. Participants during the public comment period can be limited in time, which is often dependent on how many other people want to speak.

Knapp told Cowboy State Daily his decision comes in light of Lubnau insulting legislators or their projects in his column — and Knapp’s fear that that behavior could extend to a meeting where decorum must reign. That’s also in the wake of a heated Minerals, Business and Economic Development Committee meeting July 30.

Lubnau, conversely, voiced surprise at the move, saying he’s never been disrespectful at a legislative meeting and he didn’t get to be House Speaker by being a “hothead.” His political column is a product designed to both entertain and inform people, and its nature doesn’t affect his ability to show decorum at a legislative meeting, Lubnau added.

Proposed Legislation

Lubnau was scheduled to speak not from perspective of the press, but as legal counsel to numerous governmental entities, on the rigors of responding to people’s Public Records Act requests.

The committee is slated to consider a bill draft that would give governmental entities 10 days to fill public records requests. That’s a reduction from the current law, which gives those entities up to 30 days to release public records.

If it becomes law, that legislation would also grant an ombudsman the authority to grant or deny a time extension to the governmental entity.

Lubnau’s scheduled speech would have spoken to scenarios in which governmental entities (like hospital boards or schools or towns) are hamstrung between tight state deadlines and federal confidentiality laws mandating redactions across as many as 60,000 requested documents.

Removed

Lubnau said he learned he’d been removed from the schedule Tuesday, when Case called him.

“I received a phone call from Chairman Case yesterday, who told me that Chairman Knapp doesn’t like my column… and won’t let me be on the agenda,” related Lubnau.

Case in a Wednesday interview with Cowboy State Daily declined to speak for Knapp, though he confirmed that Knapp voiced a low opinion of Lubnau’s column.

Out of what he called deference for the chairmanship the two share, Case agreed to remove Lubnau from the schedule – but with a warning.

“I explained that I thought this would probably not work out the way he thought, because this will give, actually a lot of traction,” said Case.

As to Lubnau’s chances of getting time to speak during the public comment segment, Case said he’d make sure that happened.

Knapp, likewise, promised in his Wednesday interview to give Lubnau a chance to speak during public comment.

39 Years Of This

Lubnau voiced surprise at being removed from the schedule due to viewpoints in his political column.

He’s been testifying before Wyoming legislative committees since 1986, when he was on the governor’s probate statute study panel. He served in the legislature for 10 years and as House Speaker from 2013-2014.

He clashed often with people on policy choices. But writing a column is different from working through policy differences, he said.

“The columns are both an information and entertainment vehicle,” said Lubnau, whereas, “The Legislature should be a very serious exchange of ideas.”

As to the upcoming meeting, “When somebody is pointing out problems or weaknesses in your bill – that should be viewed as a favor. Because they’re making your bill stronger.”

“So,” he continued, “instead of trying to silence critics, you should encourage them.”

Knapp told Cowboy State Daily on Wednesday that a lack of decorum at a July 30 meeting of the Minerals, Business and Economic Development Committee was fresh in his mind when he had Lubnau removed from the schedule – though Lubnau did not attend that meeting. 

One commenter at that meeting, Rosemary Saban, had a shouting match with Committee Co-Chair Sen. Jim Anderson, R-Casper.

“You forget who the hell you work for!” Saban yelled.

“We’ll have you removed,” said Anderson. He also muttered an expletive, according to Cowboy State Daily’s reporter on scene.

Knapp was at that committee meeting. Lack of decorum was a prevailing issue, he said, adding that it made him cautious about scheduling expert witnesses for his own meeting this week.

“It’s not just a right. It’s a privilege, when you’re taking up that time to come forth as an expert witness,” he said.

Knapp could not point to a time when Lubnau showed any disrespect at a legislative committee meeting.

Lubnau’s legislative service was before Knapp’s tenure.

Knapp’s key issue, he confirmed, is with Lubnau’s weekly political column in Cowboy State Daily, though the chairman declined to cite specific columns or points within them.

He said Lubnau insults policymakers and uses language Knapp feels is “beneath” public civics discourse.

Those Columns…

Lubnau in a column last Wednesday wrote that the Wyoming Freedom Caucus had proposed “a dumb-assed bill with a sexy title” meant to scrub sexually explicit materials from children’s sections of public or school libraries.

But the bill is legally unsound, wrote Lubnau: riddled with broad definitions, subjective concepts and liabilities.

The Freedom Caucus and people aligned with it are a frequent target of Lubnau’s columns.

Knapp said he’s a Freedom Caucus member, and doesn’t appreciate the broad-brush nature of some people’s criticism of the group’s members.  

Lubnau called out Knapp individually in a Feb. 15 column, saying Knapp pushed redundant legislation to help traditional energy projects though Wyoming already has those programs in place. Lubnau criticized Knapp on Jan. 22, for amending a bill without making the five-page amendment available to the public and members of the committee in advance.

Those attacks didn’t factor into Knapp’s decision, Knapp said in his interview.

He said he was concerned, rather, for other members of the committee whom Lubnau has criticized.

Knapp declined to give their names.

“We respect ideas and we respect individuals,” said Knapp. “(But when) it gets to a point where somebody  has disrespected you enough, where you stand up and say, ‘OK, that’s fine, you can have that opinion and you can have that angle  on things – but don’t expect me to include you, then, in what would be a serious conversation about policy, knowing  you don’t respect half the people you’re speaking to.’”

Knapp throughout his interview emphasized a desire to guide public discourse – not just in committee meetings but beyond – back into a more civil realm.

‘Preposterous’

Besides Lubnau’s column, Knapp said the former Speaker also has “interjected” political comments into a class on running for office that he teaches in Gillette.

Lubnau called that “preposterous,” saying he adds a game-show-style game to the class to make it more interesting, but doesn’t politicize the class.

Catharine Gallilee, the League of Women Voters member who organizes Lubnau’s classes for the guild, agreed.

“(That) is complete and utter – excuse my language – bullshit,” said Gallilee. “He did a fantastic job – and (the game) made people pay attention (to) a little bit of a dry subject.”

Clair McFarland can be reached at clair@cowboystatedaily.com.

Authors

CM

Clair McFarland

Crime and Courts Reporter