Despite being removed from the official agenda of a legislative meeting in Casper on Thursday, a former speaker of the Wyoming House of Representatives was allowed to testify there for nearly 30 minutes.
Tom Lubnau’s 28-minute testimony, given remotely over virtual link to the legislative Corporations, Elections and Political Subdivisions Committee, followed his unceremonious removal from the agenda days earlier by Committee Co-Chair Christopher Knapp, R-Gillette.
The legislator had voiced concerns with the acerbic nature of Lubnau’s weekly political column in Cowboy State Daily.
Knapp told the outlet Wednesday that he made the decision partly due to decorum breaches at a different, July 30 meeting. Although Lubnau did not attend that meeting and was not associated with the disruptions last month, Knapp was concerned the tone of his columns could potentially make its way into his testimony and the hearing.
The columnist would still be allowed to speak during the public comment segment of the meeting, Knapp added.
In response to the removal, Lubnau told Cowboy State Daily on Wednesday that he’s been testifying before Wyoming legislative committees for 39 years without decorum issues.
It’s Knapp’s prerogative to remove him from the schedule, he said, adding “elections have consequences.”
Often in legislative meetings, the scheduled speakers have a more comfortable presentation window than the public commenters, who may have to compete for time depending on how many wish to speak.
That was not an issue for Lubnau on Thursday.
He spoke for nearly 28 minutes, drawing from his significant experience with the Wyoming Public Records Act, which the committee is considering changing.
'Not An Insult'
It was Committee Co-Chairman Cale Case, R-Lander, who chaired the first day of the two-day meeting rather than Knapp, and he did not restrict Lubnau’s speaking time.
Knapp had also promised, in his Wednesday interview, that he would give Lubnau adequate time if it were up to him.
“The committee was respectful and attentive,” Lubnau told Cowboy State Daily after his presentation. “I am sorry this tempest in a teapot distracted from what really matters, which is drafting quality legislation for Wyoming.”
Knapp in a Thursday text said, “I’m glad he had the opportunity for public testimony, it went well.”
Rep. Rachel Rodriguez-Williams, R-Cody, who also chairs the Wyoming Freedom Caucus, gave the following comment via a Thursday text message.
"When officials see the public comment period as beneath them, they reveal exactly where their loyalties lie — and it’s not with the people," she said. "Being 'relegated' to stand with citizens should be an honor, not an insult."
Lubnau is not an elected official currently, but he spoke from the perspective of elected governmental bodies whom he represents as an attorney, and as a foremost authority on the Wyoming Public Records Act.
During Thursday's meeting and prior to Lubnau's presentation, WyoFile columnist Rod Miller derided Lubnau's removal from the schedule.
"I must say, with all the respect that I can muster, that the behavior exhibited toward former speaker of the House, and my fellow columnist Tom Lubnau, was beneath the dignity of the Wyoming Legislature," said Miller. "And it did not go unnoticed."
The Actual Issue
Lubnau’s testimony stressed that increasing potential fines for public servants who don’t produce public documents according to the law, while also shortening the deadline to do so from 30 days to 10, will drive public records requests into litigation.
That would burden government functions even further and clog up state courts, Lubnau said.
The counterpoint to that, brought by Bob Bonner, publisher of Newcastle’s Newsletter Journal, was that not all local government officials comply with the state’s Public Records Act in good faith, and the Legislature needs to put real enforcement power behind the law.
Riverton-based editor of The Ranger, Sarah Squires, also testified in favor of a tougher, or at least more specific, Public Records Act.
She said some governmental entities will offload their record-finding tasks onto their attorneys and saddle records requesters in the media with a bill comprised of $300 per hour wages for what can in some cases be “clerical” work.
Numerous speakers representing governments warned of a wide-net approach that would penalize officials for not meeting the public records requests of data mining companies and other “abusive” requestors.
Some of these requestors call for around 60,000 pages of documents — which need to be vetted for sensitive and protected information to avoid steep federal penalties, Lubnau said.
The committee tabled that bill and contemplated forming a working group to vet it better ahead of the next meeting on Nov. 3.
Update - This story has been updated to include a post-publication comment by Committee Co-Chair Christopher Knapp.
Clair McFarland can be reached at clair@cowboystatedaily.com.
