My mentor and friend, the late Senator Alan Simpson, recognized early what a threat it is that states cannot make their own laws around campaign finances – those decisions are in the hands of unelected federal judges.
He also knew that having more money shouldn’t determine the value of your voice. Back in 2017, he sent a letter to a gathering in Wyoming and wrote:
“Either we are a country that makes decisions based on the common good, or one where the size of your wallet determines the worth of your ideas. Either we uphold the values of a representative democracy, or we allow greed and wealth to destroy the great American experiment in self-governance.”
His predictions have come to pass. What we’re down to right now is the guy with the most money has the most rights. And judges — not the people, not the states — are the ones making the decisions.
Which is why, during the legislative session, I brought Senate Joint Resolution 8 Political expenditures.
We had a lot of money come from a lot of places in the last election, and no one really knew where it was coming from.
My Republican colleagues joined me in this effort. Thirty-two of them signed onto this little resolution calling for an amendment that would send the power back to the states—and the people.
More than one third of all the members in the entire Wyoming legislature thought this was important enough to sign on and speak out.
Outside forces and their dark money have drowned out the voices of everyday Wyomingites. They’re upending the authority of our state and corrupting the balance the Founders intended.
Most people don’t realize that for Wyoming to have real control over money in our state’s elections, we have to amend the U.S. Constitution.
Until we do, those decisions are in the hands of unelected federal judges.
We’re seeing foreign interests and out-of-state money trying to buy influence in our elections, and there is no guarantee the law we recently passed won’t get overturned in federal court—which is what happened in Maine last month.
Our resolution would permanently restore our state’s authority to set its own rules around political spending.
It wouldn’t mandate any new policies or tell anyone how to solve the problem. It would simply return that decision-making power to elected lawmakers who are directly accountable to voters.
Now, it may sound like amending the U.S. Constitution is a heavy lift. It’s true, it won’t be easy, but the Founders envisioned that we the People would have the power to decide.
The foundation of our Republic is our Constitution, a document rooted in federalism, limited government, and the right of states and citizens to govern themselves.
Twenty-three other states — from West Virginia to Utah — have already taken that stand.
I joined Republican lawmakers from Texas and Pennsylvania to talk to Members of Congress last week.
This has become a nationwide movement to protect the integrity of our elections. We’re calling for state sovereignty to be returned to us so we can make our own choices — exactly as the Founders intended when they entrusted power to the people.
Sen. Cooper represents Senate District 20 for Big Horn, Fremont, Hot Springs, Park, and Washakie Counties.
