A Teton County GOP leader and conservative activist handed out checks out on the Wyoming House of Representatives floor Monday, a state representative confirmed Wednesday in an interview and photograph.
Rep. Karlee Provenza, D-Laramie, said she watched Rebecca Bextel hand out at three checks that evening at about 5:20 p.m.
“This was a terrible misuse of the Wyoming House of Representatives floor,” Provenza told Cowboy State Daily. “This is not how we shoudl be conducting business. And it was dishonorable. And I was saddened to see it happen.”
Bextel, who is the state committee woman for the Teton County Republican Party and a conservative activist, wrote in a Facebook post Wednesday, "these checks were written two weeks ago and were not handed out while the House or Seante were in session."
That was after another Democratic House Representative, Mike Yin of Jackson, said she’d created undesirable “optics” by handing out checks on the floor while also backing legislation.
Bextel indicated in her post that the checks were from donors in the state’s richest county.
“There’s nothing wrong with delivering lawful campaign checks from Teton County donors when I am in Cheyenne,” she wrote.
Optics
Wednesday morning, Yin urged his House colleagues to vote against House Bill 141, a bill geared toward curbing affordable housing mitigation schemes, which are prevalent in Bextel and Yin’s home county of Teton.
In his floor statement coupled with a later interview, Yin said Bextel was pushing that bill, and it would cast undesirable “optics” if lawmakers voted yes on it after she’d been handing out checks on the floor of a legislative chamber.
Bextel took to Facebook to parry the announcement.
“Representative Mike Yin is a sore loser,” she wrote. “In an attempt to stop the unconstitutional mitigation fees bill from passing, he essentially tried to accuse me of bribery from the House floor.”
She added that she raised $400,000 in the last election cycle for conservative candidates and would be doubling that amount this year.
Bextel gave the checks to Republican Reps. Joe Webb (Evanston), Darin McCann (Rock Springs, and Marlene Brady (Green River), Provenza told Cowboy State Daily.
The former two did not immediately respond to voicemail requests for comment and Brady declined to comment.
All three voted to introduce House Bill 141 two days after the incident in which Provenza alleges they received checks.
Provenza said she saw more checks in Bextel's hand, so, "she had more work to do."
As It Unfolded…
Rep. John Bear, R-Gillette, told his colleagues that House Bill 141 would uphold the Fifth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution and its counterpart in the Wyoming Constitution, which ban the taking of property for public use without just compensation.
Yin said the bill “comes from a specific person in Teton County that wanted to turn one of our bills from last year into a new bill.”
“What I would say to you, members - and this is not an accusation - this is solely just optics for the Legislature,” said Yin. “My understanding is that that person handed out checks on the floor of the Legislature during the session.”
“What I don’t want,” continued Yin, “is to have the optics …"
“Point of order,” said Bear
House Speaker Chip Neiman, R-Hulett, asked, “Representative, what is your point?”
Bear said, “I believe the representative is making accusations of an individual that cannot be substantiated, and that accusation is offensive to this body.”
Bear’s bill later survived its introductory vote.
‘None Of Your Business’
Rep. Ann Lucas, R-Cheyenne, had thanked Bextel Monday via Facebook for bringing her a “beautiful orchid.” The post included a photograph of an orchid.
Lucas told Cowboy State Daily in a Wednesday text message that she's never received a check while on the floor, and her finances are public. She said she's received very few contributions in person, and none in-person, ever, from anyone outside of Cheyenne.
"I have received flowers from many people over time," added Lucas. "Do you want a list? My husband and children are at the top of that list. Thanks for your interest."
Neiman asked Yin on the House floor if Yin could substantiate his claim.
“I’m not going to present anything here because I don’t do props in the Legislature,” said Yin, referencing a House rule against using props. “I don’t think we should have the Legislature be affected. I’d say vote down this bill to make a statement that we won’t have our Legislature be affected by things like that.”
Bextel told Cowboy State Daily in a text message response to a request for comment, “I have not written any campaign checks so far this year.”
Cowboy State Daily asked whether she distributed anything on the floor and if so, what it was.
“None of your business,” answered Bextel.
She did not respond to a later inquiry about whether she requested Bear or the House to run House Bill 141.
‘Essentially Would Be Bribery’
Rep. Rachel Rodriguez-Williams, R-Cody, announced an official protest against Yin’s actions, under House Rule 8-5, which says protests can be logged as part of the record.
Rodriguez-Williams said there’d been an “allegation of quid pro quo” during debate on the bill.
“A representative made a defamatory statement that ‘checks’ were distributed on the floor, and this alleges that legislators accepted these checks from the floor — which essentially would be bribery and unethical,” said Rodriguez-Williams.
“I would urge the body that we have policies, procedures in place as a body, if there’s any type of allegation of that behavior, how it’s reported,” she added.
Neiman said the protest would be “duly noted in the journal.”
Bear answered a series of questions about whether he received checks or anything in exchange for running the bill with a simple “no.”
“No need to add anything,” wrote Bear in a text message. “A lie should be retorted with the truth, and the truth is a one-word answer.”
He later added that he worked on the bill with Pacific Legal Foundation, a group that has pushed for more protective applications of the Fifth Amendment, including in Teton County where affordable housing programs are sometimes elaborate.
During her run for GOP chair last year, Bextel had raised at least $130,000 for the state party in addition to around $300,000 for individual state Legislature candidates and political action committees, and $450,000 for President Donald Trump’s campaign, Cowboy State Daily reported previously.
In 2024 she gave $3,400 to the WY Freedom PAC, the political arm of the Wyoming Freedom Caucus, Wyoming Campaign Finance filings show.
Bextel is also registered this session as media, the Legislative Service Office confirmed Wednesday to Cowboy State Daily.
Whether -
Yin told Cowboy State Daily on Wednesday that he didn’t know if the bill and the checks were connected.
“This bill is brought by Rebecca Bextel,” said Yin. “I don’t want any optics that the two (events) are even linked and I think that passing this bill after that event happening or introducing this bill after that event happening sends a terrible message to the people of Wyoming. Whether or not that was the reason for the checks I don’t know and I can’t tell you that they were the reason for the checks; but I think having her be the prime mover of a bill that attacks my community after she has handed out checks to legislators is something we should speak out against and frankly not pass those bills - because you’ve already tainted it by those optics.”
Yin said he didn’t know if there were other actions unfolding in the Legislature to address this situation, except for Rodriguez-Williams' protest.
Clair McFarland can be reached at clair@cowboystatedaily.com.
