Marguerite Herman, LWVWY Lobbyist
marguerite.herman@gmail.com, 307-630-8095
The 2026 Wyoming Legislature wrapped on March 11 after its final business of considering and then declining to override the last three vetoes by Gov. Mark Gordon. Legislators (mostly) thanked each other and the LSO staff and bid tearful farewells. One (Senate President Biteman) announced his planned run for what will be an open seat in Congress.
More political announcements are expected, with all five statewide top elected offices up for election and House members eyeing Senate seats that might be available. Sen. Eric Barlow, R-Gillette, started his campaign for governor last August.
Legislators are back at work starting in late April with interim committee work assigned by the Management Council (MC) based on interest from committee members, the public, and political influencers. Another consideration is whether failed 2026 bills merit more work. Time and money are also factors, as MC authorizes the panels to study issues for possible 2027 legislation. In his last appearance before the Joint Corporation this session, Secretary of State Chuck Gray asked the lawmakers to pursue AGAIN (for the third time!) the election restriction bills that LWV Wyoming worked to kill in 2025 and 2026. MC meets in Cheyenne on April 1.
LWV Agenda
We finished the session with every election bill on our 2026 hit list dead, and a bonus of an unexpected “win” of SF113 Election hand count comparison, which will test the efficiency and accuracy of counting ballots by hand and by machine. We hope it will provide the evidence that everyone can believe that ballot-counting machines in Wyoming are fast, accurate, and secure. Advocates (including SOS Gray) continue to disbelieve copious evidence that hand-counting is plagued by high cost, time-consuming processes, security issues, and human error. The Campbell County clerk has repeatedly shared her own report with legislators. The report “Evidence-Based Summary Impact of Ballot Hand Counting” was among the materials for the Joint Interim Corporations’ meeting last November, and I quoted from it frequently this session.
We also opposed HB86 – Removal of county officers – elections code violations, which would have added the Secretary of State to the list of people who could file a complaint against a county clerk and initiate the removal process. Currently, that is done by a local elector or county commission.
Most of the bad election bills we opposed were stopped at the first test—the 2/3 introduction vote required during a budget session. Find out how legislators voted by checking the “digest” for each bill. LWV Wyoming made a strong case that the bills were bad and that Wyoming people didn’t want them. Thousands of people from every county signed our petition to keep Wyoming elections free, fair, secure, and accessible. Thanks to those lawmakers!
Veto Overrides
In the case of two vetoes, the governor slammed self-serving out-of-state interests for stirring and then exploiting fears that have no basis in Wyoming.
SF101 – Second Amendment Protection Act, enacted in 2022, would have been amended to add a $50,000 civil fine to criminal penalties against law enforcement agencies and officers who enforced federal firearm directives in Wyoming. All 23 county sheriff’s offices opposed the addition. Gov. Gordon wrote, “Whether it is willful ignorance of their appeals or blind acceptance of the voices seeking to disparage them, I am sickened to see our local and state law enforcement treated this way in Wyoming.”
HB178 – Public unions’ transparency dues withdrawal limitations attempted to
Gov. Godon vetoed several budget items in his effort, he said, to maintain the separation of executive and legislative powers. The Legislature took up nine of the line-item vetoes and mustered a 2/3 vote in both chambers to override four. They removed a $5 million savings condition for reinstating $40 million in University of Wyoming funding, and another restored a full-year funding for the Wyoming Business Council.
Find the fate of all the bills that landed on the governor’s desk (including veto messages)on his bill page.
Budget Bill and Recalibration
The new two-year state budget begins July 1, with net spending authorization of $10.1 billion from all funds (including federal). It includes $3.46 billion from the General Fund. The final budget version is $33.8 million less than the governor’s recommendation.
SF81 K-12 public school finance is the first recalibration of public school finance in 15 years, and it has been generally approved by both the legislative and education communities. It increases teacher pay but still excludes some support staff from the funding model. The bill moves teacher pay from block grants into inflexible “silos.” Legislators worked under the shadow of a state district judge’s declaration last year that the current funding formula failed to meet constitutional requirements.
Campaign Checks Investigation
A political fund-raiser from Teton County handed out $1500 campaign donation checks on the floor of the House at the end of the first day. Members spent the next four weeks arguing about whether ethics were violated and whether the two legislators who went public with the information violated the rules themselves. A Special Investigative Committee gathered evidence and found no evidence of criminal wrongdoing or rule violations. But Committee Chairman Art Washut, R-Gillette, recommended precautions to prevent a repeat. A legislator who received one of the checks, Rep. Joe Webb, R-Evanston, spoke emotionally on the last day about the shadow his family felt in his home community. An independent investigation by the Laramie County Sheriff’s Office continues.
I’d like to end with two topics: the continued problem of national agenda bills bringing non-relevant issues to Wyoming, and the curious standing of the Freedom Caucus after this first real test of its resolve and control in the Wyoming Legislature.
The Catch with Catch Titles
We’ve had the problem of misleading bill “catch titles” – that short phrase at the top of a bill – for years. But it is particularly pernicious when so many bills are written by national groups with only passing interest in Wyoming (aside from something for their “win” column). The problem worsens as those national groups compile voting records intended to mislead Wyoming voters about a legislator’s true intent. We are asking the Management Council to have the Legislative Service Office draft those catch titles to accurately describe each bill’s purpose. Truth in advertising.
Freedom Caucus
How did the Freedom Caucus fare in the 2026 session? It has a reliable core of 30-25 supporters in the House, less than the 2/3 required for introduction in a budget session, but enough to block introduction to scores of proposals. Then there appeared to be a loss of prestige through the budget bill process, under scrutiny by House members who questioned House Freedom Caucus appropriators about irresponsible agency cuts, without ideas or a vision of the future. They hammered House Appropriations Chairman John Bear with 250 budget bill amendments, then wondered at his ease in accepting most of the Senate budget version.
At a post-session news conference, FC members said the message they took away from their lack of success with their agenda was the need to add members in the Legislature in the 2026 elections.
It is an honor to be the voice of LWV Wyoming in the Legislature. We hold a unique non-partisan space in the advocacy for government accountability to – and inclusion of – an informed electorate in our government. See you in the interim!