Freudenthal Column: 2023 Legislature: “CURIOUSER AND CURIOUSER”

Former Wyoming Governor Dave Freudenthal writes columns for the AARP Wyoming News. This opinion piece reflects his thoughts and opinions.

My title is an utterance from Alice in Lewis Carroll’s “Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland” to describe an increasingly mysterious and peculiar situation. An apt description of Wyoming’s 2023 Legislative Session.

With so few Democratic members to fight with, the legislative arena evolved into a Hatfield versus McCoy version of Wyoming’s argument about who is a real Republican and/or a real conservative. For good measure, Scripture was selectively quoted in the debates. Labels and labeling have become a confusing and confounding shorthand for condemnation and/or praise. Perhaps I yearn for a simpler time.

Growing up in Thermopolis, reading Senator Goldwater’s “Conscience of a Conservative” was mandatory.  It is a good read, even today. I liked it because it coincided with Wyoming’s “live and let live” view of human relationships.  Limited government meant exactly that---government should do its job and otherwise stay out of our private lives.  Creating a climate where free enterprise could prosper and create jobs was the objective. Leave private business to largely run its own shop.  Local control meant leaving most matters in the hands of school boards, mayors, and county officials.  Separation of church and state was touted as an important foundation for our American representative Democracy. 

  Wyoming’s Hatfield versus McCoy erupted well before the gavel was struck on Legislative day one.  Senate and House members loosely affiliated with the House Freedom Caucus wrestle with more traditional Republicans over leadership positions and the political power to set the legislative agenda.  The normally opaque and orderly operations of the Republican legislative caucuses spilled into muted press coverage fueled by the strain of a “caucus within a caucus”.  Both sides could eventually claim partial victories.  The House Freedom Caucus, now the Wyoming Freedom Caucus, is part of the national State Freedom Caucus Network based in Washington, D.C.  According to its website the group seeks to establish and support state legislative caucuses to “…stand firm against those in both parties---who prioritize political power over representing constituents”.  The National Network provides financial resources and other assistance to state affiliates.  The Wyoming Freedom caucus has an executive director.

Governor Gordon’s State of the State was a heartwarming celebration of Wyoming and perhaps the largest revenue surplus ever seen in Wyoming.  He steered a safe course with no new initiatives and an emphasis on saving the surplus. The legislature was left to its own devices. 

Wyoming politics has given rise to some very activist legislators seeking the exercise of government authority over everything from private business mask policies to the curriculum and books chosen by local school boards. Many of the proposals are taken nearly verbatim from other states or interest group websites. And they address problems that may or may not even exist in Wyoming.  Up until now, I always viewed the Republican party as the reasonable check against the Democrats impulse to regulate everything.  Maybe, not so much. 

Media attention was mostly focused on the theater brought by outlandish language, proposals, and awkwardly inconsistent actions of the activist legislators.  Lost was the very workman like efforts of the legislature to address numerous large and small issues on behalf of Wyoming citizens. Most of the legislators took their task seriously and spent little time playing to the galleries or the media. The Senate President and the Speaker of the House withstood significant pressure and landed the wheels of the Wyoming Legislature on the runway. Occasionally, when watching the Legislative deliberations, I wondered if the Speaker and the President shouldn’t have the striped shirt and whistle of an NFL referee. 

 An action with potentially long-term consequences was the legislative decision to place a proposed property tax Constitutional Amendment before the voters in 2024. Senator Dan Dockstader recognized years ago that residential property tax issues could not really be addressed without a Constitutional Amendment.  In 1988 when the legislature created our current taxation scheme, residential property was lumped in with other kinds of property.  Residential tax issues cannot currently be addressed without impacting numerous other taxpayers. 

 The proposed amendment would create a separate property classification for residential property with the option of creating a subclass of residential property for owner occupied residences.  Proponents correctly argued the amendment is the first and most important step in addressing the public concern about the rising tax burden on long time Wyoming residents seeking to stay in their homes.  

If this amendment passes, the difficult task of implementing its language would fall to the 2025 legislature.  Improperly implemented this amendment could further Wyoming’s dependence on mineral taxes and federal dollars. Properly implemented it could provide targeted relief to those most in need.