Lawmakers are weighing the prospect of a special session.
In a joint op-ed released on Wednesday, Senate President Ogden Driskill (R, Devils Tower) and House Speaker Albert Sommers (R, Pinedale) said a special session would likely run between eight and 10 days. And it would cost the state $35,000 per day.
Driskill and Sommers said the legislators who are pushing for a special session “created delay after delay during the budget session” by “asking for roll calls, trying to resurrect dead bills, bringing procedural motions, and filibustering debate.”
“We had plenty of time in our established calendar to pass bills and do veto overrides,” the legislative leaders said in the op-ed. “And, in doing so, those lawmakers squandered precious time.”
The Freedom Caucus
The legislative leaders were referring to members of the Wyoming Freedom Caucus. In a letter dated March 23, caucus members accused lawmakers of adjourning the budget session “early.”
“The decision of legislative readership to adjourn early served as an open invitation to Governor Gordon to veto measures important to the people of Wyoming with no recourse,” they wrote in the letter.
They took issue with Gordon’s vetoes on bills that would repeal gun-free zones, provide homeowners with a tax exemption, and regulate abortions, among others.
In closing, caucus members said legislative leaders had elevated the Governor “to the position of an empirical king with unilateral, unchecked authority.” Then they called for a special session.
The exception
The legislative leaders said in their op-ed that they don’t want to see a full-time legislature. They worried that calling for a special session could last two to three weeks, which would “burden legislators, legislative staff, and their families, who are already balancing numerous commitments” in the interim.
Before signing off, Driskill and Sommers said they would potentially be in favor of a special session — if they could focus solely upon Senate File 54, the property tax exemption bill vetoed last week by Gov. Gordon.
Barring that, they said they will vote against returning to Cheyenne for a special session.
This reporting was made possible by a grant from the Corporation For Public Broadcasting, supporting state government coverage in the state. Wyoming Public Media and Jackson Hole Community Radio are partnering to cover state issues both on air and online.
