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2001 General Session
Wyoming's current lobbyist reporting law requires reporting of only "loans, gifts, gratuities, special discounts or hospitality" exceeding $50 in value, the cost of legislative receptions, and the cost of advertising to influence legislation (poorly defined). The law also lacks any enforcement authority.
Consequently, most lobbyists report nothing, even if they spend every day at the Capitol during the legislative session and attend numerous interim committee meetings.
HB 242 would have required complete lobbyist reporting. It proposed to amend the existing law to require reporting of all expenditures made by the lobbyist and the lobbyist's employer on lobbying activities.
HB 242 also would have repealed the exemptions for (1) the amounts spent for informational publications and other printed materials used for legislative purposes, (2) the money lobbyists spend to send legislators to conferences and other special events, and (3) repeals the unenforceable requirement to report the cost of advertising to influence legislation.
Finally, HB 242 would have added a new section to the lobbyist reporting law to provide the Secretary of State with authority to enforce the law.
ALL "GOOD GOVERNMENT" LEGISLATION IS DEAD FOR THE 2001 GENERAL SESSION
At the beginning of the 2001 session, the Wyoming Legislature took a major step toward greater accountability to the people it represents by providing internet "streaming" (broadcast) of its session debates on the floors of the House and Senate.
Unfortunately, that was also its last step. Halfway through the 2001 General Session, ALL accountability bills were dead.
Five "good government" bills, sponsored by legislators from around the state and from both major parties, are dead for the 2001 General Session, three without even a hearing:
* HB 242, provided that lobbyists will report all their spending, sponsored by Rep. Lorna Johnson, D-Laramie, and Sen. Cale Case, R-Lander (died in the House Corporations Committee without even a hearing).
* HB 261, provided guidance to legislators on not voting on bills with which they have a conflict of interest, sponsored by Rep. Colin Simpson, R-Cody (the sponsor withdrew the bill and Speaker Tempest made no committee assignment).
* HB 298, expanded personal financial disclosure to help determine conflicts of interest, sponsored by Rep. Chris Boswell, D-Green River (died in the House Corporations Committee without a hearing).
* SF 100, provided for reporting campaign contributions and spending before elections, sponsored by Senators Cale Case, R-Lander, Ken Decaria, D-Evanston, and Representatives Bruce Burns, R-Sheridan, Lorna Johnson, D-Laramie, and Jane Warren, D-Laramie (Senate Majority Leader April Brimmer Kunz killed SF 100 by not letting the bill come to a First Reading vote on the floor of the Senate, even though the SF 100 was voted out of the Senate Corporations Committee on a 5-0 vote). Wyoming remains the ONLY state in the country that does not require reporting of campaign contributions and spending BEFORE an election.
* SJ 5, would have referred to voters a ballot measure to remove a difficult and likely unconstitutional requirement for collecting signatures on initiative and referendum petitions, sponsored by Sen. Jayne Mockler, D-Cheyenne (defeated on the Senate floor by a vote of 11-19 on First Reading).
It's particularly disappointing to see most of these bills die without debate or votes. But it's easy to understand why. Legislators who oppose accountability legislation don't want to explain recorded "no" votes to their constituents. It's a lot easier to kill a bill by referring it to a committee where the chair won't let it be heard.
Energy industry lobbyists were partly responsible for the demise of the bills. The energy industries have historically spent heavily on campaigns and on lobbying and they don't want the public to see how much they spend trying to influence our lawmakers in Cheyenne. Under our current sorry excuse for a lobbyist reporting law, most lobbyists report nothing. Energy industry campaign contributions are publicly reported - but only after an election. Industry probably isn't interested in having voters see their contributions before they vote, especially now when the industries' contributions have increased so significantly.
About $350,000 was contributed to the 60 representatives and 15 senators who won their races in 2000 (only half the Senate is up for re-election at a time). More than half of this total came from political action committees (PACs), and the heavyweights among the PACs were the energy, chemical and railroad industries. Collectively, these industries contributed over $82,000 to sitting legislators - 42% of the PAC total, far ahead of any other category of contributor. This represents a significant increase over the $51,650 contributed by these industries to winning candidates last election in 1998.
Given that the energy and allied industries drive Wyoming's economy, this spending is not surprising, nor is it inappropriate. Every interest has the right to participate in elections and public policymaking. However, the public has the right to know what special interests are spending and on which candidates and elected officials."
Unfortunately, with the demise of SF 100 and HB 242, we won't have this knowledge any time soon.
Last week, the Equality State Policy Center's (ESPC) released its latest publication, Government That Works for You, a "blueprint" for helping make state government more accessible and accountable to the people it represents. This publication describes "good government" issues in Wyoming and proposes solutions in five areas: voter registration, lobbyist reporting, financial disclosure and conflicts of interest, campaign finance reform, and initiative and referendum processes. Visit ESPC's latest publication, Government That Works For You.