Following Wyoming Governor Mark Gordon’s vetoes of several widely supported bills that passed out of the House and Senate, a special session to override the governor’s vetoes was considered and ultimately voted down by legislators.

Among the governor’s vetoed bills were House Bill 125, which would have repealed gun-free zones; HB 148, which provided regulations on chemical and surgical abortions and Senate File 54. The latter was an effort to combat increasing property taxes. The Homeowner Tax Exemption bill would have provided a 25% exemption of the fair market value of a single-family residential structure, up to $2 million per exemption.

According to Gordon in his veto letter, he made the choice to veto the bill due to the taxpayer relief being at the expense of energy industries and manufacturing sectors.

Efforts to go into a special session were primarily led by the Wyoming Freedom Caucus.

In a press release from the Wyoming Freedom Caucus on March 29, they expressed their desire to convene in a special session and override the governor’s vetoes on six bills.

The Wyoming Freedom Caucus additionally agreed to follow rules that would expedite the process and minimize financial burden, which included expedited considerations, not allowing amendments and a commitment to efficiency.

The special session ultimately did not receive the required simple majority vote in both chambers. While the vote narrowly passed in the Senate by one vote, 16-15, the session received 35 no votes and 27 aye votes in the House.

Wyoming Senator Ed Cooper (R-SD 20, Ten Sleep) and Wyoming Representative Martha Lawley (R-HD 27, Worland) abstained from voting and voted no, respectively.

Both legislators hoped for a limited special session that would only address the veto of SF 54, as it was the only bill that required urgent action.

“Of all the bills vetoed, I was not happy with any of them, but that bill had a kind of urgency to it that made it unique and something really more appropriate for a special session,” said Lawley.

“We hoped to get it enacted in time for this year’s tax season,” said Cooper, on the urgency of the bill.

However, Lawley on restricting the special session said, “We have no way in Wyoming to limit a special session prior to when you have to vote on the special session, and then the limitations only come if you can get a two-thirds vote in the body after they assemble together for the special session.”

“That created for me a real dilemma because I did not support the idea of just having a special session […] where people could file all kinds of bills and we just start over with the process that is not controllable unless you have two thirds of the people that will discipline themselves,” she said.

Lawley felt as though the body would not have the level of needed cooperation for a productive special session.

Aside from the fact that the session could not be limited to a discussion on SF 54, both Cooper and Lawley said they received numerous comments against the special session from their districts.

“Even though I felt like I wanted to support the special session, my constituents were telling me, ‘No’ […] The overwhelming feedback I got from across the district was against a special session, primarily because of the expense of it and it wouldn’t be very productive,” said Cooper.

Cooper and Lawley said the special session would have been estimated to cost $700,000 to $1 million, resulting in a fiscally irresponsible endeavor, said Cooper.

Lawley, echoing similar sentiments over the challenging decision, said, “I voted for every bill that was overturned by the governor, so I supported those bills and I still support them, but that’s a different issue than whether or not a special session was the right way to try and remedy that […] This was simply an issue of timing and money.”

In an opinion piece from Wyoming Representatives Albert Sommers (R-HD 20, Pinedale), Clark Stith (R-HS 48, Rock Springs) and Barry Crago (R-HD 40, Buffalo), who all voted against the special session, said they also would have voted for a limited special session on SF 54.

“However, the obstructionists in the freedom caucus would not agree to that, calling for a minimum of four to six different bills, including the budget bill. They wanted to play more political games at the expense of the Wyoming taxpayers […] We were faced with a situation where after the game was played, some players wanted to replay simply because they didn’t win every inning,” they said.

Lawley and Cooper made it clear that a special session was not the only way to address these vetoed bills and their respective issues.

“The other vetoed bills were very important bills, but I did not see them as so urgent as to require a special session. At the beginning of the next general session in early January, I will re-file my abortion regulation bill. It is my understanding that all the vetoed bills will be refiled & passed early in the session in plenty of time to withstand another veto. To be clear, I have not abandoned my original support for these bills,” said Lawley.

Lawley additionally noted that the special session would not have taken place until mid-May, and would have ended just six months before the next general session.