During the last legislative session, a conservative interest group sent Secretary of State Chuck Gray line by line edits on a bill that bans foreign funding of ballot measures.
That’s according to an article published on May 6 by the Center for Media and Democracy (CMD), a left-leaning investigative news outlet.
The policy in question was one element of an election integrity agenda released by Gray, a founding member of the Wyoming Freedom Caucus, shortly before the start of the session in January.
Wyoming Public Radio talked to political scientists who said lawmakers from all parties often lean on advocacy and lobbying groups to help form legislation.
The article shows CMD obtained private emails between Gray and the state director of Heritage Action for America, Kristen Christensen, in which she provided line edits and sent examples of model bills to Gray both in the run up to the session and during it. Heritage Action is the sister organization of the Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank based in Washington, D.C.
Those edits were eventually included in HB 337, which was filed for introduction to the session by freshman Rep. Nina Webber (R-Cody), an endorsee of the Freedom Caucus. Gov. Mark Gordon later signed the bill into law.
Wyoming Public Radio shared a list of questions with Gray, including whether or not Gray forwarded Heritage Action’s edits and model bill to Webber, and whether or not Gray forwarded other model bills from Heritage Action to members of the Freedom Caucus. Those other bills included a ban on diversity, equity and inclusion and a prohibition on ballot harvesting. Gray sent WPR the following emailed statement:
“Conservatives are often attacked for working together to advance conservative legislation and holding common values that the people of Wyoming want, but the media remains silent when left-wing, George-Soros type advocacy groups attempt to undermine conservative policies in Wyoming. It's fascinating that NPR doesn't seem interested in looking at the communications of individuals like Mark Gordon with liberal groups that he often collaborates with.
“I work to advance the priorities of the people of Wyoming. To do this, I work to advance common-sense, conservative legislation that will protect and secure Wyoming’s elections, which is crucial to ensuring Wyoming is not falling behind in election integrity and security. This means My door is always open to hearing the best election integrity measures which we can advance here in Wyoming. In fact, I meet with hundreds of people every week. It’s an integral part of being an effective Secretary of State.”
After sending Gray follow-up questions about his statement, he called CMD “radical.”
“CMD is a radical Leftwing group that targets conservative individuals who they don't like. Copying their "story" shows the continued bias of npr and their affiliates. I support President Trump's decision to defund this partisan activity and I think the fact that WPR continues to defend NPR's public funding shows that they have a conflict in covering conservatives.”
WPR also asked Webber about the article’s claims during a meeting of the interim Joint Corporations, Elections and Political Subdivisions Committee in Lander on May 8.
“I would like to think that every bill was just my pen, my thoughts to paper and come to fruition,” said Webber. “[But] I don't have the knowledge to go through all of the 20-plus statute books to make sure that it's not fighting with this one or taking away from that one, or you can't do that because it affects this. I'm really thankful that we have a lot of good people that care about the elections in the state of Wyoming.”
Political science professors at two universities told WPR it is not remotely uncommon for a part-time state Legislature like Wyoming’s to rely on guidance and expertise provided by lobbyist groups like Heritage Action, nor is such a relationship unique to the GOP.
But according to Alex Garlick, a political science professor at the University of Vermont, interest groups can have varying degrees of sway on state lawmakers, and in extreme cases, accountability can become an issue.
“The larger concern about accountability is if legislators are only looking to lobbyists to give them ideas and to do their work,” Garlick said before the CMD’s article was published.
Ryan Williamson, an assistant professor of political science at the University of Wyoming, said local, state and federal officials all rely on outside information to do their jobs.
“We know model legislation is a common part of the legislative process,” said Williamson. “Outside groups inform the content of legislation if they don't craft it themselves, and they can inform members on what they do and don't like about particular pieces of legislation. But to your underlying question of this kind of back and forth line edits – I think that is maybe a little more involved than we normally see. Again, I wouldn't say it's particularly out of the ordinary, just at the extreme end of ordinary.”
Sen. Cale Case (R-Lander), a co-chair of the Corporations Committee, agreed with that analysis.
“The tit for tat, blow by blow, edit by edit – I've never really experienced that, personally,” said Case. “But is it wrong? No, I don't think it's wrong. It may not pass the test of being homegrown in Wyoming.”
It’s unclear how many other bills submitted for introduction to the 68th Wyoming Legislature were based on model interest group legislation.
One bill, HB 159, would've required pregnant women to “catch” their fetal tissue with a biohazard kit following a medication abortion.
It resembles model legislation put forward by Students for Life, an anti-abortion nonprofit with chapters in high schools and colleges. That bill ended up dying when the House Committee of the Whole failed to consider it before a key deadline.
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.
