Negative Vote In Wyoming House Dooms Proposed Special Session

A proposed 2024 special session of the Wyoming Legislature to override several vetoes by Governor Mark Gordon won't happen.

The Legislature's Legislative Service Office on Sunday evening announced that while a majority of the Wyoming Senate voted for the session, it was defeated in the House of Representatives.

The margin in the Senate was 16-15 in favor, but the House vote was 35 against and 27 in favor. A majority vote in both houses would have been needed to hold the session.

House Leaders Say It Would Have Posed A Challenge For Legislators To Come Back

Top legislative leaders, including House Speaker Albert Sommers [R-Pinedale[] and Senate President Ogden Driskill, strongly opposed the measure. An Op-Ed issued by Sommers House Speaker Pro Tem Clark Stith, and Rep. Barry Crago following the vote, included the following:

''The prospect of a third special session in four years presented significant practical challenges for our dedicated legislators, many of whom hold regular jobs. An additional four weeks of legislative duties would have been difficult and impractical.

And yes, it would have been a full four weeks. Unlike the special session of 2020, which had joint rules to limit topics and bills (although members brought unauthorized bills anyway), there would not have been the 2/3 vote necessary this time to adopt joint rules. In 2021, the special session lacked the necessary 2/3 vote to impose such restrictions, and consequently the special session lasted 10 days. In 2021, we didn’t stay in session another three days to see if the Governor was going to veto bills, which means veto-proofing would have taken even longer.''

The Wyoming Freedom Caucus took a very different view, writing:

''If your lawmaker voted NAY on the special session, they voted:

AGAINST tax relief