At a gathering in Cody last week, Park County legislators touted roughly $300 million worth of tax relief headed to Wyoming property owners. 

A package of property tax bills passed during the recent session were “gonna help a lot of people,” Sen. Tim French (R-Powell) told the Park County Republican Women.

But things literally changed while the lawmakers were speaking, as Gov. Mark Gordon announced he was nixing the biggest chunk of tax relief.

Senate File 54 — which passed the Legislature by overwhelming margins — would have given most Wyoming homeowners a 25% discount on their property taxes.

However, Gordon disliked the way it favored homeowners over other property owners, saying the roughly $220 million worth of relief over the coming two years would simply be paid for by minerals and sales taxes. Gordon signed other bills that will provide tax breaks to residents with more modest incomes, veterans and longtime, elderly Wyomingites, and one that will limit future tax increases. But he called SF 54 a “socialistic-type of wealth transfer” and a “Bidenomic-type of ‘tax relief’ … I would expect from Washington, D.C. liberals.”

In his March 21 veto letter, the governor also accused lawmakers of “electioneering” and passing “feel good policy that overcomes common sense” during their recent session. He ultimately vetoed eight different bills that ranged from creating new regulations for abortion facilities to repealing the state’s gun free zones.

It was an extraordinary use of his office’s power: Over the past 26 sessions, legislative records indicate no governor had vetoed more than five bills.

Asked about the increased number of vetoes during a Saturday stop in Powell, Gordon told the Tribune that “I tried to exercise the best judgment I could to make sure that we balance both our future and where we’re headed.”

He added that, “I think there’s lots of room for good work to be done in the future.”

Debating a special session

However, that work could be done sooner rather than later, as lawmakers are mulling whether to call a special session where they could potentially pass the vetoed legislation again and then override the governor. It will take a majority vote in both chambers to call a session.

House Speaker Albert Sommers (R-Pinedale) and Senate President Ogden Driskill (R-Devils Tower) jointly criticized Gordon for his “disregard for the will of the people’s representatives and the legislation we have passed,” but they’re opposing a special session.

Rep. David Northrup (R-Powell) said Wednesday that he believes “all these [vetoed] bills can wait eight more months,” until the 2025 General Session.

Northrup said that, “special sessions have not had a really good history of getting much done.” During the 2021 Special Session addressing COVID-19 mandates, for example, only one of 41 bills passed the body. Northrup is also concerned a session could veer off-topic.

Sen. French, however, is among those who believe the Legislature should reconvene to address the vetoed legislation. Holding a special session is “kind of a pain,” he said, “but we need to. We’ve got to deliver that tax relief.”

French said his phone has been “ringing off the hook” with people upset about the governor’s vetoes. Rep. Rachel Rodriguez-Williams (R-Cody), who also supports a special session, said she’s “heard anger from many of my constituents.”

“They don’t want to be sitting ducks in gun free zones and don’t want abortion mills,” Williams wrote on Facebook. “And, most importantly people want property tax relief!”

When Gordon arrived at a Saturday event for veterans in Cody, he was greeted by a small group of protesters carrying signs with messages like, “Gordon you’re fired!”

Gun free zones

The governor said he vetoed the bill related to abortion because he believed language inserted into the legislation would simply prolong an ongoing court battle that has stalled 2023 laws banning abortions in the state.

“The previous delays have only sacrificed additional unborn children in Wyoming,” he wrote in part.

As for the bill that would have allowed concealed firearms in schools, government meetings and other places, Gordon expressed concerns about eroding local control and said the bill had “imperfect language” that could create problems. He called for more work on the topic.

Gov. Matt Mead vetoed a similar bill in 2017, but during his 2018 campaign, Gordon indicated he would sign legislation repealing gun free zones.

Asked about his earlier campaign pledge and his veto, Gordon reiterated his concerns about the Legislature overstepping its bounds.

“I took an oath to uphold the Constitution and the Constitution has separation of powers,” Gordon told the Tribune, adding that, “local power is really where I think our country got started, closest to the ground.”

Like the property tax bill, lawmakers had overwhelmingly passed the gun free zones repeal: 54-7 in the House and 22-8 in the Senate. 

“Everybody knows what happens when you have a gun free sign up in your school. It kind of says, ‘Here’s your target, nobody’s here,’” Sen. Dan Laursen (R-Powell) said at last week’s meeting in Cody.

Laursen expressed similar concerns about the current prohibition on guns in the Capitol. He recalled an incident last year, in which a Senate spectator became angry during the body’s discussion about transgender issues.

“There was a person — I don't know what it was — and became unhinged above us while we were discussing this bill, and shouted at us, and [used] foul language, and circled the gallery,”  Laursen said, “and we were all scrambling wondering where we’re going to go, which door’s the closest.”

Speaking Wednesday, French said he couldn’t believe the governor’s veto of the gun bill or the property tax relief.

The price of reconvening

If a special session is called, lawmakers could approve special rules for the session and theoretically speed up the legislative process or limit the discussion to just the bills vetoed by the governor. However, Northrup doubts that two-thirds of the body would agree on special rules, which would leave the door open to any legislation and potentially make for a longer session. Even if they did agree to special rules, Northrup said a session would take at least five days, as they’d have to wait on the governor’s actions. He also said it would disrupt the citizen legislators who’ve since gone back to their everyday jobs while costing taxpayers $35,000 a day.

French acknowledged the concerns about the price tag, but “it’s a small amount of money compared to what we’re trying to get back to people,” he said. The senator also argued the blame rests with Gordon.

“It shouldn’t have come to this,” French said.

Asked about a special session on Saturday, Gordon offered that, “I think we’ve done what needs to be done.”

Legislators have until Monday to cast their vote on a special session.