Dear editor, 

In the May 7 edition of the Powell Tribune, Susan Hoffert published a letter asking us to account for our four main claims about Sen. Tim French (R-Powell) and Rep. Rachel Rodriquez-Williams (R-Cody). We wanted to say thank you to Susan for expressing her views, and want to offer more substantive points on our four main claims. We hoped that people would follow up on our webpage where we provide evidence for our claims. However, as written in her letter, here are the four claims, with our evidence: 

1. Undermine our public schools; subsidies for private and religious schools 

Rodriquez-Williams’s and French’s support for HB 128 would have given taxpayer money to fund private school and religious schools. This money would have undercut funding to our public schools to the tune of $6,000 per student to any K-12 private school. Rodriquez-Wiliams chose to vote against HB 19, a compromise bill that created a tiered system based on income qualifications AND created a preschool funding mechanism. Her vote killed a well thought-out bill that could have supported Wyoming residents who needed it. She also voted against creating mental health service grants in our public schools to help combat youth suicide in HB 119. 

2. Government overreach into private health care decisions; obstruct our medical choices 

Rodriquez-Williams voted against creating a mental health and vulnerable adult task force. Most egregiously, both French and Rodriquez-Williams supported HB 156. This bill would have allowed courts to take away parental rights and determine it was not the best interest of the child if ANY form of gender-affirming care was used. This bill was not just about surgery of minors, but taking away personal doctor-patient-parent relationships and putting the government in the middle of what is best for families.

We also believe pregnancy is a health care issue where decisions must be made between doctors and patients. Rodriquez-Williams seems to have a single minded focus on putting government between families and doctors. We believe freedom is health care decisions that are made between a person, family and their doctor. 

3. Restricting your voice in our democracy; diminish our votes 

In 2023 Rodriquez-Williams was one of the main sponsors of the “crossover-voting bill.” This bill requires Wyoming residents to lock in their political party preferences by May 15, BEFORE they even know who is going to be running for election. Here we can actually agree with Susan. We are not a pure democracy. However, we certainly are a representative democracy in this Republic that our founders created. Susan stated, “We have a voice by electing men and women who will follow and uphold the Constitution. If they do not, we should vote them out. Meanwhile, we should hold them accountable for their votes in the Legislature.” If we have to lock in a political party before we even know who is running, can we actually hold our leaders accountable?

In other proposed legislation, French wanted to sponsor a bill that would diminish the concept of “one-person, one-vote” by supporting an amendment to our Wyoming Constitution requiring three-fourths of counties approve an amendment to the constitution.

Does Tim French believe the citizens in lesser populated areas such as Goshen County matter more than those in Park County? 

4. Turning their backs on volunteer emergency responders 

Lastly, French voted against giving health insurance for volunteer firefighters in the state on SF 08. We certainly do not know why he voted this way either, but it appears he has turned his back on this group of emergency responders. 

We at Wyoming Rising want to follow facts, and hold our representatives accountable for their votes, just as Ms. Hoffert recommends. For more information on how our state Park County Representatives have voted, please check out our accountability page wyomingrising.org/proud.

Phyllis Roseberry 

Wyoming Rising Chair