Re-Cap of Special Session:
November 3, 2021 – Special Session dealing with federal and local mandates.
My fellow legislator said it pretty well so I am sharing his post. Unfortunately protecting big business was far more important than protecting our citizen’s God given rights. What they forget is it is the people that make up the businesses. I am not sorry we had the session as we have to fight for the people, I am just sorry that the outcome was hijacked by political games.
—Representative Mark Jennings
I am not proud to tell you that the Wyoming Legislature failed to pass any meaningful legislation during the 7 days that we were in session. The House sent HB1001 to the Senate last week that we worked on for 4 days but they killed the bill on 3rd reading yesterday. This was a meaningful bill that would have protected individuals as well as businesses in Wyoming while pushing back against the federal governments’ unconstitutional mandates.
Both the House and Senate approved HB1002 and sent it to the Governor for his signature or veto. It appears that we have enough votes to override a veto if needed, but the bill really doesn’t do much to protect our freedom or individual rights. This bill gives $4 million dollars to the governor’s office to try and entice him to start fighting federal mandates. The rest of the bill is mostly just a resolution that says we don’t like mandates. It is for optics without making any meaningful stand like Tennessee and Iowa did with their recently passed legislation. As we adjourned last night, I heard some of the more moderate republicans congratulate each other that the session did no good, neither did it do any harm. It was obvious that their intention was to obstruct as much as possible from the beginning.
I make no excuses for the outcome as I am a member of this legislature. The conservative members fought hard to protect our liberty and freedom, but many members of the legislature do not feel that the state should do anything and opposed everything we tried to do. It was a hard and spirited fight, but unfortunately, we did not win this one. The only good thing that came out of the special session was that we were able to put some focus on the damage the federal mandates are causing in Wyoming as many individuals are losing their jobs as a direct result.
Please do not lose hope. We will continue to fight for unconstitutional overreach and protect our individual rights and freedom. As I have said on numerous occasions, we need a few more conservatives in our state legislature to be able to win some of these close votes. I am hopeful that with your continued support, we will be able to do this soon.
—Representative Scott Heiner
DAY 2
10/27/2021 – Friends, the Special Session of the Wyoming Legislature is about fighting to preserve the principles of freedom that have allowed America to endure for two and half centuries. We are in a battle to preserve freedom and the American way. It’s that simple.
As political division increases in our nation, it is imperative that voters spend time studying and making themselves informed about:
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Current political matters,
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The critical issues we are facing, and
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The elected officials making decisions that WILL affect their lives—and the lives of their children and grandchildren.
What kind of America will we leave our descendants?
The activities, votes, and speeches of the Wyoming Legislature are public record. We’re pointing out some specifics, but you can go online yourself and learn so much more about what’s happening in Cheyenne.
Voter engagement is essential in these difficult times!
You can watch the entire proceedings of both chambers during the special session here:
…https://www.youtube.com/c/WyomingLegislature
If you want to see the juxtaposed positions being argued, we suggest you watch this video:
…https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zvCL-PFKlRE&list=PLOhkcX5d91NqUvEmRk_D_SOcowcg2lxvc&index=3
Representative Chip Neiman (H01) captured the passionate concerns many Wyoming citizens and business owners are struggling with as they contemplate the effects of Federal mandates. Catch his speech starting at the 11:09 mark.
One thing becomes clear upon watching and hearing the different arguments. The current political rhetoric over vaccine mandates is leading us down a slippery slope.
Wyoming, we cannot start categorizing our citizens as vaxxed or unvaxxed with associated privileges or restrictions! These our are friends and neighbors!
Here are more insights as to the first two days of work:
Bills Passed through Committee of the Whole (COW) as of 5:00 PM on October 27, 2021:
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* HB1001 – COVID-19 Vaccine Employer Mandates
Introduced by Representative Greear
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* HB1002 – Federal COVID Vaccine Mandates – Prohibition and
Remedies- 2.
Introduced by Representative Sommers
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* SF1003 – COVID-19 Discriminatory Practices – Prohibition.
Introduced by Senator Steinmetz
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* SF1019 – Wyoming Gaming Commission-Scrivener Error Correction.
Introduced by Senator Ellis
View the bills under consideration here:
…https://wyoleg.gov/Legislation/2021?specialSessionValue=1?
Working With You to Keep Wyoming Great!
…W. Frank Eathorne, Chairman
Wyoming Republican Party
DAY 1
QUOTE:
The first business was voting on the rules. Both the House and Senate failed to achieve a 2/3 vote for special rules, therefore the special session will be held under the usual rules for 66th legislature. That means the bills will not be expedited and session will take at least 7 days. I don’t know if there needs to be a crossover day added and a day for conference committee and I suspect it will take at least 8 days.
The vote for whether or not to adjourn was 6 – 23 and 1 excused, on the Senate side. It needed 2/3 no vote to stay in session and got it. I don’t know the House vote exactly, but it reached the 2/3 threshold to stay also.
House leadership chose six bills to assign to committee: HB 1001, HB 1002, HB 1005, HB 1006, HB 1009, and HB 1013. That was that with no more discussion of any others being allowed. Based on the sponsors, there is not a conservative among them and one is a Democrat.
Senate leadership chose three bills to assign to committee: SF 1003, SF 1004, and SF 1009. These sponsors are much better.
The senate allowed senators to rise and request bills on the list of 20, other than the three leadership chose, be added for consideration. This would have required 2/3 vote and no other bills were added.
https://www.wyoleg.gov/Legislation/2021?specialSessionValue=1
We spoke with several who are passionate about getting this done to stop this tyranny. The question is whether they can keep the final product from being watered down.
Medicaid expansion is not moving forward on either side!
You did it!!The Special Session of the 66th Wyoming Legislature is now underway!
Grassroots Republicans from every corner of Wyoming traveled to the Capitol and participated. (See pics below.) The galleries of both the House and Senate were full to capacity. They even had to open four more committee rooms to let the overflow crowd watch the live-stream of the proceedings. As a result, both chambers passed rules and they are in Special Session.
View the bills under consideration here:
Today was a hard-fought victory for conservative Republicans. The Democrats and a handful of liberals tried hard to adjourn without considering any legislation. The call to adjourn was made when the vote for special rules failed. A vote to adjourn would be the equivalent of consenting to the Biden mandates and leaving many Wyomingites facing job loss or jab impacts. Either way, it’s a forced decision where freedom of choice is taken away.
This Special Session is vitally important to so many Wyomingites. We are all suffering the consequences of dwindling liberties. Unfortunately, there were members from both chambers and parties who voted to adjourn. We will update you with voting tallies as they are made public.
The Wyoming GOP urges citizens to attend Senate and House proceedings again tomorrow. Your presence lets our legislators know you are concerned and want to see Wyoming stand proud and tall for LIBERTY!
We’re working together with you to Keep Wyoming Great!
…Frank Eathorne,
Chairman Wyoming Republican Party