Rod Miller: Returning Power to Wyoming People, One Good Idea At a Time

Things should get pretty lively in Cheyenne during the upcoming legislative session. There’s a new posse in town and, according to them, their intent is to invest more political power in the hands of Wyoming’s citizens, in the hands of the “grassroots.”

Time will tell whether they will deliver on that promise, or if they are just flapping their gums like garden variety politicians. We have no choice buy to let ‘em get to work, and hope for the best.

But their rhetoric dovetails nicely with what Wyoming’s founders were thinking.

Our Wyoming Constitution opens with the words, “All power is inherent in the people.” That’s pretty damn clear. The framers trusted the individual citizen much more than they trusted government agencies, political parties, coalitions or office-holders themselves. 

The term “All power” leaves no room for interpretation.

Sadly, the intervening years have seen that political power shaved off bit by bit and handed to organizations and bureaus at the expense of the individual citizen.

If this new crop of legislators intends to reverse that trend, and return political strength to its rightful owners, the citizens of Wyoming, then we should put our collective shoulders to the wheel alongside them.

A few good ideas about how to do just that are floating around before the gavel comes down to open the session. One is being presented by an old-guard legislator, and it should go a long way toward getting done what the Freedom Caucus is talking about.

Rep. Steve Harshman intends to introduce the “Vacancies in Elected Office” bill, to fill vacancies in state and federal elected offices by special elections, rather than by shady backroom party deals. I, for one, hope this bill is amended somewhere along the line to include vacancies in county elected offices as well.

What could be more democratic, grassroots and populist than allowing voters to fill vacancies instead of relying on party hacks? Keep in mind, “All power is inherent in the people.” 

Naturally, the parties will whine like gut-shot geese because their precious political power is diminished, but screw ‘em. A vacant seat belongs to the people of Wyoming, not to a particular parry. It is the people’s prerogative to fill it with whomever the hell they want.

I hope the Freedom Caucus ignores the lamentations of party apparatchiks, and goes to bat for Wyoming voters, not for the cloistered private cliques that are political parties in the Cowboy State. Seems to me doing so would check a box in their campaign promises.

Word around the ol’ campfire says Rep. Daniel Singh will re-introduce the “By the People Act”, first brought forward by Rep. Sarah Penn. This bill would improve citizens’ access to government meetings through video and audio technology, among other improvements. This bill had strong Freedom Caucus support last time around, and should be a no-brainer for them this time.

As I’ve already ranted, beefing up the Wyoming Public Records Act will significantly improve citizen participation in self-government, and remove the veil of secrecy behind which government often hides. I have a hard time believing that the Wyoming Freedom Caucus is much of a fan of government secrecy.

So, there are three initiatives on the table that our new legislative posse can pick up and run with, if they really want to show us that they are on the side of the grassroots citizens of the Big Empty. 

Or, they can just leave ‘em on the table while they scurry around legislating books and bathrooms and other culture war bullshit. If they choose this latter course, all they’ll prove is that they are just another bunch of jerkwater politicians drunk on their own hot air.

And, Lord knows, we’re already seen plenty of that.

Rod Miller can be reached at: RodsMillerWyo@yahoo.com