Freedom Caucus Texting People To Pressure Senators To Pass “Five and Dime” Bills

The Wyoming Freedom Caucus has consistently drawn attention for its aggressive legislating and campaign tactics. That trend has continued during the 2025 legislative session, as the campaign arm of the group has been sending out text messages encouraging people to pressure their state senators to support the group’s “Five and Dime” slate of bills.

The Freedom Caucus is only made up of House members but needs support from the Senate to advance their proposed bills.

The text messages are being sent out by the Wyoming Freedom Political Action Committee, the campaign group behind the legislative organization.

When first asked about the texts at a Freedom Caucus press conference Tuesday night, caucus Chairman Rep. Rachel Rodriguez-Williams, R-Cody, denied the texts were being sent from her group.

“Our members have not sent out text messages to the community directly encouraging the senators to vote for particular bills,” she said.

It was clarified shortly after that the texts, written as a message from Freedom Caucus Chairman Emeritus Rep. John Bear, R-Gillette, did in fact originate from the group’s PAC.

“They were supporting the Five and Dime,” he said. “This was another round of marketing to try and get the Five and Dime all the way through.”

The texts were geo-locally personalized matching recipients to individual senators to contact, with contact information included.

In the texts, Bear says that “it is time” for members of the Senate to take up their bills and “carry them to the governor.” 

The Five and Dime agenda includes bills requiring proof of Wyoming residency and U.S. citizenship to vote, invalidating driver’s licenses from other state’s issued to illegal immigrants, prohibiting state agencies from engaging in any diversity, equity and inclusion practices (DEI), passing drastic property tax relief and ending what Republicans say are “woke” investment strategies. 

Bear said he’s well aware that his group doesn’t have as many likeminded members in the Senate as it does in the House, which is why he believes it’s important to get the public involved.

“You can’t really participate without information,” he said.

The Inspiration

Bear told Cowboy State Daily it’s important to apply some extra pressure on these bills because he thinks they represent the voice of the people. The Freedom Caucus conducted polling and door knocking last summer and found that the five topics chosen were voted as the biggest priorities for the public.

“We really feel like it’s the people’s bills,” he said. “These things were from the grassroots up.”

Some of the texts also urged senators to pass House Bill 169, a 50% property tax bill. Rep. Tony Locke, R-Casper, said Tuesday that their group had already shifted their focus away from this bill and onto the Senate’s version of the legislation.

“Let’s see if we can’t make that a good quality bill, try to put some money back on Wyoming family kitchen tables,” Locke said. “We’re going to try and take their version of that bill and just try to make it the best bill we possibly can.”

Senate Majority Leader Tara Nethercott, R-Cheyenne, said the texts are “unusual” and expressed confusion to Cowboy State Daily about why the group was urging voters to get behind a bill the Senate has essentially already passed.

“Perhaps they should understand the timing a little better,” Nethercott said. “We already passed the tax bill.”

Reaction

These types of tactics are commonplace in other states, but in Wyoming, where a more personal approach to politics has been the norm, they come off as surprising to some.

“It’s a new Wyoming chapter,” Nethercott said.

House Speaker Chip Neiman, R-Hulett, has consistently said his leadership team has had productive conversations with Senate leadership throughout the session.

Senate President Bo Biteman, R-Ranchester, and Vice President Sen. Tim Salazar, R-Riverton, declined to comment on the lobbying effort.

Sen. Ogden Driskill, R-Devils Tower, briefly attended the Freedom Caucus press conference on Tuesday night. He said he’s been receiving a fair amount of calls and emails from constituents as a result of the texts. 

What he hasn’t seen is leadership of the Freedom Caucus, aside from Neiman, speaking to him about their bills themselves. He described the text messages as “unbelievably offensive” and more akin to the behavior seen on Capitol Hill.

“I’ve never seen a time that a sitting legislator goes out on propaganda to pressure other legislators,” he said. “The old-fashioned way is you walk across the hallway, and you look a guy in the eye and you say, ‘I really need you to do this or I’d like you to be in this position.’ 

“But to take a paid group that’s a lobbying organization and put your name on it and ask for them to apply pressure to people across the hall, is in my opinion wrong and pretty unethical.”

He also said there’s been a fair amount of misinformation spread on social media.

“It really bothers me to see misconceptions, misdirections and outright lies being posted as fact, and it has people’s names on it that sit across the hallway. That’s hard,” he said.

Driskill, a member of the Joint Appropriations Committee, said it’s difficult to look someone in the eye who’s disparaged him publicly. In the coming weeks, the Senate and House sides of this committee will try and come together to pass a supplemental budget. 

“The best government is done when both houses and the governor all hold hands together and reach an agreement, rather than we pick issues to highlight how the other one’s good or bad,” he said.

Rep. Clarence Styvar, R-Cheyenne, one of the most conservative members of the House, also told Cowboy State Daily he doesn't stand behind the texts.

Context

It’s common for outside lobbying groups to solicit their members to pressure lawmakers to take certain actions on various bills. What makes the Freedom Caucus’ effort a little different is that the group is made up by lawmakers themselves and the group does not represent one single industry.

Sen. Barry Crago, R-Buffalo, also said he hasn’t had any House member approach him about supporting their bills. He doesn’t believe the text message approach is appropriate and said he would not pursue it himself.

“I would go talk to the legislators personally,” he said.

Bear said he’s not sure if the Freedom Caucus will ever try and get official members in the Senate in the future but did identify Neiman as a possible future Senate member someday.

“It could open up an opportunity to have a different organization in that body as well,” he said.

Leo Wolfson can be reached at leo@cowboystatedaily.com.