Attempt To Resurrect Teton County Housing Bill Linked To CheckGate Fails In Senate

A vocal minority in the Wyoming Senate tried and failed Monday to resurrect a bill that would ban affordable housing mitigation fees, but which connects to a controversy Capitol insiders call “CheckGate.”

House Bill 141 is an answer to the elaborate affordable housing mitigation schemes in Teton County and Jackson – the richest region of the nation. If passed, it would ban those mitigation rules.

It’s also linked with the “CheckGate” controversy. One of the bill’s most vocal proponents, Rebecca Bextel of Teton County, handed out checks to House representatives on the chamber’s floor Feb. 9 after the body had adjourned for the day.

There was no rule against the act itself at the time, though the House, Senate, and governor have all responded by banning the exchange of campaign contributions in the Capitol.

Rep. Mike Yin, D-Jackson, who opposed an earlier version of HB 141 last year, warned lawmakers on Feb. 11 not to vote for its introduction this year because of the checks, and the potential of bad “optics.”

Yin didn’t use the word “bribery,” but Rep. Rachel Rodriguez-Williams, R-Cody, did, saying Yin had committed defamation, and handing out checks on the floor would be “bribery and unethical.”

That was before Bextel publicly confirmed she had handed out checks on the floor.

Rodriguez-Williams aligns politically with the four lawmakers who received checks on the floor but is not reported as having received one herself.

A House bribery investigation has since followed and is ongoing. The Laramie County Sheriff’s Office on Feb. 14 announced it’s pursuing a criminal bribery investigation as well.  

Still, the House advanced the bill to the Senate on a 35-17 vote with 10 representatives marked "excused." The lawmakers involved deny any wrongdoing, and one of them, Rep. Christopher Knapp, R-Gillette, has urged the Legislature to recall that campaign donations are protected speech.

Senate President Bo Biteman, R-Ranchester, told the Senate on Monday that Senate leadership had stalled the bill and that, “this bill has been tainted, and this policy should be handled by the next Legislature.”

Over the weekend, continued Biteman, some senators who don’t live in Teton County – whose elaborate affordable housing mitigation schemes the bill would undo – decided it’s “critical” for the Senate to hear it.

At their urging, said Biteman, he brought a motion to suspend the rules and move HB 141 directly onto the Senate floor for a vote. He said he supports the bill’s mission and brought legislation like it in 2021. But he would be voting no due to the “cloud of suspicion” enshrouding it this year, he said.

Suspending the rules requires a two-thirds vote of approval. 

“Senators are now put in a position to either have their integrity questioned by voting for a bill currently under investigation for potential bribery – or to vote against a bill they believe in because of the actions of political agitators who can’t get out of their own way,” Biteman lamented.

In the end, the Senate garnered nearly the opposite: seven senators voted to advance the bill and 24 voted against. 

Coercion

Sen. Cheri Steinmetz, R-Torrington, stood first to urge an aye vote, saying the Wyoming Legislature should assert its independence and devotion to the merits, not the perception, of each issue.

“I will not cave to threats, whether whispered or shouted, that senators will be investigated for voting on legislation,” said Steinmetz. “That kind of pressure is not civic engagement. It is intimidation dressed up as accountability. And it is an attack on this institution, because it tries to replace open debate with fear; and consent of the governed with behind-the-scenes coercion.”

Sen. Bob Ide, R-Casper, referenced the fact that the original donor of the checks, Teton County philanthropist Don Grasso, has said he intended one for Ide.

Ide, however, was not part of the House investigation, which focuses only on checks distributed on the House floor.

Ide said he’s “obviously in the crosshairs of some of this problem that’s going on.”

“I don’t think I’ve done anything that compromises my values or the values of this chamber,” he said. “It’s a good property rights bill, as the good president said, and I stand behind that. And I plan to vote for the bill.”

Sen. Larry Hicks, R-Baggs, echoed that, saying the Senate should “segregate the issues out there.”

He also emphasized the duty of the Legislature toward constitutional property rights, which HB 141 proponents say it will uphold.

Well, Well, Well

Sen. Mike Gierau, D-Jackson, noted the bill’s strong connection to his county, where the housing schemes influence the economy immensely.

“Well, well, well,” began Gierau. “I’d first like to thank the body for once again being so concerned about the county I represent. Thank you.”

However senators would like to separate HB 141’s controversy from its policy goal, that’s impossible, said Gierau.

“Unfortunately, perception becomes reality,” he said.

He said people already suspect that those in government are “on the take, and you know, we get special favors.”

“And then all of a sudden something happens that… personifies this very thing,” said Gierau.

The Senate earlier this month reacted quickly to CheckGate, unanimously condemning the exchange of campaign donations on the House floor and unanimously passing its rule to ban that conduct.

Gierau said he’s proud of the Senate. More proud, he added, “than I have ever been in the eight years I’ve served.”

“The question for me is, is that going to continue?” he added. “Our friends down at the other end of the hall don’t enjoy that glow of propriety right now. Is it their fault? I don’t know.”

Gierau urged lawmakers to wait for the conclusion of the investigations before acting on this policy – which would delay its passage to 2027 at the earliest.  

The bill would have passed, Sen. Tara Nethercott, R-Cheyenne, said.

She hinted that it interferes with one locality, saying, “My friends in Teton County, thank you again for the special legislation. It’s always a privilege when we get to fix your local problems.”

She rebutted the constitutional merits claims of the bill’s proponents, saying “this bill is about money. Not private property rights.”

Nethercott urged a no vote, saying “the Senate is above this.”

Roll Call

The no-votes against resurrecting HB 141 included 22 Republicans and two Democrats.

The Republicans were Sens:

Jim Anderson (Casper), Eric Barlow (Gillette), Brian Boner (Douglas), Evie Brennan (Cheyenne), Cale Case (Lander), Ed Cooper (Tensleep), Barry Crago (Buffalo), Gary Crum (Laramie), Dan Dockstader (Afton), Ogden Driskill (Devils Tower), Stacy Jones (Rock Springs), John Kolb (Rock Springs), Bill Landen (Casper), Taff Love (Cheyenne), Troy McKeown (Gillette), Nethercott, Jared Olsen (Cheyenne), Tim Salazar (Riverton), Wendy Schuler (Evanston), Charlie Scott (Casper), and Biteman.

The two Democratic senators voting nay were Gierau and Sen. Chris Rothfuss of Laramie.

The ayes were Republican Sens:

Tim French (Ralston), Ide, Dan Laursen (Powell), Laura Pearson (Kemmerer), Steinmetz, Hicks and Lynn Hutchings (Cheyenne).

Background Here

As richer people buy property in Teton County, they’ve driven housing prices upward. The waiters, nurses and other workers who serve them often cannot afford to live near their jobs.

So the local governments have crafted extensive housing mitigation rules.

For example, as of 2024, a person wanting to build a 4,000-square-foot family home in Jackson, would have to pay the local government $31,000 for the privilege.

The U.S. Supreme Court in the meantime has tightened its views on whether these rules can survive being judged under the Fifth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, which says no property shall be taken without just compensation.

The Wyoming Constitution also contains a version of the takings clause.

No court has deemed Teton County’s affordable housing rules unconstitutional, but they are under court scrutiny.

Proponents of banning them say they bottleneck the market even more, keeping rich people rich and poor people poor.

Opponents of banning them say they’re essential to keeping a workforce in the community.

Clair McFarland can be reached at clair@cowboystatedaily.com.