CHEYENNE—Many lawmakers want to see party affiliation in offices from the state’s top elected officials down to the local school board.
A measure to make the attorney general a partisan, elected official instead of one appointed by the governor has passed through a House committee. At the same time, a bill to add party affiliation to school board candidates on the general election ballot is moving through the Senate.
Wednesday morning, the House Judiciary Committee voted 6-3 in favor of House Bill 102, “Attorney general-elected,” co-sponsored by Rep. Scott Heiner, R-Green River. Heiner told the committee that the attorney general should be the “people’s attorney.” Currently in Wyoming, the attorney general is appointed by the governor.
“But how do we make sure that the people’s attorney represents, truly, the people? We have an appointed attorney,” Heiner said.
Over the last few years, Wyoming has been absent from many lawsuits, ranging in topic from immigration to health care, from the opioid epidemic and antitrust laws to environmental protection, put forward by Republican states against the federal government, according to Heiner.
“How many times have you looked at all these states that are suing on behalf of the people and their state, and Wyoming is conspicuously absent?” Heiner said.
House Bill 102 would create an elected office for attorney general following the 2026 general election, keeping in place an appointed attorney general until that time. That official’s salary would be $175,000.
Because the bill would increase the state’s current top elected officials from five to six, state statute would be amended to say that the State Building Commission would remain a board of five, including only the governor, secretary of state, state auditor, state treasurer and state superintendent, according to Heiner.
The bill also would change state statute dictating who could direct the attorney general.
“We would strike that the attorney general commences action when directed by the governor, and replace that with language stating that the attorney general would commence an action when requested by the governor, the Supreme Court or the Legislature,” Heiner said.
“That attorney general would represent all of us,” he continued.
Rep. Ken Chestek, D-Laramie, said that if he could ask every person who walks through the Capitol doors whether they want more politics in state government or less, he doubted many would say more.
“That is what this bill does. It creates a sixth political office, and it seems to me that it creates some conflict,” Chestek said.
Having an independent attorney general who may be at odds with the governor would create division, he said.
“The statewide litigation that you are suggesting we are not part of, maybe that is because we shouldn’t be party [to it],” Chestek said. “If the governor says we shouldn’t be a part of this lawsuit, and the attorney general says we are, we join the lawsuit. … Who represents Wyoming in that situation?” Chestek asked.
Heiner replied that having an elected attorney general would simply enhance the system of checks and balances in government.
“By having that difference of opinion here in the state with our electeds, that is a good thing,” Heiner said. “It provides that check and balance, so we don’t have one person directing the attorney general. It becomes a consensus by group.”
Committee Chairman Rep. Art Washut, R-Casper, said that currently, when Wyoming’s top five elected officials get together to discuss an issue, the attorney general serves as a resource for all of them.
“If you have an elected attorney general, then the attorney general is part of the decision-making cadre, as opposed to a legal resource,” Washut said. “All those dynamics change. Now they are part of the deliberative process, rather than the advisory process. That is my philosophical concern.”
Heiner responded that a legislative committee, like the House Judiciary Committee itself, includes attorneys, and having people with that background to testify and vote “strengthens” the committee.
Rep. Lee Filer, R-Cheyenne, said that he could not support HB 102 because it would mean an ineffective attorney general could keep their position until the next election.
“If we want to take issues to the governor or the attorney general right now, and they just push them aside … there are processes in order for the governor to ask for resignation, reappointment,” Filer said.
Betsy Anderson, general counsel and deputy chief of staff for Gov. Mark Gordon, said Gordon’s office favors the current system.
“[This] serves the state much better than a system where the attorney general is elected,” Anderson said. “An appointed AG is more independent and can focus their attention on the law, and legal concerns, instead of political concerns.”
Elected attorney generals are exposed to political influence and decision-making, she said, and can become beholden to those who support their campaigns.
Jenny DeSarro frm the Equality State Policy Center spoke against the bill, saying that the attorney general provides impartial legal opinions only to the elected and appointed officials and represents the state agencies in courts of law.
“This position is most effective when they are able to maintain an independent mind free from the confines of partisan platforms,” she said.
However, Rep. Tom Kelly, R-Sheridan, said that he would support HB 102.
“The consensus of those opposed to it is that this would introduce politics into that position. And my understanding is that means it’s introducing the will of the people into this,” Kelly said.
Should school boards be partisan as well?
On the other side of the Capitol, senators voted 15-11 in committee of the whole Tuesday in favor of Senate File 98, “School board trustees-party affiliation.” Bill co-sponsor Sen. Jared Olsen, R-Cheyenne, said the bill is “straightforward” and simply adjusts the general election ballot so that candidates for school board trustee have their political party affiliation printed alongside their name.
“Partisan labels help voters quickly identify candidates whose values and priorities align with their own political beliefs,” Olsen said, claiming that it could have the potential to increase voter turnout in local elections.
Sen. Dan Dockstader, R-Afton, said people can almost always tell what a school board candidate stands for, with just a little research, adding that he has concerns a mandatory party affiliation may alienate people who would otherwise run for school board.
“I am not sure this is as clean-cut as we want it to be,” Dockstader said.
Sen. Cale Case, R-Lander, said he was against the measure.
“Our children, and our education system, kind of requires us to rise above politics,” he said.
Parties are limiting, Case continued, and in Wyoming, only 25-27% of eligible voters actually participated in the last primary election.
“If you want to find out about people … you can find out,” Case said. “It is still Wyoming. You can always call every one of them up, and you can go to coffee.”
But Olsen said that it is a “farce” to believe that school boards are not already partisan.
“What the difference between this bill [and] the reality of what we operate in today is transparency,” Olsen said.
Sen. John Kolb, R-Rock Springs, also said that school board positions have already become political.
“Do you believe in having women, or men, in women’s locker rooms? This is one step further than we’re currently doing,” Kolb said, referencing several pieces of legislation moving through the Capitol that deal with issues of transgender children.
Sen. Dan Laursen, R-Powell, a sponsor of one such piece of legislation, said Olsen’s bill is “vitally needed.”
“People want to know. They want to know which party platform you might lean toward. That’s very important,” Larsen said.
Senate File 98 passed on third reading in the Senate and advanced to the House on Thursday.
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