Speaker Neiman kills 95 bills — more than past 2 Wyoming House leaders

CHEYENNE—In the months before Chip Neiman ascended to speaker of the Wyoming House of Representatives, he was asked about “the drawer” and what he planned to do about it. 

More figurative than literal, the drawer has long been code for a speaker’s unilateral prerogative to hold bills back. 

“The drawer is the speaker taking any particular piece of legislation that he or she would say ‘Is not necessary, it’s not timely, it’s not useful, it’s not a good idea,’ whatever, for whatever reason, and just simply hold that piece of legislation so that it does not get introduced,” Neiman explained during a September AARP webinar.

Neiman, a Freedom Caucus Republican from Hulett, still needed to win an unopposed race in the general election but had made clear that he would seek the top post in the House. The drawer, meanwhile, had taken on controversy in recent years, prompting one webinar attendee to inquire about it. 

“What are you going to do about the famous drawer?”

It would be a case-by-case basis, Neiman said. 

“So my drawer, while it could be used at this point, I hope every piece of legislation is something we can get out and let the body discuss it and work through it and see what comes of it,” Neiman said. “Let it have sunlight.”

But this session, scores of measures withered from that lack of sunlight. Monday, Neiman halted 95 bills, or about 27.3% of House legislation. 

“I would chalk it up to multiple different issues,” Neiman told WyoFile on Wednesday. The speaker pointed to lengthy debate, dozens of brand new lawmakers and the Freedom Caucus’ “Five and Dime Plan” that included “heavy lifts.” 

But even so, Neiman stood by his decision to hold back bills. 

“I think we got through what we were supposed to get through,” Neiman said. 

“Judge us based on the content of what we got through.”

During the last general session, former Speaker of the House Albert Sommers took serious heat from the Wyoming Freedom Caucus and its Washington D.C.-based umbrella organization for holding bills back, catching the attention of Wyoming’s U.S. Rep. Harriet Hageman and Fox News along the way. 

When the dust settled, Sommers halted 25 bills from introduction, or about 8.3% of House bills. Two years prior, Sen. Eric Barlow kept back 52 bills, or about 18.5% of House bills, as speaker.

Thinning the herd

The dead bills varied in subject, sponsorship and simplicity. 

Most came from individual lawmakers. Fourteen were sponsored by legislative committees. Some dealt with housing, education and corner crossing, while others involved property taxes, elections, irrigation districts, and Wyoming’s burgeoning gaming industry. 

The legislative calendar, sprinkled throughout with deadlines, works to thin the herd of proposals. Monday presented the first hurdle for House bills as it was the last day legislation could be formally introduced. 

While Rep. Daniel Singh, a Freedom Caucus Republican from Cheyenne, had nine of his 13 bills die in the speaker’s drawer, he stood by Neiman’s decisions. 

Singh said that Neiman and Majority Floor Leader Rep. Scott Heiner, R-Green River, surveyed the House, asking members to compile their “favorite” bills. 

“Every representative had a say in how the bills were able to come out of the speaker’s drawer,” Singh said. 

House Minority Floor Leader Rep. Mike Yin of Jackson sees things differently. 

“Has he been fair across the board? I think people gave him what their personal priorities were, but he definitely blackballed quite a few of them regardless,” Yin told reporters Tuesday. 

“So that’s all the prerogative of the speaker, but that doesn’t mean that he shouldn’t be necessarily criticized on the bills that are in his drawer.”

Yin and other lawmakers were particularly dismayed at the number of committee bills dying. 

Legislation by committee

Committee bills are drafted during the offseason, also known as the interim, when lawmakers, state agencies and other stakeholders are able to give legislation extra attention and deliberation. That vetting process requires time and money, and in return those bills are traditionally prioritized during the session over bills sponsored by individual lawmakers. 

Committee bills are historically much more likely to pass, but that’s changed in recent years. 

In the 2024 budget session, the Freedom Caucus used its voting bloc to block 13 committee bills on introduction when two-thirds support was needed. 

This year, the committee bills kept to the speaker’s drawer spanned seven different committees, including Judiciary, Minerals, Business and Economic Development and Transportation, Highways and Military Affairs. Two of the bills came from select committees dealing with water and school facilities. 

“I am disappointed,” House Transportation Chairman Landon Brown, R-Cheyenne, told WyoFile regarding House Bill 26, “Highway safety-child restraints,” which died in the speaker’s drawer. 

The bill would have strengthened the requirements for car seats for young children. In 2023, similar legislation passed the Senate but died in the House when Neiman, majority floor leader at the time, placed it toward the bottom of the pile of bills to be introduced. 

Brown said he wasn’t surprised by the volume of dead bills this year. 

“Although it’s not good in my opinion, there’s nothing that surprises me this year,” Brown said. 

Five of the other failed committee bills were from the Appropriations Committee, which spent the offseason examining “the safety, transparency, and fairness of Wyoming’s gaming industry,” Rep. Trey Sherwood, a Laramie Democrat and an Appropriations member, said. 

“We took hours of public testimony and worked hard to craft security policies to protect the public and create uniformity in the regulatory structure for horse racing and skilled games,” she said. 

Ultimately, however, the committee’s four bills related to gaming died in the speaker’s drawer. 

“It is unfortunate that new leadership prioritized hot button social issues over public safety and the prosperity of Wyoming businesses,” Sherwood said.

The Freedom Caucus’ Five and Dime Plan included legislation that sought to eliminate diversity, equity and inclusion efforts in higher education and curb ESG investing with Wyoming’s money. Freedom Caucus members also sponsored so-far successful bills aimed at transgender athletes and use of public toilets and locker rooms.

Sherwood also pointed to two Corporations Committee bills related to housing that died along with one of her own housing-related bills. 

“Housing was the number one issue I heard at the door,” she said. “Yet, bills that would have addressed some of Wyoming’s housing challenges died without a conversation.”

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Senate Corporations Committee Chairman Cale Case, R-Lander, was disappointed to see bills from his committee not get prioritized. 

“They’re all decent bills. Nothing wrong with any of them,” Case said, adding that that’s a testament to the time and resources dedicated over the off-season. 

“It’s a really good process. We don’t have that benefit here [during the session] because things sort of get steamrolled,” Case said. 

One of the bills would have created reporting requirements for insurance fraud, Case said, while another would have updated bid requirements for irrigation districts. 

They were “no-brainers,” Case said, before commending Senate President Bo Biteman for introducing and referring all 208 senate files 

“I’m really proud of our president,” Case said. 

The next deadline for bills is Friday when they must advance out of committee in their original chamber.