EDITORIAL: Legislators did well to meet with voters and should keep doing so

Posted 3/24/15

That’s state Reps. David Northrup and Dan Laursen, and the visiting involved a discussion of the recently concluded 2015 session of the Wyoming Legislature. The two Powell Republicans spoke and fielded questions from about 20 people at The Depot …

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EDITORIAL: Legislators did well to meet with voters and should keep doing so

Posted

Dave and Dan invited Powell area residents to “have a visit” with them Friday.

That’s state Reps. David Northrup and Dan Laursen, and the visiting involved a discussion of the recently concluded 2015 session of the Wyoming Legislature. The two Powell Republicans spoke and fielded questions from about 20 people at The Depot in downtown Powell.

In part, they explained how the session went and their feelings about their work in Cheyenne. It was a busy three months, but not at a hectic pace, they said.

A total of 575 bills and resolutions were proposed and 408 made it to the state Senate or the House of Representatives. Senators are restricted to introducing five bills but there is no limit for representatives.

“That’s a low number. Two years ago, we were well over 600,” Northrup said.

There were 257 House bills and 159 of them moved to Senate. There were 153 Senate bills and 104 went to House. About half of the introduced legislation — 112 House bills and 91 Senate bills — became law.

What was interesting to learn was the power of group efforts. Of the 203 bills that passed, 121 came from individual legislators, a 39 percent success rate, while 82 new laws were spawned by committees, which had an 82 percent rate of passage.

Gov. Matt Mead vetoed one bill, Senate File 14, which would have required a felony drug conviction before the state could seize personal property. An effort to overturn the veto failed.

Mead signed 200 bills; he allowed a $2.5 million hospital funding bill to be enacted without his signature, an action he also took with a bill allowing a few dozen people with seizure issues to use a hemp oil extraction for treatment.

Northrup said one thing is clear: Committee bills have more success. That seems fitting, since those bills have been discussed and debated and land on the Senate or House floor with a great deal of consensus.

“When it hits the floor, it’s pretty much worked out,” Northrup said.

That doesn’t mean the bills sponsored by legislators are a waste of time. Many contain the seed of a good idea and will resurface in a future session.

Some are being worked on by interim committees, including ones that Big Horn Basin legislators will work on this year to prepare for the 2016 session.

“Lot of interim subjects are failed bills that were good ideas but failed,” Northrup said.

That sounds like an effective way to run government. Raise ideas and consider proposals. If they have the support of the majority of the Legislature, they stand an excellent chance of becoming law.

If not, take a closer look and tinker with them. If something blooms, work on it, study it, improve it and it may become a tool to benefit the people and the state of Wyoming.

Friday’s town hall meeting was the second one held in Powell in recent weeks. One was also held in Cody.

We encourage our legislators to schedule regular meetings with their constituents before, during and after the 2016 session and in all future legislative gatherings as well. It’s a good way to inform us on what they are doing at the Capitol and for locals to become more educated on the process while allowing them to interject their ideas.

As the success of committee bills proves, the more minds that ponder an idea, the better chance it has to become a law. This is your state and your government — help guide it.

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