The Park County commissioners forcefully defended their membership in the Wyoming County Commissioners Association last week, responding to criticism from Rep. Rachel Rodriguez-Williams, R-Cody, and leaders of the local Republican Party.

During their Feb. 17 discussion, commissioners universally praised the WCCA for its many functions, such as training and legal counsel, that they say help commissioners and save taxpayers money. 

All commissioners fully supported the letter, with Commissioner Lloyd Thiel saying he was “a little bit perturbed” over the debate. 

“I’m very offended that we have members in our community that feel that we’re wasting tax dollars in these efforts,” Thiel said. “It would cost so much more to get this kind of training anywhere else.”

Back in November, the Park County Republican Party’s Central Committee passed a resolution that criticized the lobbying done by governmental associations like the WCCA. The resolution said the taxpayer-funded lobbying is “often contrary to the will of the people” and to “the best interests of the citizens of Wyoming.”

It closed by demanding that governments and elections officials “make public the actions and meetings of these associations, privately pay their dues to these associations, or disassociate from these taxpayer funded associations.”

The topic then resurfaced at a January meeting between Big Horn Basin commissioners and legislators ahead of the Budget Session, where commissioners asked the area’s lawmakers to support commissioners’ memberships in the WCCA. Park County paid $24,894 in WCCA dues in the current budget. 

Rodriguez-Williams, who took the lead in speaking for at least some of the legislators assembled, said that wasn’t their job and said there’s concern from her constituents about public money being used for the WCCA’s lobbying efforts.

However, WCCA Executive Director Jerimiah Rieman said his time advocating and lobbying before the Legislature is funded not by county commissioner dues, but by nonpublic funds. That change was made five years ago, he said, to split his salary in half so half is not funded with public monies. (Commissioner Scott Mangold said last week that business sponsorships, which form some of those nonpublic funds, do not sway any commission decisions.)

Soon after the meeting, Rodriguez-Williams wrote on social media that county commissioners don’t want to see “taxpayer-subsidized lobbying” come to an end.

“My take-pay for your own damn lobbyist with your own money,” she wrote on X.

At the meeting, Commissioner Kelly Simone had countered Rodriguez-Williams by noting that the Legislature is a part of a couple associations — the National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL) and the Council of State Governments (CSG) — and asked if they lobby at the national level. 

“Kelly [Simone], I tell you that if that vote came to the floor for taxpayer funds to be used for NCSL and CSG, I’d be a no,” Rodriguez-Williams responded.

She followed up in a Feb. 3 letter to the commissioners, saying the director of the Legislative Service Office told her that neither the NCSL or CSG are registered lobbying firms in Washington, D.C. She enclosed a copy of the Park County GOP’s November resolution with her letter, CCing the party and the county’s other lawmakers.

Park County GOP Chair Vince Vanata read the lawmaker’s letter aloud at a Feb. 5 party meeting — which prompted Commission Chair Scott Steward to send a letter of his own to Vanata.

In response, Vanata said his reading of the letter was not meant to “take sides,” but to “emphasize the importance of our continued efforts through resolutions, statements, letters, and similar actions.”

He said it appeared that some commissioners “are diverting attention from the central issue of taxpayer-funded associations in Wyoming” and said the lobbying by the WCCA “continues to concern many grassroots members across our county and state.”

“The concern stems from the perception that the WCCA meets privately with a quorum of county commissioners and then directs taxpayer-funded lobbyists to advocate on behalf of the association and its members rather than the public at large,” Vanata wrote in part.

He said he personally believes the issue raises ethical concerns.

“While associations can provide educational and collaborative benefits, publicly funded lobbying is more difficult to justify,’ he said.

Last week, commissioners responded to both Vanata’s and Rodriguez-Williams’ letters with one of their own. The purpose, said Simone, was to set the record straight.

“We recognize the concerns regarding the use of taxpayer dollars for lobbying, whether through the WCCA or other associations, and emphasize that transparency and accountability must be considered when public funds are involved,” the letter reads, in part.

It reiterates that Rieman’s lobbying work is paid for with “other WCCA revenues” rather than taxpayer-funded membership dues and makes the case that the concerns about taxpayer-funded lobbying should also apply to the Legislature. 

The commissioners’ letter quotes from the NCSL’s website, which specifically says it lobbies Congress, the White House and federal agencies on behalf of state Legislatures. The site also boasts that the NCSL “is nationally recognized as a formidable lobbying force in state-federal relations.”

While the NCSL is not a registered lobbying firm, the commissioners’ letter calls that “a legal technicality.”

“Under federal law, an organization can employ in-house lobbyists without registering as a lobbying firm if its total lobbying expenses do not exceed $16,000 in a calendar quarter,” the letter read.

Rieman is registered as a legislative lobbyist in Cheyenne, but Simone said that’s because the state’s rules apply to anyone who is paid more than $500 for lobbying. 

Rodriguez-Williams previously told the Tribune that, to her knowledge, public funds are not used for lobbying by the Legislature’s associations.

She and the rest of Park County’s delegation voted last week to approve a $26.7 million budget for the Legislature over the coming two fiscal years. It includes $293,524 in dues for the NCSL and $271,346 for the CSG.

Lawmakers in the House considered a couple bills that would have prohibited taxpayer funds from going toward lobbying — including one sponsored by Rep. Paul Hoeft, R-Powell — but those measures ultimately failed.

Editor's note: This story has been updated to clarify the funding of WCCA Executive Director Jerimiah Rieman's salary.