Dear editor:

In the Dec. 29, 2022 edition of the Powell Tribune, State Sen.-elect Dan Laursen is interviewed by Zac Taylor about his preparation for the upcoming General Session. After reading the article I found myself confounded by comments made by Mr. Laursen.

First, in addressing the fact that he won’t have a seat on any major Senate committees due to his derogatory comments about the state Republican Party’s leadership during the campaign he asserts, “If I don’t have a voice for my citizens, that isn’t right.” Really, senator? It seems you forgot the 11th commandment of politics, famously spoken by Ronald Reagan, “Thou shalt not speak ill of another Republican.”

His actions, a combination of hubris and grandstanding, are a lesson to the electorate of the 19th Senate District that rhetoric pointed at your own party is a tactic that doesn’t play well in the Cowboy State. With the extra time he has in Cheyenne this year he can reacquaint himself with the Cowboy Code of Ethics and reintroduce himself to ethic seven, “Ride for the brand.”

The article states Laursen is looking at many issues, but the first two mentioned are two bills related to enabling legislators to be reimbursed for expenses at a wider array of conferences and the other pertains to banning businesses from microchipping employees. These are two of the priorities of a newly elected state senator?

There are so many challenges that need to be addressed by Laursen and our state officials, ranging from limited access to public land (2.4 million acres that are currently unavailable to the public) to skyrocketing property tax increases to facilitating the growth of small business in our state.

Instead, Mr. Laursen is focusing his energies on having state tax payers underwrite his attendance at an ALEC conference, an organization, according to USA Today, known for having corporations work hand in hand with willing legislators to craft “model legislation” that supports big business and bring them back to their home states for passage. If he wants to attend conferences on his own dime that is his prerogative but asking the people of Wyoming to pay is wrong.

Lastly, Mr. Laursen states, “I think our schools get plenty of money and they’ll never have enough money. At what point do we as citizens say enough is enough? Do we have to sacrifice everything else — roads, security, all the other stuff just to maintain school funding? I don’t think so.”

Education is the foundation of being a citizen and the cornerstone for our republic. The future of Wyoming is tied to the education of our children. Mr. Laursen invokes being a conservative in much of his rhetoric but he would be wise to heed a true conservative icon, Calvin Coolidge, who said in July of 1929, “It is necessary…that education should be the handmaid of citizenship.” If President Coolidge’s words don’t inspire maybe he can talk with some local educators about the importance of school funding.

It is my hope that Mr. Laursen spends his first year in the Senate learning the importance of collaboration and teamwork with his party, not be a demagogue, and focus on the issues that affect Wyomingites. Only through actions, and not words, will he be able to show the Republican Party that he deserves a committee seat in 2024.

Todd Johnson

Powell