Hank Coe

As a tribute to the public service and leadership of the late state Sen. Hank Coe, Wyoming lawmakers may name a portion of a Cody area highway in his honor.

Last week, the state House overwhelmingly passed a bill that would designate Wyo. Highway 120 as the “Hank Coe Leadership Highway” as it passes through Cody. House Bill 135 is now being considered by the Wyoming Senate, where Coe served for more than three decades. The Cody Republican died of cancer in January at the age of 74, just weeks after his final term in office formally came to an end.

“His public service amounts to almost a third of our statehood,” Rep. Bill Henderson, R-Cheyenne, said of Coe. “There’s no question of the need to commemorate and recognize the leadership.”

If the bill becomes law, Wyo. 120 will be named in Coe’s honor over a 20-mile stretch that runs from just south of Cody, through the city to just shy of the route’s junction with Wyo. Highway 296.

Henderson, the lead sponsor of the bill, said Coe was a mentor, helping him understand the Legislature’s inner workings. Beyond his personal connections, Henderson noted Coe’s 32 years of service in the Senate — including 23 years as a committee chairman — plus eight years as a Park County commissioner. The representative also called it appropriate that the section of highway passes by Yellowstone Regional Airport.

“It’s doing well, you know why? Because he worked hard with a lot of other people to help our air service, too,” Henderson said.

He told his colleagues that failing to recognize Coe’s service would be a big oversight.

The House approved the measure by a 54-6 vote, with local Reps. Sandy Newsome, R-Cody, and Rachel Rodriguez-Williams, R-Cody, supporting the measure. In the Senate, Park County Sens. Tim French, R-Powell, and R.J. Kost, R-Powell, have signed on as co-sponsors.

It was not unanimous support from the county delegation, with Rep. Dan Laursen, R-Powell, voting no. In an interview, Laursen described his vote as a matter of principle, saying he’s been consistent in opposing designated highways.

Laursen previously voted in support of the Vietnam Veterans Welcome Home Highway, the Wyoming Women’s Suffrage Pathway and the Medal of Honor Highway, but he opposed naming a route outside of Cody the Wild Horse Highway in 2019 and he voted against designating a part of Wyo. 59 as the Wyoming Law Enforcement Memorial Highway last year.

As for the bill proposing the Hank Coe Leadership Highway, “I just don’t know if that was what legislators should be doing,” Laursen said. He said it might have been better for the City of Cody or the Park County government to make a dedication to Coe, suggesting the possibility of naming the Cody airport in his honor.

Laursen added that he appreciated Coe’s public service, and the sacrifices made by Coe’s family.

“He was a great guy,” Laursen said of the senator. “He gave a lot to Cody, the county and the state, and it [the no vote] was nothing against him.”

The bill had also drawn some initial trepidation from the House’s transportation committee on March 2, in part because Henderson initially proposed naming the entire 122-mile length of Wyo. 120 in Coe’s honor, from Thermopolis to the Montana border.

“I think we are setting precedence here that we don’t need to be setting,” said Rep. Clarence Styvar, R-Cheyenne.

“We had a sitting representative pass away — a sitting representative — [and] we have done nothing for him,” Styvar added, referring to the late Rep. Roy Edwards, R-Gillette, who died of COVID-19 complications in November.

Meanwhile, Rep. Jerry Obermueller, R-Casper, noted other fabulous lawmakers.

“Do we have enough highways for everybody who’s been a great leader in the Legislature?” he asked.

Bill Winney of Bondurant, a longtime political observer and candidate in Wyoming, acknowledged to the committee that the honor was similar to a sports team retiring a player’s number — a rarity reserved for a select few.

“But he’s the kind of gentleman I would just say, I salute him,” Winney said of Coe.

When Winney started observing the Legislature’s education committee in 2010, he initially saw Coe as “basically an old lion politician, getting things done and turning the hand crank and so on.”

“But as I observed him over the years and saw the things he did and how he did things, I came to understand how truly visionary a gentleman he was,” Winney said, encouraging the panel to support the Hank Coe Leadership Highway.

The entire transportation committee — including Styvar — wound up voting to send the bill to the House floor after Rep. Landon Brown, R-Cheyenne, suggested focusing the designation around the Cody area instead of the whole highway. Speaking in support of the concept, Brown observed that Coe’s “distinguished career … lasted longer than I’ve been alive on this earth.”

During a later discussion on the House floor, Brown did speak against a provision in the bill that appropriated $2,800 for new highway signs; he said WYDOT could find the funds within its multi-million dollar budget.

“I don’t think we need to be spending money on signs right now,” Brown said.

However, the House overwhelmingly voted to include the $2,800.

“This man’s family has put more money into this state than any of us could ever dream of,” State Rep. Albert Sommers, R-Pinedale said of Coe. “I think we can pay that family back by putting in $2,800 for a sign.”

Whether the state money will even be needed is unclear; Henderson said he’d already received calls from people asking how they could contribute to the purchase of the signs for the Hank Coe Leadership Highway.

“Good begets good,” Henderson told his colleagues, adding, “There’s no lack of support for this, folks.”