Empty Seats: Several Lawmakers Marked Absent After SF123 Debate

Legislative sessions are long, and lawmakers often balance official duties with other commitments during the Legislature’s 20-day budget session. But the departures came on a night when legislative deadlines were approaching, and several bills still awaited action.

NEWS

CHEYENNE — After one of the most closely watched pieces of legislation of the session moved through the House chamber Tuesday night, several lawmakers were no longer in their seats.According to multiple sources at the Capitol, a number of representatives left the building shortly after debate concluded on Senate File 123, the Wyoming Energy Dominance Fund.

Some of those members were later recorded as absent for the remainder of the evening’s proceedings.Multiple sources told the Open Range Record that several legislators left the Capitol to attend the University of Wyoming basketball game in Laramie that evening.The timing raised questions among lawmakers and observers who remained in the chamber working through the rest of the calendar.

SF123 had just been moved up on the House General File on a motion by the HD 39 representative, placing it ahead of other legislation awaiting debate. The bill ultimately received full consideration on the House floor.But after the debate concluded, several desks were vacated. Those departures meant some lawmakers did not participate in votes on theother legislation that followed.

Under House procedure, members who are not present during votes are recorded in the journal as absent, meaning they do not cast a vote on the legislation before the body.For legislators who remained in the chamber late into the evening, the optics were difficult to ignore.

With the legislative calendar narrowing and multiple bills still awaiting action, some members stayed behind to continue working through the remaining agenda.Others, according to sources inside the Capitol, headed west toward Laramie.

Legislative sessions are long, and lawmakers often balance official duties with other commitments during the Legislature’s 20-day budget session.But the departures came on a night when legislative deadlines were approaching, and several bills still awaited action.

For constituents watching from outside the Capitol, the empty desks served as a reminder of a simple reality of representative government:

When lawmakers are absent from the chamber, their districts have no vote on bills such as HD22, HD17, and HD39 and SJ0005 which were on the docket Tuesday, March 3, 2026.

Those members who left the House chamber and did not return were:

Absent: Byron, Larson, JT, Provenza, Storer, Wylie, Yin

Excused for various reasons: Brown, L, Campbell, E, Campbell, K, Clouston, Kelly, Nicholas, Styvar

Rep Styvar for example had a family medical situation to deal with.

Originally published by The Open Range Record, Wyoming's Independent News Source. Cite as: “Empty Seats: Several Lawmakers Marked Absent After SF123 Debate,” The Open Range Record, March 5, 2026.