If House District 18 voters were hoping to hear two competing visions for Wyoming, they only got one.
Representative Scott Heiner used his introduction to highlight what he views as accomplishments during his six years in the Legislature—passing the 25% property tax reduction, protecting that tax relief, and pursuing new coal technology and energy projects aimed at bringing jobs back to southwest Wyoming.
Ken Roberts took a much different approach.
Rather than spending much of his time explaining what he hopes to accomplish if elected, the retiring Lincoln County District Court Clerk and current Wyoming Game and Fish Commissioner focused much of his introduction on what he opposes.
He criticized Heiner’s leadership within the Freedom Caucus, declaring, “If it’s Freedom Caucus you want, I’m not your man,” and added that he wasn’t going to “take my orders from Washington.”
Rather than focusing on energy policy prescriptions made by Heiner in his remarks, Roberts opted to make dubious claims about the Freedom Caucus.
Though it is a frequent talking-point used against caucus members, there is no evidence whatsoever that any member of the Wyoming Freedom Caucus receives text messages “from Washington” directing them how to vote.
In a February 22, 2023 piece in the Cowboy State Daily, Leo Wolfson reported that members of the Freedom Caucus receive recommendations about bills before the legislature.
“A text message the lawmaker shared with Cowboy State Daily shows the caucus taking a stance on 55 proposed bills, offering remarks ranging from opposition to support to an occasional “opposed” followed by two exclamation marks. State Rep. Daniel Singh, R-Cheyenne, said the messages originate from the national State Freedom Caucus Network, which has a Wyoming state director working at the Wyoming Capitol every day.”
In 2023, when he first spoke to the media, Rep Singh was not a member of the caucus. He wasn’t invited to join the group until 2024.
One day later on February 24, 2023, Freedom Caucus Chairman Rep John Bear explained the text message to Wyofile:
“Simple text messages” conveyed in digest form informed the bloc of Rubino and the Freedom Caucus’ preferences about bills and amendments, Bear said. There is no requirement that members and aspiring freshman members bend to the Freedom Caucus on every vote, he said, though there are un-publicized adherence thresholds to retain membership.”
Rep Daniel Singh himself, the person who first told CSD about the text messages, said in a recent interview that no one has ever told him how to vote on anything.
“Singh said the caucus, despite multiple allegations that it dictates votes to its members, never pressured him to vote against his conscience; and no one ever texted him and told him how to vote.”
In an interview with Cowboy State Politics, Andy Roth, President of State Freedom Caucus Network, roundly dismissed the claim that his organization tells state legislators how to vote.
When asked about the text messages on the June 18 edition of Cowboy State Politics, Cheyenne Rep Ann Lucas, who is also a member of the Freedom Caucus, replied, “I’d like to meet the person who thinks they can tell me how to vote.”
In addition to his specious claims about the Freedom Caucus, Roberts also repeated a familiar argument heard from some Lincoln County officials, that the Legislature’s 25% property tax reduction simply shifted the burden to counties.
Yet many Lincoln County homeowners saw their property tax bills increase by well over 100% before the Legislature acted.
Even more puzzling is hearing warnings that tax relief threatens essential services while local governments continue approving discretionary spending. Lincoln County has approved employee raises, loaned public funds to private companies, expanded economic development spending, purchased county vehicles, and reimbursed tens of thousands of dollars annually in travel and miscellaneous expenses for the County Commissioners’ Chief of Staff.
If county finances are truly on the brink because of the 25% property tax reduction, voters are left asking an obvious question:
Is the problem really tax relief, or is it how local government chooses to spend taxpayer money? That may ultimately be the debate House District 18 voters are more interested in having.