Bill would look into districting concerns

It is hoped that a bill before the Wyoming Legislature will encourage a conversation about legislation representation and constitutional apportionment in Wyoming after the constitutional vacancies declared by the Board of Weston County Commissioners last year apparently put a spotlight on the issue.

According to Rep. JD Williams, R-Lusk, “SF0174 is thoughtfully crafted to encourage the Legislature to carefully consider constitutional apportionment over the interim.”

“Rural Wyoming is interested in having the conversation, as is rural America. This piece of legislation will hopefully be heard in committee by both the House and the Senate this week,” Williams said, noting that the bill will likely be heard by the Senate Corporations Committee on Wednesday.

The bill states that a committee will be created to “study apportionment of the Legislature as provided by this act during the 2025 interim.”

Further, the bill states that “the Legislature shall make a good faith effort to apportion itself as required by the 14th Amendment in conformance with the principle that the vote of any citizen is approximately equal in weight to that of any other citizen in the State” and that the Legislature “shall make a good faith effort to apportion itself as required by Article 3, Section 3 and 48 of the Wyoming Constitution by providing for legislative districts that follow county lines and legislative districts that have at least one (1) representative and one (1) senator per county.”

Article 3 Section 3 of the Wyoming Constitution states that every county “shall constitute a senatorial and representative district.” Article 3, Section 48 states that “at the first budget session of the legislature following the federal census, the legislature shall reapportion its membership based upon that census.”

The committee, according to the bill, will conduct meetings in communities across Wyoming to take input on apportionment options. The committee will be required to submit its findings to the Legislature no later than Dec. 1, 2025.

The bill is sponsored by Sen. Ogden Driskill and co-sponsored by Sens. Ed Cooper, R-Ten Sleep; Dan Dockstader, R-Afton; Larry Hicks, R-Baggs; Dan Laursen, R-Powell; Cheri Steinmetz, R-Lingle; and Reps. Robert Wharff, R-Evanston, and Williams.

Driskill told the News Letter Journal that he is proud to be a sponsor of this legislation.

“Hopefully, it will get the state of Wyoming on a better path towards fair and equitable representation in future years,” he said.

Steinmetz noted that this issue is particularly important  to the residents in her district, which includes Weston County.

“I am glad to have the discussion in this session,” she said.