The legislature must focus on the important things

The Wyoming legislature begins its legislative session on February 14.  Because this year is a budget year, it will be a fast and furious session, with only four weeks available for both the House and Senate to separately consider each bill - including amendments - and to wrestle with any differences the two chambers may have.  This year will be all the more hectic because the legislature has several things that it must accomplish or it will be called into a special session to finish the work.  The legislature must both pass a budget for the next biennium and pass a new redistricting map that sets new legislative districts based on the results of the latest census.  Even one of these major tasks is difficult to do in a four-week legislative session.  Finishing both will require serious focus on the part of the legislature.
With this heavy lifting already on the agenda, one hopes that legislators see that their time is precious and limit the extraneous bills that are either destined to fail or can wait for a better day.  There undoubtedly will be other bills considered and passed, but with the limited time, our legislature should be especially vigilant with its priorities.  So what should its priorities be?
First, the legislature must above all focus on completing its constitutionally required duties.  The budget and the redistricting bill must take precedence.  Both bills will require careful consideration, as each also requires that the legislature make sure that what is ultimately passed meets the requirements of the US and Wyoming constitutions.  This can be a difficult standard to meet and some legislators appear inclined to ignore the requirements of one or the other based on their own political preferences.  However, at the beginning of their term, every legislator took an oath to support, obey, and defend both constitutions. The Wyoming constitution explicitly states that the US Constitution is the supreme law of the land, so it is clear what way any potential conflicts or inconsistencies are decided.  Rather than ignore their constitutional duties or wish that the Constitution allowed them to do something else, the legislators must put their nose to the grindstone and ensure that these necessary bills are passed.  It will be difficult, hard choices will have to be made, but it is their duty.
For the other bills that the legislature will consider, the legislature should ensure that their work is focused on the future of Wyoming.  Specifically, the legislature should work to enhance job opportunities and economic diversification.  Even though we may be tired of hearing about it, the key to Wyoming’s future truly is melding our historic focus on legacy industries with a forward-looking effort to add more to our economic opportunities.  We are all anxious about Wyoming’s future, but if we can take advantage of some of the opportunities available to us, we will continue to make Wyoming the great place that we all love.
Lastly, the legislature should resist the temptation to take up bills that are intended only to make a statement rather to solve a problem.  Wyoming deserves legislators that will take their job seriously.  That means promoting serious legislation that will actually accomplish something.  Bills that are introduced solely to make a statement or that purposefully disregard the law or constitutional precedent are a waste of time and a betrayal of the trust that voters put in their elected officials.  We have seen a number of bills in recent years with little chance of success but that allow their sponsors to claim that they are “fighting” for a cause that they have done nothing to help.  Rather than waste time with bills that accomplish nothing other than generate headlines, the legislature should keep its focus on substantive bills that address real-world problems.  
The legislature’s job is not an easy one this year.  It has a heavy workload in front of it even before it looks at the additional bills brought by committees and individual members.  However, the legislature is full of Wyoming citizens who have taken it upon themselves to contend with these hard issues.  Although it will be difficult, with hard work, focus, and an eye toward the future, the legislature can do what needs to be done.