Wyoming lawmakers go after funding for state associations that sometimes oppose their bills

FROM WYOFILE:

Green River Rep. Marlene Brady is leading the charge on prohibiting cities, towns and counties from paying dues to elected officials’ associations.

As the Wyoming Legislature has shifted further to the right in recent years, the conservative concept of local control has lost sway in debates over several topics, including guns, education and taxes.

Now, some state lawmakers want more say over local governments’ spending on dues to associations that advocate on their behalf.

“Elimination of publicly funded associations prevents taxpayer dollars from being used to fund private entities that may prioritize their own interests over those of the public,” Rep. Marlene Brady, R-Green River, told the May 9 Joint Corporations, Elections and Political Subdivisions Committee in Lander.

Endorsed by the Wyoming Freedom Caucus last summer, Brady is leading the charge on a proposal to prohibit cities, towns and counties from using public funds to cover elected officials’ membership in associations.

“We’ve also seen that they go and they use our dime, the taxpayer dime, to go and lobby against every one of the bills that the people put forward,” Brady told the committee. “That is unacceptable. We are tired of it.”

Organizations like the Wyoming County Commissioners Association and the Wyoming Association of Municipalities lobby in Cheyenne during the session on behalf of local officials and based on priorities agreed to by their memberships.

Earlier this year, those associations — alongside firefighters, law enforcement, community colleges and special districts — cautioned lawmakers on passing certain property tax cuts whose cost local governments will shoulder.

Organizations like WCCA and WAM also provide education, training and networking opportunities. Those services, in particular, are an invaluable resource, according to the more than 20 local officials from across the state who testified at the May 9 meeting. That included mayors, commissioners, county attorneys, county treasurers, county clerks and district court clerks.

Pinedale Mayor Matt Murdock was among them. He recalled to the committee his first Wyoming Association of Municipalities conference more than a decade ago.

“I got to tell you, it was amazing,” Murdock said. “I learned how to do open meetings. I learned how to navigate ethics rules, budget responsibilities … It is practical, nonpartisan and frankly, empowering.”

When Murdock sees “people trying to quiet the dissenting voice, when they try to quiet the local voice, it just irks the heck out of me,” he added.

Despite overwhelming testimony against the prohibition, the committee decided by a straw poll to continue the topic at its August meeting in Casper.

As part of that discussion, the committee will review a bill from 2021 to prohibit the use of tax revenue for lobbying, per a request from Rep. Ann Lucas, R-Cheyenne.

Associations

Government associations play important roles in the legislative process, advocates say.

“We see ourselves as providing a bridge between legislative intent and practical implementation,” Natalia Macker, Wyoming County Commissioners Association president and Teton County commissioner, told lawmakers.

With four staff members, Macker said, the association focuses on areas of taxation, infrastructure, public safety, health and human services and land use.

“We offer input from counties that have a wide variety of perspectives and help gather that for you so that you can use it in your decision making,” she said. “We also help provide analysis to ensure we avoid unfunded mandates and unintended consequences. We receive requests from the [Legislative Service Office,] from legislative committees, from individual legislators and from state agencies. We also work together with federal agencies and our federal delegation.”

Asked how the organization is funded, Macker said it’s a combination of membership dues, private sector partners and several of its own revenue-generating streams.

As for membership dues, Macker said it depends on the county. Smaller counties pay less, larger counties pay more. Teton County’s annual dues, Macker said, will be around $36,000 in the upcoming fiscal year.

Without the association, Sen. Cale Case, R-Lander, asked how smaller counties would fare.

“Financially, it would put a terrible burden on us if we weren’t part of the association,” Weston County Commissioner Ed Wagner said, echoing several other officials from smaller communities who told lawmakers they either did not have the staff or funding to substitute the services associations provide to them.

Like the county association, the Wyoming Association of Municipalities uses a sliding scale when determining membership dues.

“The City of Casper, which is probably one of the larger due payers, as you might imagine, pays roughly $55,000 a year,” Casper City Manager and WAM President Carter Napier told the committee.

That cost amounts to roughly 0.028% of Casper’s 2025 budget of $193 million. The town of Shoshoni, meanwhile, pays a “few hundred a year,” Napier said.

“I don’t know how you get a more efficient expenditure of a taxpayer dollar to receive the services, that are premium services, for the same kind of same kind of money,” Napier said.

Even as one of Wyoming’s largest cities, Casper Mayor Ray Pacheco told lawmakers his community also relies on WAM to track legislation, provide legal clarity and help interpret and implement new policy.

“Let me be clear, this is not just about small towns. This is about local control. I’m going to say that again, this is about local control,” Pacheco said.

“This is about our ability to govern ourselves as guaranteed by the Wyoming Constitution. When we prohibit cities and towns from voluntarily joining associations like WAM, we weaken that self-governance. We isolate communities and we make it harder, not easier, for local governments to do their jobs.”

Opposition

The two hours’ worth of testimony from local officials did little to sway  Brady, the lawmaker leading the charge on the proposal. Instead, she accused them of having dishonest motivations.

“I would venture to guess that everyone [who] testified this morning in support of the associations is being paid,” Brady said.

Brady also clarified that she was not necessarily against the existence of associations, but opposed tax dollars funding them. Instead, local officials should pay for such services out of pocket.

“The local elected officials, I feel, are given enough salary that I would hope they’d be able to get together and come to some kind of, just work together [for] what’s best for their communities,” Brady said.

When Brady said 18 states have banned taxpayer dollars from funding associations, Sen. Bill Landen, R-Casper, followed up.

“My question to you is, where are you getting that information? Who’s providing it to you? Because it’s wrong,” Landen said, pointing to the National Conference of State Legislatures website that indicated otherwise.

“States just don’t do this,” he said.

Brady did not say where her information was from but told the committee she would provide a hard copy of her source.

Rep. Mike Yin, D-Jackson, asked Brady in two different iterations whether the state ought to determine the budgets of local governments. She did not provide a direct answer. However, Rep. Gary Brown, R-Cheyenne, eventually weighed in, pointing to Article 4, Section 14 of the Wyoming Constitution.

“The Legislature shall provide by law for examination of the accounts of state treasurer, supreme court clerks, district court clerks, and all county treasurers, and treasurers of such other public institutions as the legislature may prescribe,” it reads.

“The Constitution of Wyoming does give the Legislature the oversight of all accounts in the state,” Brown said. “So yes, we need to be looking at those.”

Yin pushed back on the suggestion with a quip.

“I’m excited to do more micromanagement,” Yin said.

The committee’s next meeting is Aug. 14 in Casper.

WyoFile is an independent nonprofit news organization focused on Wyoming people, places and policy.

This story was posted on May 19, 2025.