Wyoming

Freshman Senator Jeff Wasserburger has agreed to sponsor if we can’t get Sens. Bebout or Scott.  Jeff served several terms in the House a while back, so he knows the ropes.  We want to start in the Senate.  Freshmen Reps. Dan Laursen and Tyler Lindholm are on board.  Rep. Dave Miller will give us a vote, but doesn’t want to take the lead.  We’re having an NFIB cc on Tuesday evening.

It’s a start.  The bill will be introduced.  Jeff is on Appropriations, so that will take the bulk of his time.  I have doubts we win in 2015 without the active support of senior Senate leadership.  We’ll bring in Natelson.  Hell, for him it’s a two hour drive north on Interstate 25 to Cheyenne.  He told me he’d look forward to talking to Wyoming legislators  — a lot like his native Montana.  I would go as well.  We’ll try to gin up some grass roots support.

It’s a damn short session.  I think, on a bill like ours, we need to have our ducks in a row right from the get go.  Tough to do, but we’ll try.

In 2016, on non-budget items, you need 2/3.  If we get a majority, but not 2/3, we could ask Gov. Matt Mead to call a quickie special session.  It would take place immediately upon adjournment of the regular session .  Mead seems like a reasonable guy.  I bet Kasich could talk him into it.

The last time I was in Cheyenne I was romancing my bride to be.  She flew in to Rapid City to meet me.  I was working on the Pettyjohn family ranch south of Kadoka.  We drove to Cheyenne for the Frontier Days rodeo, and couldn’t find a place to stay.  So I drove a few miles out of town and we slept in a cow pasture.  A bunch of cows were looking at us when we woke up.

She can’t say she didn’t know what she was getting into.