ESPC offers analyses of Citizens United v. FEC
Senate ponders resolution to require constitutional instruction
With the legislature nearly certain to pass legislation to bring state statutes into compliance with the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision allowing corporations to finance independent expenditure campaigns, future Wyoming election campaigns could look and sound much different.
In the case Citizens United v. FEC, the court cleared the way for corporations to engage in independent spending to support or oppose candidates in elections at all levels – from the town council to the U.S. Presidency.
The ESPC laid out its criticism of the court’s decision earlier this month in a debate with the Wyoming Liberty Group at the University of Wyoming College of Law. Preparation for that debate prompted a decision to put together a page on the ESPC web site to present the majority and dissenting opinions of the High Court and offer other analyses from independent sources. It includes a link to a humorous but on-point assessment from comedian Stephen Colbert.
You can access the page under the Projects tab and clicking on Campaign Finance. Or you can click here to go directly to the page.
We hope this page will inform Wyoming citizens about the potential impact on elections of the Supreme Court decision and the need to press for broader disclosure of the corporations or other interests behind any independent expenditure campaign. We’re also taking suggestions for links to other helpful resources.
Be It Resolved
Thursday will be a lively day for considering resolutions if the committees get to all their scheduled bills.
The Senate Corporations, Elections and Political Subdivisions Committee will consider a resolution and a bill calling for a constitutional amendment requiring that any elected official or other person required by law to take an oath to uphold the U.S. or state constitutions receive no less than three hours of constitutional instruction. Both are sponsored by Sen. Kit Jennings (R-SD28, Casper) and Rep. Bob Brechtel (R-HD38, Casper).
The instruction “shall teach the fundamental principals (sic) of the United States and Wyoming constitutions without interpretation and consistent with the plain meaning of the constitutional language drafted by the founding fathers.”
The idea begs a few questions, not the least of which is how the instruction should handle the amendments passed since the founders left this mortal plane and whether the instructions should include full explication of the U.S. Constitution’s handling of slavery and slaves.
Meanwhile, in the House Judiciary Committee, HJ 3 - Resolution to Congress and the U.S. Supreme Court tackles the mandates flowing from Washington that the sponsors believe violate the 10th Amendment. The resolution calls for an amendment to the 10th Amendment and an amendment specifically limiting the use of the Commerce Clause (Article 1 Section 8 of the U.S. Constitution) to extend federal authority into the states.
Prohibiting gay marriage
Unfortunately, what may be the most serious of these constitutional amendment proposals is SF 5 – Defense of marriage – constitutional amendment. It will be considered on third reading in the Senate Thursday (Jan. 27). This bill would enshrine in the state constitution the idea that gays, lesbians, and transgendered people are second-class citizens who don’t deserve even the option of a civil union. The ESPC believes the idea is unconstitutional because it violates the U.S. Constitution’s Equal Protection clause … but what do we know?
We expect a close vote. It is possible the Senate could muster 11 “nay” votes, thus blocking the two-thirds majority required to place a constitutional amendment on the Wyoming election ballot in 2012. Social justice advocates have been working hard to find those 11 senators.
Showing posts with label Sen. Kit Jennings. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Sen. Kit Jennings. Show all posts
Wednesday, January 26, 2011
Tuesday, January 25, 2011
Sexual orientation and anti-discrimination law
Sexual orientation deserves legal protection
During its first two weeks of the session, much of the legislature’s attention focused on marriage and whether the state should recognize gay and lesbian marriages legally made outside Wyoming. Tuesday morning, Rep. Cathy Connolly shepherded a bill through the House Judiciary Committee that will make it illegal in Wyoming to discriminate against because of their sexual orientation or gender identity.
“I consider this bill simple yet profound,” Connolly (D-HD13, Laramie) told the committee. House Bill 142 - Discrimination adds the words “sexual orientation or gender identity in all state laws that have anti-discrimination clauses.
For example, Wyoming statute 19-14-107 creases the veterans’ commission and outlines its composition and terms of commissioners.
“Appointments shall be made without regard to political affiliation, sex, religion or ethnic background,” the statute now reads. Connolly’s bill will insert the words “sexual orientation or gender identify” between the words sex and religion in that statute.
Connolly noted she did not propose adding the anti-discrimination clause anywhere one does not already exist, a decision that gives the measure a Goldilocks sheen. “It’s not too much and it’s not too little. It’s just right.”
She also noted the bill is necessary because gays, lesbians and transgendered people “have been and are the victims of discrimination” and these days often are the primary targets of “vicious bigotry.”
University of Wyoming Provost Myron Allen spoke in favor of the bill. He said the university long ago adopted an anti-discrimination policy that encompasses sexual orientation and political beliefs. The policy is critical to recruitment efforts at UW, he reported. He pointed out of the top 25 institutions of higher learning in the U.S., only one – Notre Dame – does not have a policy protecting sexual orientation. Similarly, of the top 25 Fortune 500 companies, only one does not bar discrimination based on sexual orientation.
Linda Burt of the Wyoming Chapter of the ACLU said her offices takes many complaints each year from people who believe they lost a job or were denied a promotion because of sexual orientation. Without specific state protection, she said, “Generally, what we can do is nothing.”
The committee approved the bill on a 6-3 vote:
Ayes: Representative(s) Barbuto, Brown, Cannady, Greene, Krone and Throne
Nayes: Representative(s) Brechtel, Nicholas B and Peasley
Political party registration
The Senate Corporations Committee killed a measure aimed at blocking voters from switching parties to vote in primaries. Sen. Kit Jennings (R-SD28, Casper) sponsored SF13 – Change of political party affiliation to stop what he termed meddling in one party’s primary by voters temporarily switching registration. He said some 10,000 people changed registration to vote in the Republican primary last August, when Matt Mead won the GOP nomination by fewer than 800 votes.
“That’s meddling,” he said. “The primary is about parties.”
The committee did not agree with his argument and voted 0-5 to kill the bill.
Open primary - The committee took up freshman Sen. Chris Rothfuss’ proposal to establish an open primary under which a voter in a state primary could request a ballot for any party. He said SF96 – Open primaries particularly would show respect for Independent voters who sometimes feel compelled to register as a Republican or Democrat in order to have choices in the primary.
“It increases the freedom of the voters to choose people we want,” Rothfuss (D-SD9, Laramie) said. He noted that even prominent members of a party, such as the members of the committee would be allowed to take the other party’s ballot in a primary and know that their choice would not become public.
The committee likewise killed Rothfuss’ bill, though on a narrow 3-2 vote. Sens. John Hines (R-SD23, Gillette,) Wayne Johnson (R-SD6, Cheyenne) and Marty Martin (D-SD12, Superior) voted against the bill. Sen. Charles Scott (R-SD30, Casper) and committee Chairman Cale Case (R-SD25, Lander) voted for the bill.
During its first two weeks of the session, much of the legislature’s attention focused on marriage and whether the state should recognize gay and lesbian marriages legally made outside Wyoming. Tuesday morning, Rep. Cathy Connolly shepherded a bill through the House Judiciary Committee that will make it illegal in Wyoming to discriminate against because of their sexual orientation or gender identity.
“I consider this bill simple yet profound,” Connolly (D-HD13, Laramie) told the committee. House Bill 142 - Discrimination adds the words “sexual orientation or gender identity in all state laws that have anti-discrimination clauses.
For example, Wyoming statute 19-14-107 creases the veterans’ commission and outlines its composition and terms of commissioners.
“Appointments shall be made without regard to political affiliation, sex, religion or ethnic background,” the statute now reads. Connolly’s bill will insert the words “sexual orientation or gender identify” between the words sex and religion in that statute.
Connolly noted she did not propose adding the anti-discrimination clause anywhere one does not already exist, a decision that gives the measure a Goldilocks sheen. “It’s not too much and it’s not too little. It’s just right.”
She also noted the bill is necessary because gays, lesbians and transgendered people “have been and are the victims of discrimination” and these days often are the primary targets of “vicious bigotry.”
University of Wyoming Provost Myron Allen spoke in favor of the bill. He said the university long ago adopted an anti-discrimination policy that encompasses sexual orientation and political beliefs. The policy is critical to recruitment efforts at UW, he reported. He pointed out of the top 25 institutions of higher learning in the U.S., only one – Notre Dame – does not have a policy protecting sexual orientation. Similarly, of the top 25 Fortune 500 companies, only one does not bar discrimination based on sexual orientation.
Linda Burt of the Wyoming Chapter of the ACLU said her offices takes many complaints each year from people who believe they lost a job or were denied a promotion because of sexual orientation. Without specific state protection, she said, “Generally, what we can do is nothing.”
The committee approved the bill on a 6-3 vote:
Ayes: Representative(s) Barbuto, Brown, Cannady, Greene, Krone and Throne
Nayes: Representative(s) Brechtel, Nicholas B and Peasley
Political party registration
The Senate Corporations Committee killed a measure aimed at blocking voters from switching parties to vote in primaries. Sen. Kit Jennings (R-SD28, Casper) sponsored SF13 – Change of political party affiliation to stop what he termed meddling in one party’s primary by voters temporarily switching registration. He said some 10,000 people changed registration to vote in the Republican primary last August, when Matt Mead won the GOP nomination by fewer than 800 votes.
“That’s meddling,” he said. “The primary is about parties.”
The committee did not agree with his argument and voted 0-5 to kill the bill.
Open primary - The committee took up freshman Sen. Chris Rothfuss’ proposal to establish an open primary under which a voter in a state primary could request a ballot for any party. He said SF96 – Open primaries particularly would show respect for Independent voters who sometimes feel compelled to register as a Republican or Democrat in order to have choices in the primary.
“It increases the freedom of the voters to choose people we want,” Rothfuss (D-SD9, Laramie) said. He noted that even prominent members of a party, such as the members of the committee would be allowed to take the other party’s ballot in a primary and know that their choice would not become public.
The committee likewise killed Rothfuss’ bill, though on a narrow 3-2 vote. Sens. John Hines (R-SD23, Gillette,) Wayne Johnson (R-SD6, Cheyenne) and Marty Martin (D-SD12, Superior) voted against the bill. Sen. Charles Scott (R-SD30, Casper) and committee Chairman Cale Case (R-SD25, Lander) voted for the bill.
Monday, January 19, 2009
Loud and proud in the halls of power
MLK Day brings ebullient crowd into Capitol
Martin Luther King Day demonstrators celebrated King’s annual holiday with a march from the old Union Pacific Depot to the Capitol, loudly, brashly reminding everyone of that American revolutionary’s commitment to equality and his drive to free all of us from the oppression of racism.
It was obvious the crowd also was energized by the impending inauguration of Barack Obama as the country’s 44th president and the first black man to hold that office. Whoops and shouts accompanied every mention of Obama’s name until one speaker silenced them with a lame joke that Obama should not have been elected.
He recovered but the humor did not go over very well.
Still, with all this going on, one wonders why the legislature continues to work tomorrow at 10 a.m., the approximate moment that Obama will have his hand on a Bible swearing the oath of office. Any presidential inauguration is a great civic moment. We all should stop and take notice. Even our hard-working legislators deserve a pause.
Campaign finance in Senate
Meeting in Committee of the Whole Monday, the Senate gave its initial approval to SF-12, a measure that will raise campaign contribution limits in Wyoming races to $2,300 per individual per election. Lead sponsor Sen. Bruce Burns of Sheridan told his colleagues that the limits have not been raised since first imposed in the 1970s.
He also said he finds problematic that fact that federal law allows him to contribute $2,300 per election to a candidate for Congress but state law limits him to a contribution of just $1,000 to a candidate for statewide office such as governor or state auditor.
But the good senator's first argument assumes that the legislature picked exactly the right limit 30 years ago. We believe $1,000 was too high then and just about right now, particularly for a legislative race. It just does not cost that much to run in Wyoming.
And for argument 2, why not impose tiers that establish higher limits for statewide races and maintain the current limits for legislative races? Higher limits will crowd voters out of campaigns in favor of people with money to pass around.
The House takes up campaign finance Tuesday when its Corporations Committee considers HB-117, a measure proposed by Rep. Mary Throne of Cheyenne. It will limit contributions from Political Action Committees to $1,000 per candidate per election. The committee meets when the House recesses for lunch.
Medicaid shortfall seen
Department of Health officials told the Joint Appropriations Committee Monday that demand for Medicaid services is climbing in the recession as low-income workers lose their jobs. With the loss of income, they meet the state's very tight Medicaid qualification rules. The department now expects a $33.2 million shortfall. They agreed with Senate Chairman Phil Nicholas of Laramie that other services the department is required by law to deliver and funds needed for Development Disabilities waivers mean the department may be short $49 million.
Legislators will have to scramble to find funds for those programs and others pushed in new legislation, including proposed increases in mental health services.
Jennings explains missed hearing
Sen. Kit Jennings of Casper spotted me in the Senate lobby Monday and chastised me for claims in Monday’s posting that he missed a hearing of one of his own bills last week. Jennings said he had made arrangements to be called from a separate meeting when his bill, SF53 – Property tax deferral, came up in the Senate Revenue Committee. The bill came up but no one notified him, he said.
Jennings said I could have learned that simply by talking to him. He’s right. I apologize for the comment and the failure to follow through. The committee, meanwhile, has re-scheduled the hearing of the bill Tuesday when it meets over the noon recess.
Martin Luther King Day demonstrators celebrated King’s annual holiday with a march from the old Union Pacific Depot to the Capitol, loudly, brashly reminding everyone of that American revolutionary’s commitment to equality and his drive to free all of us from the oppression of racism.
It was obvious the crowd also was energized by the impending inauguration of Barack Obama as the country’s 44th president and the first black man to hold that office. Whoops and shouts accompanied every mention of Obama’s name until one speaker silenced them with a lame joke that Obama should not have been elected.
He recovered but the humor did not go over very well.
Still, with all this going on, one wonders why the legislature continues to work tomorrow at 10 a.m., the approximate moment that Obama will have his hand on a Bible swearing the oath of office. Any presidential inauguration is a great civic moment. We all should stop and take notice. Even our hard-working legislators deserve a pause.
Campaign finance in Senate
Meeting in Committee of the Whole Monday, the Senate gave its initial approval to SF-12, a measure that will raise campaign contribution limits in Wyoming races to $2,300 per individual per election. Lead sponsor Sen. Bruce Burns of Sheridan told his colleagues that the limits have not been raised since first imposed in the 1970s.
He also said he finds problematic that fact that federal law allows him to contribute $2,300 per election to a candidate for Congress but state law limits him to a contribution of just $1,000 to a candidate for statewide office such as governor or state auditor.
But the good senator's first argument assumes that the legislature picked exactly the right limit 30 years ago. We believe $1,000 was too high then and just about right now, particularly for a legislative race. It just does not cost that much to run in Wyoming.
And for argument 2, why not impose tiers that establish higher limits for statewide races and maintain the current limits for legislative races? Higher limits will crowd voters out of campaigns in favor of people with money to pass around.
The House takes up campaign finance Tuesday when its Corporations Committee considers HB-117, a measure proposed by Rep. Mary Throne of Cheyenne. It will limit contributions from Political Action Committees to $1,000 per candidate per election. The committee meets when the House recesses for lunch.
Medicaid shortfall seen
Department of Health officials told the Joint Appropriations Committee Monday that demand for Medicaid services is climbing in the recession as low-income workers lose their jobs. With the loss of income, they meet the state's very tight Medicaid qualification rules. The department now expects a $33.2 million shortfall. They agreed with Senate Chairman Phil Nicholas of Laramie that other services the department is required by law to deliver and funds needed for Development Disabilities waivers mean the department may be short $49 million.
Legislators will have to scramble to find funds for those programs and others pushed in new legislation, including proposed increases in mental health services.
Jennings explains missed hearing
Sen. Kit Jennings of Casper spotted me in the Senate lobby Monday and chastised me for claims in Monday’s posting that he missed a hearing of one of his own bills last week. Jennings said he had made arrangements to be called from a separate meeting when his bill, SF53 – Property tax deferral, came up in the Senate Revenue Committee. The bill came up but no one notified him, he said.
Jennings said I could have learned that simply by talking to him. He’s right. I apologize for the comment and the failure to follow through. The committee, meanwhile, has re-scheduled the hearing of the bill Tuesday when it meets over the noon recess.
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