Cooper discusses vote on election runoff bill

CHEYENNE — While over 200 bills have passed through to the next house, one bill that failed last week created a lot of opinions on both sides was Senate File 145 on Election Runoffs.

The bill essentially would require a runoff election if a candidate in a primary election did not received 50% of the votes cast.

The bill failed on third reading in the Senate 14-15 with Sen. Ed Cooper (R-Ten Sleep) opposed. “I took a beating but it was the right for the time. I ended up voting against it and I took a lot of knocks for my vote from some folks, but feedback from around our district was pretty evenly split,” Cooper said in his weekly report.

A motion for reconsideration failed 3-26.

Cooper said amendments to the original bill put implementation in the 2024 election, which alleviated some concerns from county clerks. He said the county clerks in Washakie, Big Horn and Fremont all reached out to him concerned about getting it implemented any sooner than 2024.

“Our elections are too important to shove through the first thing that comes by. If we feel we need election reform then we need to study it, come up with the right solution and implement it,” Cooper said.

In other legislative news:

•Senate File 81 – Second Amendment Preservation Act advanced out of the Senate and has been received for introduction in the House. It has not been assigned a committee yet. Wednesday is the deadline for bills to report out of committee in the second house.

The bill prohibits the “enforcement of unconstitutional federal actions that infringe upon the right to bear arms.”

•House Bill 102 – Amendments to the Wyoming Preference Act of 1971 passed second reading in the Senate on Monday.

Cooper said it is a “real positive bill” and “important to our construction workers, those who move around a lot.”

The act currently requires that persons responsible for a public work “shall employ only Wyoming laborers on the public work.”

The bill revises certification requirements for use of nonresident laborers and changes the residency requirement from one year to 90 days.

“This bill makes hiring a lot more efficient for contractors on public works projects,” Cooper said.

•House Bill 116 amending concealed carry residency requirements is awaiting Committee of the Whole vote in the Senate as of Monday. Deadline for bills to pass Committee of the Whole is today (Thursday).

The bill removed the “state residency requirement for a person carrying a concealed firearm without a permit who meets the other statutory criteria.”

• House Bill 163 is in the Senate Corporations Committee. The bill modifies the definition of residence regarding candidates for U.S. House and U.S. Senate.

Under the bill “Residence is the place of a person’s actual habitation. The construction of this term shall be governed by the following rules: (G)  Candidates seeking election to the office of United States senator or representative in congress shall not, at the time of knowingly seeking nomination or election as provided by paragraph (liii) of this subsection, receive, claim or currently be claiming any residence or the benefits of residency from any other state.”

The bill passed the House on March 17 58-2.

MANAGING THE FLOOR

Senator Cooper got the opportunity last week to manage the floor for Committee of the Whole. “I learned a lot and I enjoyed that quite a bit,” he said.

Managing the floor includes running the bills through the floor, announcing who is speaking; introducing the bill, calling for votes and stating if a bill passes or fails.

“I want to thank people of Senate District 20 for the opportunity to come down here and serve. It has been a great learning experience. I have had the opportunity to fight pretty hard for things that are important all the way across the district,” Cooper said.

He added that with every vote he listens hard to both sides and tries to do the right thing.

“It really helps me a lot to know what the people in this district are thinking,” Cooper said, encouraging people to text or email.

NO OFFICE CALLS

People can email Cooper at [email protected] or call or text at 307-851-5949.

Cooper also reported that some constituents told him that they had received calls from his office.

“I do not have an office. If the call is not from me personally, it is not associated with me,” Cooper said.