Know Your Wyoming Legislators

Advocacy season is upon us and a crucial step in becoming an excellent credit union advocate is getting to know who your elected officials are. It is important to know their background, careers, interests, and what positions they hold in the legislature. The more informed we are, the more effective we can be.

Wyoming’s Legislative Service Office (LSO) has done an excellent job creating a user-friendly, easy-to-navigate website to help Wyoming citizens find their legislators, know which committees they serve on, and which leadership positions they hold. Visit the LSO website and navigate to the right-hand corner “Legislator” tab to learn more and locate your members. Click on the “Find your Legislator” link and you can enter your address, find which senate, and house district you are in and who your senate and house member are. Click on your members name and it will take you right to their page with a photo and additional information on their committee assignments and what bills they have sponsored.

It is also important to know if your House or Senate member is in a leadership position such as President of the Senate, Senate Majority Floor Leader, Speaker of the House, or House Majority Floor Leader; whether they hold key positions that determine when and if a bill will be introduced, which committee a bill will be assigned to, and where a bill will land on the daily schedule. Chairs of the standing committees determine the schedule of the Committee.

Wyoming’s legislature adopts a session schedule which includes deadlines for each step in the process. If a bill does not meet these deadlines, then it dies. Relationships with legislators in the positions that determine the order of business and schedules are extremely important.

Posted in Advocacy on the Move, Wyoming Advocacy.