In this episode of Eye on the Issues, we take a deep dive into campaign finance in Wyoming with Steve Klein, author of the new report No One's Buying Wyoming Elections: A Candid Look at a Decade of Campaign Finance Disclosure.  After reviewing ten years of campaign finance reports covering more than 400 Wyoming legislative and statewide races,...

Wyoming Liberty Group, in collaboration with attorney and researcher Stephen R. Klein of Barr & Klein PLLC, has released a new policy study titled "No One's 'Buying' Wyoming Elections: A Candid Look at a Decade of Campaign Finance Disclosure." The study examines every Wyoming statewide and legislative race from 2016 through 2024 to answer a que...

by Steve Klein I do not know whether Tom Lubnau, former speaker of the Wyoming House, intended to undermine all the reasons so-called reformers offer up in support of applying campaign finance disclosure to citizen advocacy in his recent piece for the Cowboy State Daily, but he deserves some credit either way. Speech can be judged on its merits and...

Welcome to another episode of "Eye on the Issues" In this interview, we sit down with Steve Klein to delve into the intricate and often bewildering world of campaign finance in the great state of Wyoming. Discover the hidden intricacies of the system, from the onerous filing deadlines to the tedious reports that candidates must navigate. Learn abou...

Too many pundits and politicians insist that more campaign finance laws and penalties will clean up politics and inspire broader participation. But the efforts by established interests to punish the Coal Country Conservatives PAC for their successful grassroots effort in Campbell County shows that campaign finance law can be the dirtiest political ...

by Wyoming Liberty Group Staff Wyoming campaign finance law, or "campaign finance reform" if you prefer, is pointless and counterproductive. It has served as nothing more than a bundle of platitudes and a dirty political tool for more than a century, since the Republican Party unreasonably accused Democrat John Kendrick of violating the state's ori...

In the 2018 Budget Session, the Wyoming Legislature passed a bill that clarified the enforcement process of state campaign finance laws. In local elections, citizens may now file complaints with their county clerk, who may refer the complaint to the district attorney for investigation and prosecution. A recent episode in Rock Springs shows the dark...

By: Steve Klein Campaign finance law is based theoretically on the prevention of lighter forms of political corruption. Corruption is exemplified in bribery, which has long been outlawed and is rightly punished as a felony in Wyoming. Bribery law punishes the exchange of money for official acts; campaign finance law aims to curb a more nebulous inf...

by Steve Klein In the 2018-19 legislative interim, the Joint Corporations, Elections and Political Subdivisions committee is addressing campaign finance law. This is the first time the committee has taken up the topic since, well, last year, after a comprehensive bill on the topic—House Bill 67—died without a vote in the House during the 2018 Budge...

by Stephen Klein There were a number of developments at this week's interim meeting of the Corporations, Elections and Political Subdivisions committee of the Wyoming Legislature. Several draft bills suggest potential amendments to Wyoming's campaign finance laws; some of proposals are good, and some of them are not. I am encouraged that members of...