CHEYENNE – Senate File 17, a bill before the Wyoming Senate to remove governmental publications or public notices from local newspapers, failed on its third reading during the Senate’s Friday morning, March 5, floor session. 

The Senate in its 14th day of the 2021 session, opened Senate File 17, or SF17, for discussion and a vote on its third reading. SF17 was originally sponsored by the Senate Corporations committee.

“We had some great debate on this, and a couple of amendments didn’t make it,” Sen. R.J. Kost, R–Powell, said. “I just wanted to remind everybody that; however, I do agree that we need to work towards a transition, but I think now is not the time. I think that we need to honor our newspaper prints for those people that really look forward to that. We’ve got a number of people that testified to the fact that they’ve had people respond on it. I think it’s a valuable place out there.”

Kost pointed out people who do not wish to pay for a newspaper subscription can still find the public notices online and it’s free for them to view the public notices. Kost expressed his belief that looking at this going forward was important, but now it is important to respect the wishes of some of the older folks and honor them and their wishes to read the information in their local newspapers.

Sen. Stephen Pappas, R–Cheyenne, also spoke on the bill. 

“I just wanted to pass on some information that some newspaper friends of mine have shared with me, when it regards to the electronic versions of this,” Pappas said. “Apparently, the Wyoming Press Association maintains a free website that includes all public notices that are published in the state newspapers; it is searchable and is free. That is a service provided by the Wyoming Press Association. Another fact is that most of the newspapers, I can’t say all of them, do post their public notices outside of their paywall so they can be reviewed free on their websites.”

Sen. Drew Perkins, R–Casper, recalled his time as a county commissioner and emphasized to the Senate body a vote for the bill should be about the notice to Wyoming citizens and not about supporting newspapers.

“I remember, I was a county commissioner over about 16 years ago, or a little bit more. I remember talking about this issue back then. We’d look at the notice requirement, the bills from the newspaper that we received for publishing our notices and remember thinking about that and having discussions with my fellow commissioners about how we could better utilize this money elsewhere, and what we could do with it,” Perkins said.

Perkins explained how the requirement to publish notices in newspapers was not a very large matter in view of the totality of a county’s budget, but “it didn’t take a lot to make a big difference in our budget.”

Perkins explained how their budget was usually stretched very tight and they would try to “accomplish all the necessary and required services, as well as those that were not necessarily required in our county.”

He pointed out it was distressing to him the argument about the bill had become about supporting newspapers and local communities, rather than focusing on the importance of getting notice to Wyoming citizens. Perkins said it was not the right argument and not the right consideration.

“I hope that as we consider this, that your vote is not about whether or not this money goes to support newspapers. There are no questions about how important newspapers are to our local communities,” Perkins said. “I really hope that you focus your vote on this, whether you vote aye or no, I hope it’s because it’s about the notice to the citizens of the state about what’s happening in government and not about the financial viability of papers. I understand that’s an important issue. We all know what’s happened in the last decade and a half with newsprint and that, but this is really an issue about notice, and I hope that we focus on that and not about the financial health or ill health of our respective community newspapers.”

Sen. Bill Landen, R–Casper, expressed his pleasure with the work the legislature had done to improve the freedom of information for Wyoming citizens. Landen conveyed the importance of getting the notices and information out to every one of their constituents, not just the young people who read their paper off of cellular devices. 

“I’m not quite there with the notion that we pull the funding that makes sure that we get information out to our public, Mr. President,” Landen said. “That’s where I am today and that’s the way that I will vote. “

Sen. Bo Biteman, R–Ranchester, expressed his dissent to the bill and cited the inability of towns and counties to have their websites up to date with the minutes from recent and past meetings. 

“If you go and look across the state right now at these counties and city websites and open government websites, the information is sparse at best, outdated, oftentimes nonexistent,” Biteman said. “I think they could have really showed us what they could do, and I don’t quite think they are ready for that; and for that reason, and a few others that have already been elaborated on, I’ll vote no on this.” 

No further discussion was held on the matter and a vote was called. The vote resulted in nine ayes, 20 nays and one conflict. Local Rep. Cheri Steinmetz, R–Lingle, voted nay, in opposition to SF17.

To view the recording of Day 14’s Senate Floor Session on March 5, visit youtube.com/watch?v=6T34PuhNkww&t=4121s. Discussion of SF17 begins near the one hour mark.