Welcome to the 2011 Wyoming Liberty Index.
The 2011 Wyoming Liberty Index rates all final bills in the House and Senate from the 2011 General Session, 61st Legislature, on whether they support or inhibit liberty.
Legislators voted on 275 bills in the House and 162 bills in the Senate. Out of this total, the Liberty Index showed that 49 liberty-supporting bills passed and 67 failed. Additionally, 57 liberty-inhibiting bills passed while 88 failed.
The most liberty supporting bills that passed include: SJ 2, the Health Care Freedom Amendment; and SF 47, Concealed weapons.
The most liberty supporting bills that failed include: HB 35, Health care choice and protection act; HB 39, Health litigation fund; and SF 53, Child preference in custody determinations.
The most liberty inhibiting bills that passed include: HB 29, DUI-elimination of right to refuse test; HB 49, Primary care support program; HB 151, Hydro-power development; SF 29, Developmental disability services; SF 59, Spice drugs; and SF 93, Dietetics licensure.
The most liberty inhibiting bills that failed include: HB 108, Collection agencies and SF 12, County authority-smoking bans.
There is detailed information on each bill. The information includes comments from the raters on why they rated the bills as they did.
In addition, the voting pattern of each legislator was automatically calculated and given a liberty score. The higher the score, the better the legislator's agreement with the raters. A high score simply reflects a high level of aye votes on liberty-supporting bills and nay votes on liberty-inhibiting bills. Scores are only indicators of ordering, and arithmetic manipulations are meaningless. The percentage is simply out of the range from highest score (100%) to lowest (0%). Because the two houses vote on different bills, scores in the two houses are not comparable.
The Top Dozen liberty-supporting members in the House were (in order) Representatives Lorraine Quarberg, Kendell Kroeker, Bob Brechtel, Gerald Gay, Frank Peasley, Matt Teeters, Amy Edmonds, Mark Semlek, Allen Jaggi, and Lisa Shepperson.
Rep. Quarberg wins the title of "Most Liberty-Friendly Member of the House for 2011."
The House Needs Improvement Club. Those members who most consistently voted to limit freedom - were (in order) Representatives Jim Roscoe, John Freeman, Ruth Petroff, Stan Blake, Mary Throne, W. Patrick Goggles, Cathy Connolly, Joseph Barbuto, Bernadine Craft, and James Byrd.
Rep. Byrd has earned the title of "Most Liberty-Hostile Member of the House for 2011".
The Top Half-Dozen liberty-supporting members in the Senate were (in order) Senators Cale Case, Bruce Burns, Phil Nicholas, Drew Perkins, and Kit Jennings.
Once again, and for as long as we have been rating the Senate, Senator Cale Case has come out on top; he earns the title of the "Most Liberty-Friendly Member of the Senate for 2011" by a substantial margin. Kudos yet again to Senator Case!
The Senate Needs Improvement Club. Those members who most consistently voted to limit freedom - were (in order) Senators Bill Landen, Chris Rothfuss, Leland Christensen, Floyd Esquibel, and John Hastert.
Senator Hastert has earned the title of "Most Liberty-Hostile Member of the Senate for 2011".
There is detailed information on each legislator.
This table shows the weighted liberty score and weighted liberty percentage for each representative. The highest score, earned by Rep. Lorraine Quarberg, shows a weighted score of 61.67.
| Name | Par | Dist | District Location | Weighted Score | Weighted Percent |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Joseph Barbuto | D | 48 | SW Fremont/Sweetwater | -33.5 | 16% |
| Rosie Berger | R | 51 | Sheridan | -13.17 | 34% |
| Stan Blake | D | 39 | Sweetwater | -19.67 | 28% |
| Gregg Blikre | R | 53 | Campbell | -10.17 | 37% |
| Dave Bonner | R | 25 | Park | 1 | 46% |
| Jonathan Botten | R | 30 | Sheridan | 10.83 | 55% |
| Bob Brechtel | R | 38 | Natrona | 53.5 | 93% |
| Kermit Brown | R | 14 | Albany | 8.83 | 53% |
| Edward Buchanan | R | 4 | Goshen | 21.83 | 65% |
| Donald Burkhart, Jr | R | 15 | Carbon | -0.17 | 45% |
| James Byrd | D | 44 | Laramie | -51.67 | 0% |
| Rita Campbell | R | 34 | Fremont | -1.67 | 44% |
| Richard Cannady | R | 6 | Converse | -0.5 | 45% |
| Pat Childers | R | 50 | Park | 6.33 | 51% |
| Cathy Connolly | D | 13 | Albany | -30.33 | 19% |
| Bernadine Craft | D | 17 | Sweetwater | -36 | 14% |
| Kathy Davison | R | 20 | Lincoln/Sublette/Sweetwater | 9.33 | 54% |
| Amy Edmonds | R | 12 | Laramie | 45.5 | 86% |
| John Eklund | R | 10 | Laramie | 8.33 | 53% |
| Ken Esquibel | D | 41 | Laramie | -12.67 | 34% |
| John Freeman | D | 60 | Sweetwater | -18.17 | 30% |
| Gerald Gay | R | 36 | Natrona | 49.17 | 89% |
| Keith Gingery | R | 23 | Fremont/Teton | 3.5 | 49% |
| W. Patrick Goggles | D | 33 | Fremont | -21.67 | 26% |
| Mike Greear | R | 27 | Washakie | 14.83 | 59% |
| Matthias Greene | R | 45 | Albany | -7.17 | 39% |
| Steve Harshman | R | 37 | Natrona | -1.67 | 44% |
| Elaine Harvey | R | 26 | Big Horn/Park | -1.83 | 44% |
| Hans Hunt | R | 2 | Niobrara/Weston/Converse/Goshen | 20.17 | 63% |
| Peter S. "Pete" Illoway | R | 42 | Laramie | 9.83 | 54% |
| Allen Jaggi | R | 18 | Uinta/Sweetwater | 41 | 82% |
| Norine Kasperik | R | 32 | Campbell | 1.83 | 47% |
| Kendell Kroeker | R | 35 | Natrona | 55.5 | 95% |
| Samuel Krone | R | 24 | Park | -11.83 | 35% |
| Thomas Lockhart | R | 57 | Natrona | 10.33 | 55% |
| Bunky Loucks | R | 59 | Natrona | 17.83 | 61% |
| Thomas Lubnau | R | 31 | Campbell | -3.17 | 43% |
| Michael Madden | R | 40 | Johnson/Sheridan | 33.33 | 75% |
| Robert McKim | R | 21 | Lincoln | 22.5 | 65% |
| Del McOmie | R | 54 | Fremont | 4 | 49% |
| David Miller | R | 55 | Fremont | 27.83 | 70% |
| Glenn Moniz | R | 46 | Albany | 4.83 | 50% |
| Bob Nicholas | R | 8 | Laramie | -1.83 | 44% |
| John Patton | R | 29 | Sheridan | 6.83 | 52% |
| Frank Peasley | R | 3 | Converse/Platte | 49 | 89% |
| Bryan Pedersen | R | 7 | Laramie | 5.67 | 51% |
| Owen Petersen | R | 19 | Uinta | -5.5 | 41% |
| Ruth Petroff | R | 16 | Teton | -18.67 | 29% |
| Lorraine Quarberg | R | 28 | S Big Horn/Hot Springs/SE Park | 61.67 | 100% |
| Jim Roscoe | D | 22 | Lincoln/Sublette/Teton | -14 | 33% |
| Mark Semlek | R | 1 | Crook/Weston | 41.33 | 82% |
| Lisa Shepperson | R | 58 | Natrona | 35.83 | 77% |
| William "Jeb" Steward | R | 47 | Carbon/Albany | 20.17 | 63% |
| Tim Stubson | R | 56 | Natrona | 7.33 | 52% |
| Matt Teeters | R | 5 | Goshen/Platte | 47.5 | 88% |
| Mary Throne | D | 11 | Laramie | -21.17 | 27% |
| Clarence Vranish | R | 49 | Uinta | 13.67 | 58% |
| Sue Wallis | R | 52 | Campbell | 34.67 | 76% |
| Dan Zwonitzer | R | 43 | Laramie | -2.17 | 44% |
| David Zwonitzer | R | 9 | Laramie | 8.5 | 53% |
This table shows the weighted liberty score and weighted liberty percentage for each senator. The highest score, earned by Sen. Cale Case, shows a weighted score of 67.
| Name | Par | Dist | District Location | Weighted Score | Weighted Percent |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jim Anderson | R | 2 | Converse/Platte | 3.33 | 43% |
| Paul Barnard | R | 15 | Uinta | -26.33 | 17% |
| Eli Bebout | R | 26 | Fremont | 11.33 | 50% |
| Bruce Burns | R | 21 | Sheridan | 29.67 | 67% |
| Cale Case | R | 25 | Fremont | 67 | 100% |
| Leland Christensen | R | 17 | Teton/Fremont | -30.17 | 13% |
| Henry H.R. "Hank" Coe | R | 18 | Park | 12.33 | 51% |
| Stan Cooper | R | 14 | Lincoln/Sublette/Sweetwater/Uinta | -22.17 | 20% |
| Dan Dockstader | R | 16 | Lincoln/Sublette/Teton | 10.33 | 49% |
| Ogden Driskill | R | 1 | Crook/Weston/E Converse/Niobrara/NE Goshen | 2.33 | 42% |
| Fred Emerich | R | 5 | Laramie | -11 | 30% |
| Floyd Esquibel | D | 8 | Laramie | -40.67 | 4% |
| Gerald Geis | R | 20 | S Big Horn/Hot Springs/SE Park/Washakie | 4.83 | 44% |
| John Hastert | D | 13 | Sweetwater | -44.83 | 0% |
| Larry Hicks | R | 11 | Albany/Carbon | -12.33 | 29% |
| John Hines | R | 23 | Campbell | 0 | 40% |
| Kit Jennings | R | 28 | Natrona | 13 | 52% |
| Wayne Johnson | R | 6 | Laramie | -21.83 | 21% |
| Bill Landen | R | 27 | Natrona | -26.33 | 17% |
| Marty Martin | D | 12 | Sweetwater/Fremont | -21 | 21% |
| Curt Meier | R | 3 | Goshen/Platte | -18.5 | 24% |
| Phil Nicholas | R | 10 | Albany | 14.83 | 53% |
| Leslie Nutting | R | 7 | Laramie | -16 | 26% |
| Drew Perkins | R | 29 | Natrona | 14.83 | 53% |
| R. Ray Peterson | R | 19 | Big Horn/E Park | -3.17 | 37% |
| Tony Ross | R | 4 | Laramie | -9.17 | 32% |
| Chris Rothfuss | D | 9 | Albany | -27.17 | 16% |
| John Schiffer | R | 22 | Sheridan/Johnson | 3.33 | 43% |
| Charles Scott | R | 30 | Natrona | -20.33 | 22% |
| Michael Von Flatern | R | 24 | Campbell | -19.33 | 23% |
Last Changed: 2011-10-20