WyoRINO.com

RINO of the Month April 2022

Rep. Aaron Clausen

Flying under the radar is one of the tactics used by many of Wyoming’s RINO legislators.  State Representative Aaron Clausen (Converse County – HD 6) is one of those legislators.

His WyoRINO score in 2021 was 60% and with the soon-to-be released 2022 WyoRINO Index, Clausen’s adherence to Wyoming Republican Party values has sadly not improved. With a repeated 60% score, Clausen’s disappointing performance is reflected in the recently adjourned Budget Session.

With a background in agriculture, Rep. Clausen should have no excuse for his vote on SF 09 Revenue Bonds for Agricultural Endeavors.  This bill allows the state to issue bonds to finance, construct, develop, maintain or operate agriculture processing projects – a role that should be left to the private sector.  It violates Wyoming Republican Party Platform/Plank #9, which stands against increasing the government’s role in the free market economy.

Also, his vote on HB 23 Agricultural Land Qualifications – Annual Gross Revenue was distinctly harmful to smaller agriculture land owners. The bill would have drastically increased the current annual gross revenue amount of $500 to $5,000 needed to achieve agricultural land status taxation.  Thankfully this bill failed.

Some of his additional egregious votes include HB 49 Election Reporting (which unnecessarily burdens political speech in Wyoming) and HB 52 Timeline Absentee Ballots (which allows absentee ballots to be prepared for counting before election day, without limitation, casting further doubt on Wyoming’s election system) – bills that addressed the high priority topic of dealing with election integrity.

With election season drawing near, now would be a great time to let Rep. Aaron Clausen know that many are aware of his dismal voting record!  He can be reached at aaron.clausen@wyoleg.gov or (307) 351-3664.