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Bill Description
AN ACT relating to the legislature; requiring the legislative service office to publish a list of quarantined domain names and internet protocol addresses; providing for the release from quarantine of domain names and internet protocol addresses as specified; and providing for an effective date.
Notes
“Protecting Free Speech Between Citizens and their Lawmakers”
Wyoming citizens and legislators have recently learned that thousands of emails from constituents to legislators have been blocked through the State’s email quarantine system. Whether wittingly or unwittingly, the Legislative Services Office has been censoring communications with legislators. This is a violation of both the First Amendment of the United States Constitution and Section 20 of the Declaration or Rights in the Wyoming Constitution. The highest order of protected speech is political speech between citizens and their lawmakers. HB338 puts legislation in place to ensure that this practice does not continue and that all constituent emails are getting through to legislators. If HB338 does not pass, these occurrences will have to be addressed in federal court under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 to obtain an order requiring the LSO to take corrective action and any other remedial measures necessary.
Public trust in government agencies and politicians is at an all-time low. Conservative grassroots America has been censored, shadow banned and silenced to the point that there is zero patience or appetite for any more missteps when it comes to their first amendment rights. Especially here in Wyoming.
The proposed legislation is a simple cure to this problem. It requires that not less than one (1) time per day on each legislative day during a legislative session, the legislative service office shall publish or update a list of all internet domain names and internet protocol addresses that are being quarantined or prevented from delivering email to legislators in any way. Any person whose email communications to legislators have been quarantined by the legislative service office may contact the legislative service office to request that their current and future emails be removed from quarantine and delivered to legislators. The legislative service office shall remove requested domain names or internet protocol addresses from quarantine and allow delivery from the name or address within two (2) days of receipt of the request unless the release from quarantine or allowed delivery poses an actual, articulable security threat to the information technology systems of the state of Wyoming.
It is paramount our lawmakers work together to pass this legislation to assure Wyoming voters that the days of government agencies engaging in the censorship business are behind us. We need political leadership that proactively takes a stand for Protecting Free Speech between Citizens and their Lawmakers.