EVANSTON — The Uinta County Republican Party passed three resolutions at its meeting on Friday, July 28, calling for fiscal conservatism and opposing any gross receipts tax resolution and SOGI (sexual orientation and gender identity) legislation. 

The fiscal conservatism resolution is a call for the state legislature and governor to “practice fiscal restraint, rein in spending and cut unnecessary budget items rather than increasing revenue streams.” 

The focus of the resolution is to cut spending rather than increasing taxes on an already burdened population. It notes that Wyoming’s government has expanded hugely and now has the most government employees per capita in the nation. Furthermore, the state legislature recently increased fees and licenses and is looking at further tax increases even though Wyoming has seen a major recession. 

According to a July 23 story from the Associated Press, Wyoming lost 25,000 workers during the energy industry downturn in 2014-2016. The voting members at Friday’s meeting made note of the hard-hit working population that has not yet recovered combined with a large (and expensive) state government that is increasing taxes on beleaguered taxpaying families. 

The gross receipts tax resolution is like the fiscal conservatism one but calls special attention to a tax that the Interim Revenue Committee of the Wyoming Legislature recently approved 11-3. If it passed the Wyoming Legislature as a whole, businesses would have to pay a tax on their total gross revenues. In other words, while buyers pay sales tax on the whole item and businesses already pay taxes on their profit, businesses would be required to pay a tax on the entire sales price of an item. 

As one member said at Friday’s meeting, a business owner would have to pay taxes even if he lost money. 

Party chair Karl Allred said that a few states that have passed a gross receipts tax have seen businesses fold and people move away. 

The Republican Party holds that taxes weigh down economic recovery and job growth and are healthy neither for citizens nor for the government that imposes the tax. 

“... [A] gross receipts tax is akin to a business income tax inherently inequitable to businesses, is passed on to customers, is regressive and, like all taxes, will not be repealed regardless of needs,” the resolution states. 

The Uinta County party members, in passing the resolution, will notify the legislators of their opposition to this tax. 

The party also passed a resolution reaffirming the Republican Party’s opposition to sexual orientation and gender identity (SOGI) language in any level of law, with the stance that SOGI language is antithetical to First Amendment freedoms. 

The resolution, written by Evanston resident and Wyoming Pastors Network leader Jonathan Lange, makes two statements: first, that the Uinta County Republican Party opposes SOGI language in any level of law; and second, that the party advocates for just, defined and limited laws to “protect persons from injury and their property from loss while not punishing anyone for holding, expressing or acting upon their sincerely held beliefs.”

The resolution reaffirms the history of the Republican Party as being created to abolish slavery and recognize the dignity and equality of every human being under the law. With that premise, the resolution states that SOGI laws place certain groups of citizens under special protections, using indefinable terms to strip rights, property, privacy and safety, free speech, freedoms and individual judgment from individuals and businesses. 

“These and many other violations of personal integrity and property rights are not only theoretical but the actual ongoing results of SOGI laws which have closed businesses, confiscated savings, destroyed reputations and cost millions in legal defense,” the resolution states. 

This applies directly to Wyoming in many ways. For instance, Wyoming judge Ruth Neely was not retained as a magistrate this year after stating her belief that marriage is defined as between one man and one woman. 

Laramie also passed an ordinance in 2015 that bans discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity. Lange described it as one of the most radical in the United States, as it has no First Amendment protections, and said Cheyenne city council members are working to pass this ordinance in Cheyenne as well. Allen Jaggi said that ordinance is based on perceptions rather than concrete actions. 

Lange explained further that this kind of law is moving away from all historical laws, which have always focused on protecting body and property, not mind or beliefs. 

“Whenever you have law changing and trying to protect ideas, it cannot protect bodies,” Lange said. 

All three resolutions passed unanimously, and they will be passed on to Uinta County’s legislative representatives.