Many issues could be used this election year to show how uncompassionate Freedom Caucus members and their allies truly are. But if I had to choose one that should most resonate with Wyoming voters, it’s the far right’s coldhearted decision to cut spending and let kids go hungry.
Opinion
Who in their right mind thinks that’s a winning strategy when these incumbents will face more traditional members of their party in the Republican primary on Aug. 18?
These legislators will kick and scream and cry that they’re not guilty of such profound ignorance, but don’t let them off the hook. They are absolutely the reason why some 35,000 eligible Wyoming youngsters were not allowed to participate in a summer food program last year.
If it weren’t for Gov. Mark Gordon, Wyoming would still be one of a dozen red states that callously tied anchors to the SUN Bucks program to sink it. But the GOP’s Gordon bucked that trend by signing an executive order last Wednesday that will finally bring the program to Wyoming in June.
The Freedom Caucus, if it had even a tiny fraction of the mastery of Wyoming politics that it wants everyone to believe it possesses, would stop talking about SUN Bucks now that it’s lost the battle.
But it won’t shut up because caucus leaders still cling to the hope that voters will be as apoplectic as they are about families getting $120 per eligible child — only $40 per month — on an electronic benefit transfer card to help feed their kids in the summer when schools are closed. The kids who qualify receive free or reduced lunches during the rest of the year.
The program has never been a budget-buster in any state, which is one of the reasons it’s so confounding to see Wyoming lawmakers waste so much energy blocking funds for hungry kids in a state where one in five children is designated “food insecure.”
With grocery prices so high, and no sign of coming down, I have no doubt that Gordon’s commitment to the program will be seen as a positive for the state’s executive branch, to the detriment of the far-right.
The governor struck a nerve during February’s State of the State joint address to the Legislature when he called on lawmakers to reinstate his budget recommendation to fund SUN Bucks. It had been removed by Freedom Caucus members and their allies on the Joint Appropriations Committee.
“What kind of people are we if we won’t feed our kids?” Gordon plaintively asked. “Why wouldn’t we do this?”
Yet Gordon’s executive order to meet an obvious social need was met with full-throated disdain from many Freedom Caucus members. Rep. Ken Pendergraft, R-Sheridan, the state’s hawkiest budget hawk of them all, even warned him: “Stay in your lane, governor. You’re creating a problem here, because once you start handing out the money to the people, then what choice has the Legislature?”
Yes, what are lawmakers supposed to do if Gordon sets an example by doling out money to Wyoming families with hungry children? Where will it stop?
One of the toughest questions during this year’s budget session was where the state government would park its $250 million budget surplus from investment income: the permanent mineral trust fund or the state’s “rainy day” fund. The latter account won, which would seem to indicate that a majority of legislators feel there’s a need to respond to budget crises rather than keep its savings untouchable.
But if a state is lucky enough to have $250 million to spare, why can’t it afford an up-front appropriation of $3.6 million for SUN Bucks — especially if half of the funds would be from the federal government? The state only has to cover half the cost of administering the program.
What makes me so upset about Pendergraft and other extremist politicians is that they’re outraged at the suggestion they’d ever let children starve, yet when a program exists that would go a long way toward preventing kids from going hungry, they act like giving people a helping hand is a personal affront toward families by making them dependent on government assistance.
“I’m so saddened that these people feel like if they don’t get government money, they’ll die,” Pendergraft told Cowboy State Daily after Gordon’s executive order. “That’s not America.”
It’s a totally bad-faith argument, but it’s been used so consistently and for so long that the people forget where federal funds come from. We’re not talking about “government money” that the Fed just prints and doles out. It’s income taxes! And the role of government is to appropriate those tax dollars in ways to help people who have paid into the system.
There also appears to be a fundamental disconnect in the Freedom Caucus’ support for the Summer Food Service program administered by the Department of Education, and the belief that SUN Bucks will unnecessarily usurp it.
In reality, both of these programs are designed to benefit different populations of school-aged children. In all but five of Wyoming’s most rural, least-populated counties — Crook, Hot Springs, Johnson, Lincoln and Weston — food service trucks deliver meals to various locations during the summer.
Even in more urban areas, not every child can go in person to pick up breakfast or lunch at a predetermined site.
“Existing summer meal sites are vital, but families often face accessibility challenges due to working parents’ schedules and transportation barriers,” explained Department of Family Services Director Korin Schmidt. “This program bridges that nutrition gap and sets kids up for success when school starts again.”
The House killed a $2.28 million bill in 2025 to start the SUN Bucks program with an equal amount of federal and state funds. The bill won the unanimous approval of the House Transportation, Highways and Military Affairs Committee.
It wasn’t until Freedom Caucus Chair Rep. Rachel Rodriguez-Williams, R-Cody, began lining up her members to speak against it on the floor that it died on a 25-34 vote.
Not everyone who voted against the measure belonged to the Freedom Caucus, but every known member of the Freedom Caucus was a “no” vote. It made the difference.
During the 2026 budget session, the House rejected adding SUN Bucks to the budget, and it didn’t survive a joint compromise committee with Senate supporters. Rep. Scott Smith, R-Lingle, pointed to already-existing programs at food banks and the need for “parental responsibility.”
“There’s an element of pride that comes when a parent can go to work. Take care of their child, feed their child,” Smith said. “When they get a handout, we’d take that away from them.”
Rep. Jeremy Haroldson, R-Wheatland, who, like Pendergraft, is a pastor, said “we want kids to be fed,” but added he’s worried about “a chilling effect on local communities when governments get more and more involved.”
This is the harmful anti-government rhetoric that the Freedom Caucus will keep spewing until the public catches on and decides to put this crowd out to pasture. Fortunately, I think most of us are already there. The answer is for voters to send that message, loud and clear, on Aug. 18.
And for Freedom Caucus candidates who survive the GOP primary, Democrats, minority party hopefuls and write-in candidates need to run so voters have a choice on Nov. 3.
In the meantime, consider letting Gordon know you’re glad he made a gutsy move by authorizing SUN Bucks. It should pay dividends for our youth for many years to come.
