CHEYENNE — During the final days of the recent budget session, an intriguing debate over science and religion took place in the senate.
At issue was an amendment to House Bill 166, the bill to support preschools for children from lower income families.
The bill by then had passed the house but it was laden with 31 amendments. It had been altered to such a degree that one of the sponsors, State Sen. Bill Landen, R-Casper, said he could not support it.
When the final vote came, he voted no. It passed and was signed into law after Gov. Mark Gordon first vetoed part of it.
While it was still before the senate, members chewed over an amendment offered by Sen. Cale Case, R-Lander, that would have offered science as part of the school curriculum.
His purpose, Case said, was to be sure that the children were getting fact-based information about science and/or nature.
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The schools would be free to also teach creationism.
According to online sources, science is regarded as one of the main courses for pre-school students along with math and language arts.
On his first try, Case withdrew the amendment to correct the language.
He brought it back the next day before the final vote on HB 166.
Over those two days the members touched on a myriad of topics including geology, Wyoming artifacts, fossils, carbon, climate change, the Bible, the big bang theory plus a pinch of home schooling.
“The science instruction shall include study of the geological age of the earth, natural selection and related topics. The parent shall agree to these conditions prior to receipt of any funds,” the Case amendment read.
The discussion showed the split in thinking between the Freedom Caucus members and the others. This divisiveness also permeated the debates and votes over the budget and state spending in general.
It was a major contributor to the chaos of the 2024 budget session labelled “this most contentious legislative session,” by Cheyenne City Council member Jeff White.
During the debate over Case’s amendment, Sen. Tim Salazar, R-Riverton, said he and his wife homeschool their son. They also teach him the both theories on the beginning of civilization — evolution and creationist.
Many home schools parents, he said, believe in the literal interpretation of the Bible, rather than idea that the book features parables or stories with a moral purpose.
He said he is one of them.
Sen. Bo Batman, R-Sheridan, who opposed the amendment said he could accept “not teaching unverifiable theories” like science on climate change.
For some people this is a religion, he said, adding, “It’s not science.”
At one point he also said the amendment was a “poke in the eye of Christianity” because it allowed teaching the “ridiculous idea of climate science.”
Sen. Charles Scott, R-Casper, said the two first verses of Genesis in the Bible could be taken as an analogy of the cause of the big bang theory.
Sen. John Kolb, R-Rock Springs, made a comment about “the elites among us,” but didn’t name them.
He said the science versions are only theory or a hypothesis.
Sen. Chris Rothfuss, D-Laramie, told of the process that eventually produced carbon, a product that when burned causes pollution and ultimately affects the weather.
“I wish that were not true,” said Rothfuss, a chemical engineer and consultant. “But it is.”
Rothfuss and Case both emphasized that the amendment is possible because these schools will be financed by public tax money.
The bill as passed allocates $6,000 for each child in a family with an income low enough to qualify.
The Senate voted down Case’s amendment with only four members voting for it and went on to pass the bill 20-10.
Sen. Wendy Schuler, R-Evanston, who voted no, joined several others in declaring the bill unconstitutional.
“That $20 million in there, we’re going to spend that on lawyers,” Schuler predicted.
She may be close.