Rep. Pepper Ottman is a Freedom Caucus leader who is chair of the House Republican Caucus. She is serving her third term in the Legislature.

Rep. Ottman supported all of the Freedom Caucus’ 28 priority bills for the 2025 legislative session. She voted along with Freedom Caucus chairwoman Rep. Rachel Rodriguez-Williams 93 percent of the time on bills tracked in Better Wyoming’s Grassroots Accountability Report.

Less Maternal Healthcare Access

During the 2025 legislative session, Rep. Ottman voted against two budget amendments that would have improved access for maternal healthcare in Fremont County. 

One sought to pay OB-GYN providers higher Medicaid reimbursement rates (HB 1-2015). 

The second would have created a grant program for hospitals and rural health clinics to support maternity and delivery care. (HB 1-2018)

Fremont County remains a “maternity desert” with few health services for pregnant women. 

No food for hungry children or officers to keep kids safe

Rep. Ottman voted against a nutrition program that would have ensured that hungry Fremont County kids who rely on free or reduced lunch during the school year would have had basic meals when they’re not in class. (HB-341)

An estimated 20% of Wyoming children are food insecure, and the rate is higher in Fremont County. 

Rep. Ottman also voted against a budget amendment that would have ensured that school districts could hire safety officers. (HB1-3031) As a result, local school districts will have to find money for SROs elsewhere or go without safety officers.

Voting to make voting harder

Many rural Fremont County voters cast ballots each election via ballot drop boxes. This is especially true for working people who can’t get to town to vote.

Ballot drop boxes have been securely used in Fremont County for several decades without any instances of fraud or misuse.

Even so, Rep. Ottman voted to ban them, which would make casting a ballot more difficult for people in her community. (HB-131) Fortunately, the bill failed.

Rep. Ottman also voted for a bill that makes it more difficult for senior citizens to vote by banning Medicare cards as acceptable forms of identification for in-person voting. (HB-206) That bill failed, as well.

Bad for workers

Rep. Ottman voted to make life harder for working people in Fremont County on several occasions.

First, she voted to cut unemployment benefits for Fremont County workers from 26 weeks to 20 weeks. (SF-175)

She also voted against a bill that prohibits non-compete contracts that would prevent workers from being able to transition freely from one job to another after they quit. (SF-107)

Fortunately, the unemployment bill failed and the non-compete bill passed, despite Rep. Ottman's votes.