The speaker of the Wyoming House of Representatives is under fire from members of his own party who are accusing him of favoring the interests of teachers unions by blocking votes on parental rights and school choice legislation.

On Friday, members of the Wyoming House attempted a procedural motion to sidestep Speaker Albert Sommers (R) and force a floor vote on a bill that would enact a universal school choice. The effort failed on a voice vote.

The universal school choice bill, SF 143, is one of several bills Sommers, a Republican, has refused to allow on the floor. On Tuesday, an effort to discharge a parental rights bill that would ban classroom instruction of sexual orientation and gender identity prior to fourth grade also failed. Both the school choice bill and the parental rights bill easily cleared the Wyoming Senate.

Sommers claimed he opposes the parental bill because it infringes on the authority of local school boards. The legislation mirrors a law passed last year in Florida that was ignominiously dubbed the "Don't Say Gay" bill and sparked a row between state officials and the Walt Disney Company.

“Fundamentally, I believe in local control,” Sommers told the Cowboy State Daily. “I’ve always fought — regardless of what really the issue is — against taking authority away from local school boards, town councils, county commissions. And in my view, that’s what this bill does."

Sommers did not respond to repeated interview requests from the Washington Examiner.

State Rep. John Bear (R), the chairman of the Wyoming Freedom Caucus, told the Washington Examiner that Sommers's refusal to allow a vote on the parental rights bill was due to the speaker's support for teachers unions.

"I believe the biggest pressure [against the bill] is coming from the teachers union, of which he's very supportive of," said Bear, noting that many Wyoming Republicans are not as conservative politically as one might believe.

"We have a lot of people who run as Republicans but have very progressive beliefs," he added.

The Wyoming teachers union is opposed to the legislation banning sexual orientation teaching in the classroom.

“It’s important for parents to be involved in their children’s education and their rights, but this bill negatively impacts LGBT families and students," Grady Hutcherson, president of the Wyoming Education Association, said . "I can’t recall in my years of teaching gender identity and sexual orientation so I’m asking why we’re passing legislation regarding things that aren’t happening in Wyoming.”

State Rep. Jeannette Ward (R) said Sommers's actions, as well as those of her colleagues supportive of the speaker, were failing to put the interests of the people of Wyoming first.

"They value procedure in the House over the will of the people," she said. "I am fighting with everything I know how to use for what [my constituents] told me was important to them when I ran. I am contending for the people who elected me, and I intend to continue to do that until the end of the 67th Legislature."

Bear also accused the speaker of ignoring the will of Wyoming families.

"The speaker claimed that this particular bill, stifled local control, but this bill actually gave control to the most local of all, the parents, in regards to the education of [kindergarten] through third graders," Bear added.

Sommers's continued block on the school choice bill also roiled education freedom activists, who ripped the Republican state lawmaker for refusing to even afford the legislation a vote on the school choice bill shortly after the Friday motion failed.

"This is a failure of leadership by Speaker Sommers," Heritage Foundation education research fellow Jason Bedrick told the Washington Examiner. "Wyoming had the chance to empower families with the ability to choose the learning environments that align with their values and work best for their children. Refusing to allow a vote on this bill was a blow to kids trapped in schools that aren’t working for them. Wyoming families deserve better."

American Federation for Children senior fellow Corey DeAngelis noted that school choice is featured in the Republican Party platform and Sommers was unilaterally blocking a bill in a legislature overwhelmingly controlled by the GOP even as other Republican-controlled states like Iowa and Utah have passed universal school choice bills in recent weeks, with more in the pipeline.

"Read the room. The wind is at our backs. Red states are racing full speed ahead to empower all families with education freedom," DeAngelis told the Washington Examiner. "The Wyoming House should put the bill to a vote. With over 90% of Wyoming House members having an 'R' next to their name and all of the momentum on the side of education freedom, the chamber should have no problem voting in favor of the Republican Party platform issue of school choice. If there is a problem, Wyoming parents deserve to know who will vote to deny them the right to educate their children as they see fit so they can hold those politicians accountable at the ballot box."