‘Clean Energy Revolution’ offers lifeline to Wyo economy
President-Elect Joe Biden’s proposed $2 trillion investment in a “Clean Energy Revolution” could help put Wyoming on the path to a brighter and more sustainable economic future. That best-case scenario...
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Critics: Lawmakers’ solar-bill switch ‘silenced’ public
Lawmakers advanced a surprise bill last week that would direct the appointed Public Service Commission to set payment for privately generated solar power and ensure the compensation excludes subsidies....
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Game & Fish advances power-trap ban, select trail setbacks
Wyoming Game and Fish commissioners moved Tuesday to ban large power snares as part of a suite of potential changes to trapping regulations. Department employees will draft a large power-trap...
View ArticleEducation experts eye teacher wages, regional adjustments
The Legislature’s Select Committee on School Finance Recalibration rarely makes headlines. Its meetings are lengthy, the subject matter is complex and tangible results are slow-developing. The vast...
View ArticleWyoming’s crypto-blockchain giveaway
In recent years, Wyoming created some of the most attractive laws in the country for establishing blockchain and cryptocurrency companies in our state. But by allowing the laws to be shaped and written...
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State unveils new grouse rules as feds again ease protections
Wyoming officials last week established the framework for a system to offset destroyed greater sage grouse habitat even as the federal government diluted protections for the imperiled species. Wyoming...
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Budget-strapped Wyo towns bypass state with climate efforts
Several communities across the state are breaking with state policy and forging their own plans to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Earlier this year, the Laramie City Council signed a proclamation...
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The costly lessons of Wyoming’s limited revenue diversity
Wyoming’s fiscal situation has grown very stormy in 2020. The state has already administered a 10% cut across all agencies, followed by another $500 million this fall, with possibly more to come. It...
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Lawmakers push Gordon to fight Biden election win
UPDATE, 5:20 on Dec. 10: On Thursday afternoon, Gov. Mark Gordon issued a statement saying Wyoming will not join the Texas lawsuit or file a brief in support of it. In the statement, Gordon said the...
View ArticleMorality, religion and Wyoming’s budget crisis
Former Vice President Hubert Humphrey once said, “The moral test of government is how that government treats those who are at the dawn of life, the children; those who are in the twilight of life, the...
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The one-page solution to Wyoming’s budget crisis
The legislature’s budget and fiscal staff recently prepared a very novel one-page document that merits the attention of every Wyoming lawmaker and citizen. “Wyoming Estimated Tax Capacity” asks and...
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New aid package buys Wyoming time, but not state budget aid
A new federal stimulus package will aid Wyoming residents and businesses and fund COVID-19 vaccine distributions but does not appear likely to include direct financial aid to the fiscally challenged...
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Legislators expect scheduling battle as unique session begins
UPDATE: An effort by right-wing lawmakers to force the Wyoming Legislature into a normal session amid the pandemic came up far short of the needed votes. In the House, the vote on a motion to adjourn...
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The unsupportable cost of Wyoming’s tax giveaways
No discussion of Wyoming’s tax system would be complete without consideration of our many expensive exemptions. All states employ tax exemptions, and for a variety of reasons: some are mandated by...
View ArticleOil and gas industry doesn’t need another handout
Wyoming is in the midst of a seemingly endless budget shortfall that the state’s bone-deep cuts have failed to solve. If we can’t balance our state budget by cuts, then the revenue side of the ledger...
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Wyoming’s fiscal challenges aren’t unique, just our failed approach
By now, even casual observers recognize that Wyoming’s near single-minded reliance on mineral revenues leaves the state vulnerable to wild swings of boom-and-bust volatility and makes funding the basic...
View ArticleIt’s time to value and empower the women who run Wyo’s nonprofits
Gov. Mark Gordon in late December announced the Community Charitable Relief Program. The program “provides grant funding to nonprofit organizations that have provided public assistance or seen a...
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Jobs on the line as lawmakers resume school funding debate
A proposed education funding bill that cuts $100 million a year could prompt layoffs around Wyoming, House lawmakers say as they prepare for another round of the education debate that has for years...
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Wyo lawmakers have a constitutional duty to fund public schools
Wyoming’s public schools have long been a subject of derision for many Republican state lawmakers who claim they underperform. If such scrutiny leads to the constant improvement of our K-12 system,...
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Lawmakers spike moratorium on coal plant closures
The Wyoming House of Representatives on Monday killed an amendment requiring the Wyoming Public Service Commission to impose a 15-year moratorium on retiring coal-fired power plants in the state....
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