Students perform a science experiment at Dean Morgan Junior High in Casper. Wyoming eighth-graders are consistently among the best in the nation at science (via Natrona County School District Instagram)

Wyoming students perform among the best in the nation. Will far-right lawmakers ruin that?

National standardized tests show Wyoming fourth graders rank #1 nationwide in math, and our students perform far above average across subjects and grade levels. But the Wyoming Legislature, taken over by the far-right Freedom Caucus, is intent on cutting public teacher pay and promoting private religious schools. Will they wreck our K-12 system?
The luxury real estate market generates $3 billion in annual sales, yet generates no state tax revenue.

Want to slow Wyo’s boom-and-bust cycle? Tax Jackson.

Diversifying Wyoming’s economy will require diversifying its tax base. While raising taxes on average residents is a political non-starter, a new report shows Wyoming can significantly broaden its tax base by focusing on luxury real estate and the ultra-rich.
Wyoming's miserly approach to budgeting leaves the state stuck in a boom-and-bust cycle.

What will Wyo lawmakers do with an extra $3 billion this year?

Last year, facing a supposed "budget crisis," the Legislature and Gov. Gordon cut hundreds of millions of dollars in state funding, eliminated hundreds of jobs, and refused cost-of-living raises for teachers during record inflation. Now that the oil and gas industry is booming and tax revenues have soared, the state has a $3 billion surplus. What will they do with it during the 2023 session that starts next week?
Our intrepid leaders have brought us to an island in a sea of other states that have healthcare.

A brief history of failed “Wyoming solutions” to our state’s healthcare problems

For more than a decade, Wyoming lawmakers have insisted that, instead of expanding Medicaid, we should find a state-based approach to fixing our broken healthcare system. And for a decade, they have failed to come up with any such thing, just like every other state before them that eventually adopted the program.

Does Governor Gordon really care about mental health?

The governor convened a recent conference about Wyoming’s mental health crisis. But, at the same time, he says he opposes Medicaid expansion, which rural states across the U.S.—including every single one of our neighbors—have used to bring about actual solutions to their mental health challenges. If he really cares about Wyoming’s mental health crisis, why does he oppose a proven solution?
Protesters who railed against masks, LGBTQ books, and "critical race theory" have traded their signs for campaign slogans and are running for school board seats across Wyoming. (photo: The Sheridan Press)

Education takes a backseat to "hot button" social issues in Wyo. school board races

Instead of focusing on teacher retention, balanced budgets, student mental health, and other less dramatic—yet critical—school district subjects, candidates across the state this year come straight out of protest groups focused on banning books and outlawing mask mandates.
The City of Laramie butts up against the aquifer that provides the town's drinking water. (image via Albany County Clean Water Advocates)

Local Wyoming elections have climate impacts

Climate change is a global problem, but many of the decisions and actions to help fight it are local. As Wyoming voters head to the polls this fall, keep in mind that city, county, and state officials impact our climate resilience.

Post-“Roe” Wyo: The upcoming fight for abortion rights

Abortion remains temporarily legal in Wyoming as challenges to the Legislature’s 2022 “trigger ban” play out in court. If state judges ultimately decide that the ban is unconstitutional—a pretty likely outcome—the fight will move back to the Legislature and then, potentially, to a vote in 2024. The 2022 general election this fall will play a large role in shaping these events, and in any case pro-choice advocates will need to organize to win. Overturning Roe v. Wade did not end abortion rights in Wyoming. In fact, it was just the beginning.
Clockwise, from top left: Rep. Albert Sommers, Sen. Cale Case, Rep. Sandy Newsome, Rep. Steve Harshman, Sen. Stephan Pappas, Rep. Barry Crago, Sen. Wendy Schuler, and Rep. Landon Brown all support Medicaid expansion and won their 2022 GOP primaries.

GOP Medicaid expansion supporters defeat primary challengers

Many GOP lawmakers have wrung their hands and worried that doing what they know is right—supporting Medicaid expansion—would cost them at the polls. But overwhelmingly, GOP incumbents who backed Medicaid expansion won on Tuesday, dispelling those fears.
See how happy you'll feel after you cast your primary election ballot?

DERAILED: Everything you need to vote smart in the 2022 Wyoming primaries (Part 4)

Our “DERAILED” series explained why you should vote in the 2022 Wyoming primary elections. Now we tell you how. Find your new voting districts, polling place, and learn how to research your candidates to cast a smart ballot this August.