A Wyoming Senate Committee that has already killed one “crossover voting” ban during the 2023 legislative session is set to hear another—the last one standing. But party purists in years past have gone to great (and shady) lengths to restrict primary voting, so it’s anyone’s guess what will happen.
The bill would remove protections for librarians against overzealous government censorship, opening them up to prosecution for child pornography and obscenity. Fortunately, some in Wyoming are fighting back against banning books and demonizing librarians.
A bill to stop the rollback of Wyoming Medicaid coverage for uninsured new moms has broad support. Advocates for HB-4 say it will ensure the health and well-being of both mothers and their babies. But Freedom Caucus member Rep. Chip Neiman, who as House Majority Floor Leader can unilaterally kill any bill he wants, might not let it see the light of day.
Two bills would follow last year’s “trigger ban” to further restrict reproductive rights, while a third would return Wyoming to its pre-2022 status quo.
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?
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.
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?
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.
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?
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.
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.
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.
