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House Education Committee dials back Wyoming education cuts
Wyoming is not broke. And funding schools is a constitutional requirement. As lawmakers deliberate a bill to dramatically cut education funding, second thoughts begin to emerge.
Proposed school voucher program would further defund Wyoming public education
A bill to funnel public money to private, religious, and home schools will appear before a Wyoming legislative committee this week, providing lawmakers the option to offer students “thoughts and prayers” rather than sustainable school funding.
Wyoming lawmakers use “voter fraud” hysteria to push ID bill
A bill to require Wyoming voters to present IDs at the polls will pass this session after several years of failure. As the Wyoming State GOP outlines plans to ban mail-in voting and other restrictions, the measure appears the first step in a larger campaign to limit elections in the state.
Clean power supporters convince Wyoming land board to approve wind energy lease
Energy workers, ranchers, and young people united to support a proposed Albany County wind farm, which wealthy local homeowners oppose. The state land board’s lease approval moves the project one step forward. But obstacles remain.
Elderly, disabled, suffering: Proposed Wyoming healthcare cuts will hurt struggling people across the state
Wyoming lawmakers have “trimmed the fat” at the state Department of Health for years, including a $100 million budget reduction in 2016. Now, a new round of cuts will hit bone, eliminating critical services for our state’s most vulnerable residents and canceling programs that will cost the state more in the long run.
Wyoming school districts clap back at proposed education budget cuts
School districts across Wyoming told lawmakers that proposed budget cuts would eliminate hundreds of jobs and prevent them from delivering quality, equitable education as required by law. The Legislature is going forward with the cuts anyway.
A user’s guide to the bizarre, online 2021 Wyoming legislative session
This year’s online legislative session provides unprecedented access for Wyoming residents to watch and participate. Find out what’s going on next week and how you can take part (virtually!) in the legislative process.
NIMBY landowner campaign inflames anti-renewables attitudes to block Wyoming wind development
A proposed wind farm would bring tens of millions of dollars in revenue for Albany County and Wyoming schools, along with good jobs. But hilltop landowners worried about their backyard views have launched a campaign to stop it, trafficking in Wyomingites’ anxieties about the global transition to carbon-free energy.
Healthcare access grows harder for thousands of newly uninsured Wyomingites
Roughly 6,000 people have lost their health insurance in Wyoming during the COVID-19 pandemic. But state lawmakers continue to block federal funds that would cover insurance costs for low-income residents, while they gut state Department of Health funding for community health services.
Screw the schools, screw the youth: Wyoming lawmakers refuse tax proposals to fund education (and everything else)
Wyoming’s population is shrinking and aging, and the Good Ol’ Boys in the Legislature staunchly oppose new taxes. But younger generations who would like to build their lives here are starting to speak up against budget cuts that would cripple the state’s education system and economy.
Wyoming lawmakers’ plan to import drugs from Canada won’t lower prescription costs
Working families and seniors across Wyoming are feeling the pinch of paying for steadily increasing drug costs. But the Legislature’s plan to import drugs from Canada won’t help.
Registering to vote at the polls in Wyoming is great … until it’s not
The main way to register to vote in Wyoming is at the polls. But a huge portion of the state’s electorate is avoiding the polls altogether during COVID-19. As the state’s aggressive voter purge laws disenrolled massive numbers of Wyoming voters, we’re left to wonder whether our registration laws need an update.
Wyoming lawmakers try to “recalibrate” school funding while the whole system collapses around us
The ho-hum, business-as-usual “recalibration” process to determine proper state education funding levels looks absurd in the face of a $500 million budget catastrophe.
FIVE FACTS: Wyoming embraces mail-in voting (sort of)
The COVID-19 pandemic prompted Wyoming Secretary of State Ed Buchanan to send applications for absentee ballots to all registered Wyoming voters. County clerks across the state have received record requests, moving Wyoming in a direction toward mail-in voting that’s already widely embraced across the West.
Wyoming needs a strong healthcare system to help diversify its economy. It doesn’t have one.
Quality hospitals and healthcare will be critical to attracting new businesses and developing new industries in Wyoming, particularly in rural areas. But Wyoming’s healthcare system is struggling, which will make the difficult task of diversifying our economy even harder.