Building A Strong Wyoming

April CREG Report

KGingery — Tue, 29 Apr 2008 16:12:00 GMT

The Consensus Revenue Estimating Group (CREG) has come out with their April Report. With only two months left in FY 08, it looks like the State is going to come out ahead with revenue. The bottom line is that we should exceed the estimate by $54 million. The final numbers will be known in July. Severance Taxes have been coming in larger than expected. Natural Gas is 12.1% ahead of what they had been estimating.

Understanding Property Taxes

KGingery — Tue, 29 Apr 2008 16:09:00 GMT

The first part to understand is that we have 3 different classes of property. Minerals are assessed at their full 100% value. Industrial property is assessed at a rate of 11.5%. And residential property, which is what we are discussing, is assessed at 9.5%. What this means is that if your house has fair market value as determined by the assessor of $100,000 (I know that is unrealistic for Teton County, but I am bad at math, so I have to use easy numbers) then you multiply by the 9.5% assessment rate, which gives you an assessment value of $9500. The mills are then taxed against the $9500 (the assessed value) and not the fair market value ($100,000 in this example). In Teton County we have about 60 mills right now, so the 60 mills would be taxed against the $9500, which gives you a tax bill of $570. (a mill is a tenth of a penny).

The County Commissioners set the mill levy for the next year every August. It is rare to see anyone there in attendance. Some mills are mandatory and the commissioners have no discretion. And before I talk about the different mills, it is useful to know the history of school finance. It used to be (prior to 2000) that your local school district was dependent on the property taxes collected in that county. This caused disparity. The mineral rich counties had nice schools and the non-mineral school districts struggled. The new system is that all of the property taxes for schools are collected in each county and put into one big pot of money in Cheyenne. The money is then re-distributed back to the school districts based on the number of kids enrolled in their schools. This has created a fairer school finance system.

K-12 Education Levies

District Levy 25 mills (mandatory)

County Levy 6 mills (mandatory)

Foundation Fund 12 mills

BOCES Region 5 .2

BOCES CWC .2

Additional County wide Levies

County Levy 12 mills (the county only does 9, the lowest in the state. The 9 mills include 2.605 for the library, .5 for fire, and .783 for the fair)

Weed and Pest 2 (our weed and pest only does .989)

Hospital 3 (the hospital has been debating going private, which would take these 3 mills away)

Conservation 1

Town Levy 8 (the town does none. This is a big deal. We are the only town to do no property tax. They rely on sales tax instead)

Special Districts

School Recreation 1

Fire 3 (we only do .5 in our county and it is included in the county 9 mills, so really we do 0)

Cemetery 3 (paid for out of county general fund, so we have 0)

Then on top of these ones, there are additional costs depending on what neighborhood you live in. For example the Aspens charges $110 per lot that is added on to their tax bill to pay for water and sewer. The Bar Y charges an extra $1000. Granite Ridge tacks on an additional 16 mills for their operations.

The other piece of information to know is that 1 mill brings in about $1 million. But because assessment are going up, a mill will bring in more than a million this year.

So which mills do you tackle? Well for starters, the county has discussed implementing another penny of sales tax and reduce their 9 mills down accordingly. Thus the same revenue comes in, but through sales tax rather than property tax. This has benefits because then the visitors are helping to pay for services rather than just homeowners. The hospital has stated in the past that the $3 million that they get from property tax is a very small part of their revenue picture. It may be time to look at reducing or eliminating those 3 mills.

I should also point out that there are a lot of other potential mills available that our county doesn’t do, such as Museum, airport, building fund, county bond repayments, community colleges, band concert levy (not joking on that one), police pension levy, senior citizen center, flood control, regional transportation, downtown development, etc.

A mill in Teton County means a lot different than a mill in Campbell County (coal country). They can keep their mills low because one mill brings in a lot more money than our mill.

I think at this point the most interesting discussion going on is about implementing a new sales tax and decreasing the county 9 mills accordingly. In Wyoming the first 4 pennies are split with 70% to the state and 30% to the county and town. Then the 5^th penny is our Special Excise Tax for special projects like pathways. The 6^th penny is the local option sales tax which all of goes to the county and town. Presently we do 6 pennies, so the 4 mandatory pennies, plus the Special Excise penny, and the local option penny. We have the option of adding a 7^th penny that is also for local use just like the 6^th penny. One penny brings in about $10 million per year to the county and town.

I hope this was helpful.

State Representative Keith Gingery – Jackson Hole

High Property Taxes

KGingery — Tue, 29 Apr 2008 16:07:00 GMT

Like many of you, I just got my property tax assessment in the mail this week. My property taxes have gone up 57% in just the past 2 years. I can adjust some of my finances in order to take the hit of an extra $1200 I have to pay this year, but how does a retiree on a fixed income adjust their income to compensate for this huge tax increase? If there was ever going to be property tax reform in Wyoming, this past legislative session was the year. The Wyoming Legislature brought forward numerous ideas and bills. It really looked like we were going to make a change, but at the last minute, some special interest groups lobbied hard to kill the reform movement. I had proposed a homestead exemption. The Governor had proposed a targeted relief program for the elderly. Rep. Olsen had proposed a cap on rate of increase each year and many others had other ideas. I started early last year and traveled the state to different special interest group meetings trying to convince these different groups to back property tax reform. I really thought we were making progress and it is so disappointing after so much time and effort. We will try again next year, but in the meantime, I wanted to point out what you can do now in order to find some relief from these high property tax increases.

The State of Wyoming presently has 4 active relief programs. If you are a veteran or a surviving spouse of a veteran you can get up to $3000 exempted from your assessed valuation. If you are over the age of 65 or over 18 and disabled and you meet certain income levels, you can receive potentially up to $900 off of your tax bill. Teton and Sheridan Counties have special programs that allow you to place the 2^nd half of your property tax bill on your home as a lien and it doesn’t have to be paid back until you sell the home. The legislature did pass the Property Tax Refund Program this past session that refunds ½ of your property tax bill if your income does not exceed 2/3 of the median gross income for Teton County. If you think you may be eligible, I would urge you to call our local county assessor, Cathy Toolson, (733-4960) and talk to her about these programs.

I have been working on trying to cap the rate of increase of your property taxes. Most people can understand a 5-10% increase each year. A 57% increase, as in my own personal case, is hard for anyone to understand. Another solution I have proposed is a homestead exemption, which deducts a set amount from your assessed valuation. The bill I introduced this year would have saved you about $400 off of your tax bill. In the meantime, you can continue to support Mayor Barron and the town council for their valiant effort in being the only town (excluding Van Tassel and Lost Springs) that does not impose any property tax. This has been a huge benefit to those on fixed incomes within the town limits. You should also voice your support to our county commissioners for continuing to keep our county mills at the lowest level in the state. There are things that we can be looking at though. There are other mill levies that the county and town do not control. We should be talking to some of these other governmental entities about lowering their mill levies when their coffers are flush. Just reducing one mill, can have a significant impact on your property tax bill. Also, we should continue to support the efforts of our county assessor, Cathy Toolson, and her hard working deputies that are working tirelessly to ensure a fair and equitable system of assessment. Please email me at kgingery@wyoming.com with any ideas you may have as to how to tackle this issue.

State Representative Keith Gingery – Jackson Hole

Wyoming House of Representatives

Giving Specificity to the Indecent Liberties Statute in Wyoming

KGingery — Tue, 01 Apr 2008 17:35:00 GMT

Giving Specificity to the Indecent Liberties Statute

State Representative Keith Gingery[1]

The Judiciary requests a change.

Since the school finance cases came out a few years ago, there has been some grumbling from the Wyoming State Legislature as to the activist role taken by the Wyoming Supreme Court in legislating school finance reform from the bench.[2] Some legislators felt that the Wyoming Supreme Court had overstepped its judicial branch role and moved into the arena of legislating. In 2006, Wyoming legislators again expressed concern that the Wyoming Supreme Court was overstepping its boundaries by legislating from the bench. The Court faced a unique issue dealing with trade secrets. The Court pointed out that there was no statutory law in Wyoming that could effectively deal with the situation presented in the case, so the Court had no other choice but to create the law. The Court’s majority was careful to point out that they could not adopt the Uniform Trade Secrets Act, which was the preferable choice, but that the Court could adopt the Restatement (Third) of Unfair Competition, which was a close substitute. The Wyoming Legislature only allowed the holding to stand for barely over a month before stepping in and adopting the Uniform Trade Secrets Act.[3] The issue of school finance and trade secrets seems to be a far cry from the issue of indecent liberties with a minor. It is important to understand that bills move quickly in the short sessions of the Wyoming Legislature, and certain legislators have long memories and do see the interconnection, especially in regard to infringement upon legislative authority. Thus, it was seen as refreshing, by certain Wyoming legislators, when in Moe v. State[4], the Wyoming Supreme Court tried a different and better received tactic with the Wyoming Legislature; it simply suggested new legislation rather than legislating from the bench. The suggestion to the Wyoming Legislature was to create specificity in the “indecent liberties” statute. The suggestion was proffered in order to solve what Justice Marilyn Kite of the Wyoming Supreme Court referred to as a “perennial” problem in regards to the constitutionality of the “indecent liberties” statute.[5] The passage of House Bill 104 during the 2007 Wyoming Legislative Session created a new statutory scheme for the prosecution of sexual abuse of a minor and hopefully created the specificity needed for the replacement of the “indecent liberties” statute. The suggested legislation by the Wyoming Supreme Court and the Wyoming Legislature’s subsequent action in accordance with the suggestion demonstrates improved communication between the Judicial and Legislative branches of government in Wyoming.

The “vaporous nature” of indecent liberties

The old “indecent liberties” statute was seen by many to be overbroad and hard to define. The law used the words immodest, immoral, and indecent, which are not specific. Justice Voigt described “indecent liberties” in his dissent in Moe I as having a “vaporous nature”. Justice Kite, in her concurring opinion in Moe I, urged the Wyoming Legislature to consider the issues raised by Justice Voigt in his dissent and to fix the “indecent liberties” statute. Justice Kite effectively addresses the Wyoming Legislature and states that it is not the province of the courts to legislate, but that the Wyoming Legislature should consider adding clarity, thus avoiding constitutional challenges. Justice Kite even goes as far as to provide the Wyoming Legislature with citations to statutes in Colorado, Montana, and Alaska that would potentially provide clarity.[7]

The Legislature Takes Action

Moe I was issued by the Wyoming Supreme Court in May 2005. Representative Hammons of Worland and I read Justice Kite’s concurrence and decided to follow through with her advice. The original bill that provided clarity to the “indecent liberties” act passed the Wyoming House of Representatives, but failed in the Wyoming Senate during the 2006 session.[9] I urged the Joint Judiciary Committee to sponsor our bill in the 2007 session. They did, and the bill was successful and went into effect on July 1, 2007.[10]

A New Statutory Scheme for Sexual Abuse of a Minor

The new law provides an entirely new statutory scheme for sexual abuse of a minor. The already existing three degrees of sexual assault remain, but four new statutes provide specifically for four degrees of sexual abuse of a minor.

It is important to point out that “indecent liberties” still does exist, but instead of being found in Title 14 as a separate and distinct statute, it is now found within the 3^rd degree sexual abuse of a minor statute.[11] The bill failed in 2006 because the Wyoming Senate was concerned that “indecent liberties” had been completely removed. Thus, the 2007 bill included “indecent liberties” which helped to ensure its passage. The argument in support of having “indecent liberties” still available as a possible charge was that there needed to be a charge for those actions in which no contact or intercourse occurred, but the behavior was still “indecent.” The example routinely used by prosecutors in support of their argument to leave “indecent liberties” in the bill, was when a defendant masturbated in front of a child or showed pornography to a child, but no contact occurred. Under the proposed 2006 bill, there was no potential charge for such an act. The hope was that by placing “indecent liberties” within the new four degrees of sexual abuse of a minor, as opposed to being an independent statute, prosecutors would charge cases using the new statutes and use the “indecent liberty” charge for those very few select cases that clearly come within the “no contact” examples given above. This would then reduce the number of constitutional challenges overall.

1^st degree sexual abuse of a minor[12] provides for three separate crimes: sexual intrusion of a child less than 13 years old, sexual intrusion by a relative of a minor, and sexual intrusion of a child less than 16 years old when the actor occupies a position of authority.

2^nd degree sexual abuse of a minor[13] has the same three separate crimes as does 1^st degree sexual abuse of a minor with the exception that the element of “contact” is substituted for “intrusion.”

2nd degree sexual abuse of a minor adds a fourth crime of intrusion on a victim who is 13, 14, or 15 years old (more commonly referred to as statutory rape). The actor must be at least 17 years old, and the victim must be 4 years younger than the actor. (This is commonly referred to as a four year differential.) There was considerable debate in the Wyoming Legislature concerning reducing the differential from 4 to 3 years, but in the end it was decided to remain at a four year differential.

3^rd degree sexual abuse of a minor[14] continues with the line of statutory rape elements by substituting “contact” for “intrusion.”

3^rd degree sexual abuse of a minor also continues the line of crimes for “position of authority.” Position of authority includes teachers, employers, and relatives. Both 1^st and 2^nd degree sexual abuse of a minor require that the victim be 15 years old or less when the actor is in a “position of authority,” with the difference between 1^st and 2^nd degree being whether there was intrusion or contact. In 3^rd degree sexual abuse of a minor, the actor must be 20 years of age or older and the victim is either 16 or 17 years old, with at least a four year differential between the actor and victim. 4^th degree sexual abuse of a minor uses the same elements as 3^rd degree sexual abuse of a minor in regard to “position of authority,” with the exception that “contact” is substituted for “intrusion.”

3^rd and 4^th degree sexual abuse of a minor also provides for when the act is committed by a minor less than 16 years old against another minor who is less than 13 years of age, with at least a three year differential between the actor and the victim. The difference between the 3^rd and 4^th degree again being the difference between intrusion and contact.

Last, indecent liberties is included in 3^rd degree sexual abuse of a minor, where the actor is 17 years of age or older, the victim is less than 17 years of age, and there is at least a four year differential between the actor and the victim.

The crimes that previously were defined in Title 14 have been repealed out of Title 14 and moved to Title 6. This is part of an effort to try to move criminal statutes out of other titles and concentrate them in Title 6.

The penalties for the existing three degrees of sexual assault were increased and, of course, new penalties were created for the newly created four degrees of sexual abuse of minors. The most contentious debate on the bill involved the penalties, in particular whether the State of Wyoming should move toward minimum mandatory sentences or whether discretion should be left to the judges. For the most part minimum mandatory sentences were imposed, but not up to the extent as originally proposed for 1^st offenses.

The topic of mandatory minimum sentences will probably be argued again next year and that debate may evolve into a perennial one.

[1] State Representative Keith Gingery represents House District 23 (Jackson Hole and Dubois) in the Wyoming House of Representatives and also is employed as a Deputy County and Prosecuting Attorney in Teton County, Wyoming. Representative Gingery serves on the House Judiciary Committee and is Co-Chair of both the Select Committee on Mental Health and Substance Abuse and the Wyoming Drug Court Steering Committee.

[2] Campbell County School District v. State, 907 P.2d 1238 (Wyo. 1995). (Campbell I)

[3] Laws 2006, ch. 63 (House Bill 95 sponsored by Representatives Simpson, Gingery, Martin, Reese and Warren and Senator Nicholas) The Wyoming Supreme Court adopted the Restatement (Third) of Unfair Competition in Briefing.com v. Jones, 2006 WY 16, 126 P.3d 928 (Wyo. 2006). Both Justice Hill and Golden dissented stating that the Wyoming Supreme Court was “usurping” the legislature’s authority and responsibility and even went as far in their dissent to quote Article 2 §1 of the Wyoming Constitution that delineates the boundaries of the three branches of government. Briefing.com, 2006 WY 16 ¶17 - 18. The case of Briefing.com was issued on January 26, 2006 and the Uniform Trade Secrets Act was signed by the Governor on March 15, 2006. Even though the Wyoming Legislature took quick action to adopt the Uniform Trade Secrets Act, it did not actually go into effect until July 1, 2006.

[4] Moe v. State, 2005 WY 58, 110 P.3d 1206 (Moe I)

[5] Moe I, ¶ 24, W.S. §14-3-105 (2005)

Moe I, ¶27

[7] Moe I, ¶24-25

Even though legislators always take credit for drafting bills, it is truly the superb attorneys employed at the Legislative Service Office that do the hard work. In this case, John Rivera , the Senior Staff Attorney at the Legislative Service Office, provided his bill drafting expertise to Representative Hammons and myself.

[9]2006 Wyoming Budget Session, House Bill 140, sponsored by Representatives Gingery and Hammons and Senator Jennings (Passed the Wyoming House of Representatives 48-12, but then was not brought forward for consideration in the Senate committee, by Senator Scott, Chairman of the Senate Labor, Health and Social Services Committee)

[10] Laws 2007, ch. 159 (Senate File 104)(Passed the Wyoming Senate 24 ayes, 5 nays, 1 excused and passed the Wyoming House of Representatives 54 ayes, 5 nays, 1 excused)

[11] W.S. §6-2-316(a)(iv) (2007)

[12] W.S. §6-2-314 (2007)

[13] W.S. §6-2-315 (2007)

[14] W.S. §6-2-316 (2007)

Wyofile up and running

KGingery — Tue, 01 Apr 2008 17:27:00 GMT

I just wanted to point out a new website that deals with Wyoming news and politics. It is called Wyofile and is located at http://www.wyofile.com/index.htm . They have quite a line up of contributing writers including Professor Donahue from the UW Law School, Geoff O'Gara from Wyoming Public Television, and Jason Marsden from the League of Conservation Voters. There is an interesting article regarding the new subdivsion law from Prof. Donahue. I agree with many of her points and that is one of the reasons I voted against the bill and actually tried to amend the bill to do many of the things she is advocating for in her article. But, anyway, another good source for Wyoming conversations to add to your Favorites.

Prescription Drug Abuse

KGingery — Tue, 26 Feb 2008 21:24:00 GMT

I co-sponsored a bill called Prescription Drugs-Physician Shopping (HB 127). I was asked to co-sponsor the bill by students of Jackson Hole High School. About 20 students at Jackson Hole High School belong to a statewide high school program called Youth for Justice. These high school students across the state picked a topic that they thought was an issue that needed to be addressed by the State Legislature. They chose the issue of prescription drug abuse.

They then researched the issue and helped to draft a bill. They found sponsors for the bill and then set about creating a brochure that explains the bill. The students from all across the state came down to Cheyenne this week and worked to educate legislator on the issue.

The students from Jackson did a really impessive job the past few days. They were professional and well received. They observed the debate this morning on the bill and the bill has now passed out of the House and moves on to the Senate.

HB 127 does the following:

Makes it illegal to alter a prescription
illegal to furnish false information or omit information to obtain a prescription
illegal to fail to disclose that you have received the same presciption from another doctor within the last 30 days.

the bill provides for treatment for those individuals that are caught under this act, in order to assist them with getting off of their addiction.

Their teacher is Jennifer Shew who is doing a great job of getting our students interested in public service and understanding how our government works. Some school board members and our Supertendent came down with the students also.

Crisis Stabilization Beds

KGingery — Thu, 21 Feb 2008 00:07:00 GMT

I was successful today in getting my amendment through the House of Representatives that will fund Crisis Stabilization Beds for the mentally ill. (2nd Reading Amendment #28) Under the present system if a person has a mental health incident in which the State involuntary commits the person, they are transported to the State Hospital in Evanston. Crisis Stabilization beds allow the person to be stabilized in their own communities rather than being sent to the State Hospital. This is part of the ongoing effort to regionalize the delivery of mental health services in our state. The state has been divided into 5 regions, and we are trying to fund each region to have the same services in each region.

I am co-chair, along with Senator Aullman, of the Select Committee on Mental Health and Substance Abuse and this was part of the plan that we put forth earlier this year. We believe that this will serve the patient better and in the long run save the state money, because we will not have to spend so much money at the State Hospital in Evanston. This is a very important step toward improving our mental health system in Wyoming.

Autism in Wyoming

KGingery — Wed, 20 Feb 2008 23:49:00 GMT

I co-sponsored an amendment today in the Budget Bill (2nd Reading Amendment #5) that would have provided $5 million toward lowering the waiting list for the Child Development Disabilities Waiver Waiting List. The Amendment failed. But it was close, so I will try again on 3rd Reading on Friday.

Developmental Disabilities includes Autism, which has been on the rise in Wyoming. Wyoming currently has 3 waiver programs ---

Adult Acquired Brain Injury 158 being served --- 0 on the waiting list

Adult Development Disabilities 1257 being served -- 32 on the waiting list

Child Development Disabilities 713 being served -- 113 on the waiting list (as of 1/31/08)

I am concentrating my efforts on reducing the waiting list for Child Developmental Disabilities. Waiver programs are for those that qualify of institutionalization, but instead we "waive" the rules and the person is provided services in their own home and community. For children with autism and other developmental disabilites, a big part of the services is providing some respite care for the child.

The budget amendment would have reduced the waiting list of 113 on the Child Development Disabilities Waiting List. These 113 children have to wait for more than a year to finally receive services. It is traumatic when your child is diagnosed with a developmental disability, and you are told that your child will be sitting on a waiting list for over a year, if not more. We need to make an attempt to get this waiting list down.

The Governor denied the request to reduce the waiting list and so far the Legislature has agreed with the Governor. If you agree that children should not have to wait on a waiting list to receive services, email your legislator or other legislators urging them to vote for the 3rd reading amendment that will provide the funding to reduce the waiting list on child developmental disability waiver.

Because our debates are on the internet being broadcast, many of the parents that have children with developmental disabilities, heard what I had to say, and I received emails detailing their lives. I received one email in particular, that was just heart breaking to read. She ended with her email with the following: "I have three more years before he attends Kindergarten. I don't know how we are going to survive till then or where to turn for help."

No citizen of Wyoming should have wonder where to turn for help for the needs of a child with a developmental disability. The state needs to step up to this need.

Local Government Distribution

KGingery — Tue, 19 Feb 2008 23:11:00 GMT

I won't go into detail as to how the formula actually works, but essentially we distribute the funds from the State coffers back to the counties and towns based on a few different factors, one of which being "hardship" The bottom line is this

Jackson will receive $1.5 million, which is about $20,000 more than the last budget cycle.

Teton County will receive $1.2 million which is about $20,000 more also.

Dubois will receive $194,000 which is actually $10,000 less.

There are also other pots of money, in particular the counties will get a block allocation for county projects. Teton County will get about $7 million for those projects.

Wyoming Budget Bill

KGingery — Tue, 19 Feb 2008 23:01:00 GMT

The Budget Bill for the biennium of 2009-2010 has begun its progress through the Wyoming Legislature this week. On Monday and Tuesday, the House of Representatives worked the bill for 1st reading. It was a long process and it will now move on to 2nd reading on Thursday. (There is a down day on Wednesday for the budget, to allow legislators to organize for the 2nd reading) It is 2nd reading where you will see all of the amendments. It is the first chance for legislators to amend the budget bill. As of 4 p.m. today, there are 40 amendments to the budget bill that will have to be worked on Thursday. Legislators have until 5 p.m. to get their amendments in.

The major issue that will be affecting Teton County and the Town of Jackson is the local government distribution. The formula is quite cumbersome, and I will do a separate blog on the forumula.

Speed Limits on Interstate 80

KGingery — Sun, 17 Feb 2008 23:25:00 GMT

I often get emails on this subject matter, so I thought I better report back on this subject. It has been suggested to me by more than a few Jacksonites that we need to reduce the speed limit on I-80 for the tractor trailers. So the cars would stay at 75, but the big trucks would go down to 65. Rep. Harshman of Casper sponsored that bill this year, but it failed to get enough votes to be introduced. For those of you that have driven on I-80, what do you think? Should trucks drive slower than the cars?

Property Tax Bills

KGingery — Sun, 17 Feb 2008 22:56:00 GMT

Some people have been emailing wondering why I haven't been blogging the first week of the session. We started the Budget Session on February 11 and I have been negotiating around the clock to get the property tax reform bills heard and hopefully passed, so I haven't had time to blog until today. Here is where we are at--- we started with quite a few bills filed and we have narrowed down the list to a few strong contenders.

As I have said in the past, any relief bills, whether they are direct credits, payments, reduced mill levies, reduced assessment rates, or homestead exemption are all great ideas, but are only band aid approaches. The real problem in Wyoming with property taxes is the high rate of increase of assessed values. Our Constitution does not allow us to set caps on rates of increase of assessed values, so we will need a constitutional amendment to make that change.

Some states set limits such as 1% or 5%, or greater as to the rate of increase that the value of your home can go up for tax purposes. When you sell it, the new owner is now responsible for the real fair market value. In may own neighborhood, the assessed value of the homes have gone up 118% since 2001.

The bills that we are seriously looking at are:

HJ 3 is the Constitutional Amendment that will create a new class of property just for residential property and would allow the legislature to set limits on the rate of increase on assessed values. This is by far the most important bill to get through this session, because it will get the issue before the voters in November and gives the ultimate solution to the problem.

HB 162 will only go into effect if HJ 3 passes the vote of the people in November. If the Constitutional Amendment passes, then HB 162 would go into effect and set a limit on the rate of increase of the assessed value of your home. Right now the bill is setting the limit at the same amount that we adjust K-12 funding every year. That way, it potentially changes to stay in line with the needs of the state.

There are also one or two means tested bills still alive, that are seen as backup plans and potential short term relief bills that provide some relief while we are trying to get the Constitutional Amendment passed.

Abuse of Animals HB 46

KGingery — Sun, 17 Feb 2008 22:46:00 GMT

House Bill 46 "Abuse of Animals" made it through Introduction on a vote of 48-12 and has been assigned to Travel, Recreation, and Wildlife (TRW) Committee. The Committee is going to hear the bill at 8 am on Monday, February 18. In a budget session, a bill has to receive a 2/3 majority to even be introduced and considered. So the bill has received its 2/3 majority in order to be introduced and go to committee. The bill should probably be amended along the way to strengthen the penalties. Right now, it is written as a 1st offense animal fighting is still a misdeanor and then it is a felony on the 2nd offense. I think that it will end up leaving the House and going to the Senate with amendments that make a 1st offense a felony. Some folks from Jackson are coming down on Monday morning to testify in support of the bill and then hopefully we can start working the bill on the floor of the House on Tuesday or Wednesday. I am a co-sponsor of the bill. I will try to keep everyone updated on this bill through the comments below, as to how it is progressing along in the process. Also, feel free to email me at kgingery@wyoming.com to get an update and to find out what you can do to help.

Gingery opposes drilling in Wyoming Range

KGingery — Tue, 05 Feb 2008 16:44:00 GMT

Greg Clark, District Ranger

Big Piney Ranger District

P.O. Box 218

Big Piney, WY 83113

re: Scoping Comments for the Eagle Prospect and Noble Basin Master Development Plan EIS

Dear Mr. Clark:

Please accept the following scoping comments on my behalf, as the State Representative for House

District 23, regarding the Eagle Prospect and Noble Basin Master Development Plan. I urge the U.S.

Forest Service to recognize the degree of concern with which the public regards this project. Not only

will full field development forever change the character of this forest, but I agree with Governor

Freudenthal that this project may be the “first domino” that ushers in development of tens of thousands of

leased acres in the Wyoming Range.

I do not dispute that Plains holds valid leases. However, Plains (and previous speculators holding these

same leases) has far exceeded the statutory ten year lease term through their numerous extensions and

suspensions. I urge the U.S. Forest Service to suspend the EIS process in order to ensure that proper

baseline analyses are prepared and landscape scale availability decisions are made. By suspending the

EIS process, would allow for Wyoming’s congressional delegation to work on a buy out of the leases.

Plains (and their predecessors in interest) have been granted more time, the public should receive the

same benefit of more time.

I also do not believe that mitigation will be successful in regards to compliance with the Clean Air Act,

Clean Water Act, and the Endangered Species Act. The U.S. Forest Service has the statutory authority

and the duty to outright deny the development for violating the above stated non-discretionary statutes.

If you decide to not suspend the EIS process, I would urge the U.S. Forest Service to at least make the

public comment period longer between the scoping deadline and the draft EIS. I believe it is important

for there t be public field trips into the area during the Summer months. It is nearly impossible for the

public to access the area in the middle of Winter. The draft EIS deadline should be moved into the Fall to

allow for the public to view the area throughout the Summer months.

Taking a more deliberate and careful approach would be beneficial for everyone involved. It would allow

the opportunity to more effectively analyze the impacts from the proposed development, but it would also

provide time for all stakeholders to pursue other, non-development alternatives outside the U.S. Forest

Service’s direct authority. This includes the option of voluntary retirement of leases in the Wyoming

Range through purchase or trade.

If you do decide to proceed without suspending the EIS process or extending the deadline for the Draft

EIS to the Fall of 2008, I urge the U.S. Forest Service to consider as the preferred alternative the buy

out/trade alternative. This is a win – win option for both the developer and the people of Wyoming. This

is not only an environmental concern, but also a concern to the financial stability of the State of

Wyoming. Presently there is not enough pipeline capacity in this part of Wyoming to add anymore

natural gas production. By bringing this field on line, will drive the price of natural gas down further,

causing a ripple effect in the Wyoming economy.

I am also concerned that once this development is approved that the next area will be the leases that sit

between Hoback Junction and Game Creek in Teton County. It is my understanding that this area is

believed to have a greater potential than the Jonah Field.

For the reasons stated above, I respectfully request that the U.S. Forest Service suspend the Eagle

Prospect and Noble Basin Master Development Plan EIS. A suspension will allow time for the U.S.

Forest Service to complete numerous studies required for a project of this severity and allow time for

interested stakeholders to find creative solutions that could occur outside the EIS process. If the Forest

Service instead decides to move forward with preparation of a draft EIS, I would respectfully request that

you extend the deadline from May 2008 to the Fall of 2008 in order to allow the public an opportunity for

public field trips during the Summer months to look at the site. I would also urge that the buy out/trade

alternative be your preferred alternative.

Sincerely,

State Representative Keith Gingery – Jackson Hole

Wyoming House of Representatives

Best Books of 2007

KGingery — Mon, 04 Feb 2008 04:22:00 GMT

I know I'm about a month late on putting out this year's best books list, but I had a few that I had to finish reading in January.

Fiction -- Out Stealing Horses - Per Petterson

Nothing else even came close this year. It was translated into English from Norwegian this year. It is the kind of book that you will be thinking about days after you finish reading it. I am confident that it will be assigned reading in 11th grade English classes within a few years. It is that kind of classic.

Non-Fiction- Legacy of Ashes

The reporter that wrote this history of the CIA used only public records and on the record interviews, which makes it even more powerful to learn how disasterous the CIA has been in almost every thing they have ever tried. It is a stunning condemnation of a government agency run amok. Certainly a lot more realistic and believable than the spy novels and movies that we have come to associate with the CIA. The real story is just simply sad and depressing.

Even though I think Legacy of Ashes is Number 1, I also have to mention two other non-fiction books.

The Nine - Inside the Secret World of the Supreme Court - Jeffrey Toobin

Mr. Toobin is masterful at relating hard to understand cases into layman's terms and to make a somewhat dry subject flow like a good novel.

The Center Cannot Hold - Elyn Saks

Elyn Saks is a law professor who describes her journey through mental illness and getting through law school and going on to a very successful legal career.

Biographies -- I read quite a few biographies this past year and none of them impressed me. Cheney's biography was boring. It was simply a calendar of events that he was at supposedly. It was a little interesting to see some of the Jackson Hole references. As for autobiographies, Joe Biden had the best this year. He has had an intersting life as a U.S. Senator and I enjoyed that one. Alan Greenspan's book was awful. After finishing it, you realize that the federal reserve chairman's control on the economy is a myth. They have almost nothing to do with our economy.

What were your favorite books this year?