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Senator Barrasso, Senator Enzi, and Congresswoman Lummis each spoke to the Wyoming Legislature on Friday.  All 3 had a common theme that Congress could learn a lot from the Wyoming Legislature.  Specifically we only have one subject per bill, the amendments are germane, we balance our budget, the Governor has line item veto.

Representative Colin Simpson, the Speaker of the Wyoming House of Representatives has been working for years for improvements to our health care system.  Below is a letter that he sent out earlier today describing some of the bills that he is working on.
As this budget session continues, there are two bills I’d like to highlight that may be acted upon this week by the Wyoming House of Representatives. During these tough economic times we need to reduce costs for hard-working Wyomingites – so they can afford health coverage – and …

The Wyoming Legislature is trying an experiment today in allowing testimony before a standing legislative committee by videoconference.  Usually, in order to testify in support or opposition to a bill before the legislature you have to travel all the way to Cheyenne and appear in person.  The legislature has set up one committee room (Room 302 for those familiar with the Capitol Building) with monitors and cameras.  People who wish to testify will be able to go to a videoconference site in their hometown and testify from their own town.�
Today …

Governor Dave Freudenthal gave his State of the State of Wyoming this morning at 10 a.m..  Because it is a budget session, he spent most of his hour long speech discussing the budget.  The primary message was that the legislature should not touch the reserves.  He believes we are going to need the money in 2012 to keep education funded at the same levels.�
For non-budget items, he stated that he is in support of my committee’s juvenile justice bills, and likes my DUI bill.  He wants to tax wind.  He …

Chief Justice Voight gave the State of the Judiciary this morning to the full legislature.�
The housekeeping items were:

Wants to look into District Court Commissioners and make sure that we are using them properly
Video Appearance Rules need to be promulgated
Digital Recording funding
Continue to look into where we are locating judges
Need funding for interpreters
Need to look at cost/benefit analysis for peremptory challenges to judges
Who pays postage on Rule 77(d) when orders are mailed out.

Statistically he stated that circuit court and district court filings are up.  However, within those numbers, criminal numbers are …

Monday, February 8, 2010— the first day of the Wyoming Legislature’s Budget Session.  The primary purpose of the session is to set the budget for the next 2 years.  The new budget year begins on July 1, 2010 and runs through June 30, 2012, so we refer to the budget as the 11-12 budget, even though part of it is in 10.  This morning there is a reception at the Wyoming Supreme Court.  I chair the House Judiciary Committee, so I will attend that reception, since many of the requests …

Get Involved in the 2010 Wyoming Legislative Session
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“Information moving at the speed of light.” It’s a phrase commonly used in the digital age that we live in today including a place you may not expect, the Wyoming Legislature. Before the days of the Internet, the public didn’t have the opportunities to participate in the legislative process from anywhere in the state. Unless you were physically at the Capitol in Cheyenne, up-to-date information was hard to come by and in most cases delayed by several hours or even several days. …

Home / News / Casper News
Critics say juvenile justice problem is overstated
Advocates push reform

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By JOSHUA WOLFSON – Star-Tribune staff writer | Posted: Saturday, January 2, 2010 12:00 am | No Comments Posted

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Angelica Arriaga prepares to hand out stockings full of candy and books to the students at the Juvenile Detention Center on Christmas morning 2008. (File/Star-Tribune)

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Juvenile justice reform advocates have been pushing Wyoming to adopt a philosophy that favors fewer jailed kids and more alternatives to …

The big topic this week in the coffeehouses of Jackson has been tax swapping.  (Well maybe not in every coffeehouse, but at least in the ones I frequent and you got to sit next to old nerds like me that discuss tax policy as a hobby).  Tax swapping was created a few years ago in response to a need seen from the Town of Jackson.  The Town of Jackson is the only town in the State of Wyoming that does not assess property tax (each municipality can assess up to …

Energy companies count Wyoming oilfield deaths wrong, labor leader says
by phil.noble on December 11th, 2009

by Phil Noble, Cowboy State Free Press Bureau Chief
CHEYENNE–”They (energy companies) would love you to believe people are dying from car wrecks,” Wyoming AFL-CIO head Kim Floyd said in response to recent testimony to a legislative committee about high transportation deaths contributing to Wyoming’s status as leading the nation in workplace fatalities.
“They’re counting the deaths (from oilfield accidents) wrong. if you’re working in the oil field on a pipeline and you die, that’s counted under transportation. …