The Wyoming Constitution has an interesting prohibition in it that states that all supreme court justices and district court judges must retire at the age of 70.  The Wyoming Constitution has effectively written age discrimination directly into the constitution.  We, as a state, have made a statement that a judge is incompetent pass the age of 70.  This, of course, is not true and this attitude toward the Judiciary sets a dangerous precedent for other occupations.
For some reason, we have decided that beyond 70 there is nothing more that that …

It is widely discussed in Wyoming that men make more money than women, otherwise known as the Gender Wage Gap.  The primary issue is that the higher paying jobs in Wyoming are usually male dominated, such as oil/gas roughneck, miner, truck driver, etc.  Many in the state have been working to bring more women into these fields that have been male dominated.  The Western Wyoming Community College has a great training program for working in the gas fields and thus getting into those higher paying jobs.

Below is a story that …

As many of you know, Teton County hauls their solid waste (garbage) to the Sublette County Landfill.  One of the main reasons is that the Wyoming Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) requires that a landfill cannot impact groundwater.  In Teton County it is hard to find a suitable location that does not affect groundwater.  Thus the old landfill south of town was closed and now a transfer station sits there.
The State of Wyoming has been grappling with the issue of landfills impacting ground water for many years.  The Federal EPA …

Below is an article from the LA Times discussing the Duty of Care bill that I sponsored along with Sen. Ross last legislative session.  It is presently being debated in the Joint Judiciary Committee, where Sen. Ross and I serve as co-chairs.  The article is discussing some of the testimony that came out last week when we met in Cheyenne.

Reporting from Cheyenne, Wyo. – This is a state anxious to shed its reputation as the most dangerous place in the nation to work.
For the last several years, Wyoming has outpaced …

What’s a tax swap?
The number one issue I hear about from constituents is property tax.  On this blog we have discussed many different ideas and possible solutions to the property tax problem in Teton County.  My pessimism toward a legislative solution increases every day, especially since Governor Dave Freudenthal came out with his solution that specifically exempted Teton County out of the formula.  When asked at a press conference about the Teton County exclusion, he replied that property tax relief is not for people of means.  The way his formula …

A normal day at the legislature
Someone asked the other day, what my normal day is like during a legislative session.  Here is how today went.
 5:30 Run 20 minutes on treadmill
6:30 Arrive at Capitol
7:00 Chair Judiciary Committee (I sit as the House Judiciary Chairman and we began our day today at 7 a.m. hearing testimony on 4 bills dealing with Carbon Sequestration)
9:00 15 minute break
9:15 Resume Judiciary Committee hearing on Carbon Sequestration
10:00 Morning Session begins (The full House of Representatives comes into session beginning at 10 and usually goes for 2 …

Gingery Agrees with Governor’s Veto
This is the press release that went out earlier today:�
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State Representative Keith Gingery of Jackson Hole, stated today that he agreed with Governor Dave Freudenthal’s veto of House Enrolled Act 89 (House Bill 262) Very Rare and Uncommon Areas.  Governor Freudenthal vetoed the bill yesterday, March 12, 2009.  Rep. Gingery had argued strongly against this bill while it was being debated in the Wyoming Legislature last month.  The bill would have added another layer of approval to designating areas in Wyoming as rare and uncommon areas.  …

Alternative Energy Bills Die in Minerals Committee
I introduced two bills in the 2009 Wyoming Legislative Session that dealt with alternative energy.  Both bills died in the House Minerals Committee.�
One was House Bill 28 which you can read at HB 28 Text
This bill would have provided a sales tax exemption for hybrids and for vehicles that run on natural gas or other alternative sources.  The bill also provided a property tax exemption if you installed alternative energy sources on your home (solar, geothermal, etc.)
I did a lot of research on this …

By Ben Cannon
Jackson Hole, Wyo.-A pair of Jackson Hole News&Guide editors has taken legal action against the CEO of St. John’s Medical Center, alleging he has repeatedly ignored a reporter’s requests for surgery data that they say is public record.
Co-editors Angus Thuermer and Thomas Dewell filed a complaint last week in Ninth District Court against hospital CEO Jim Schuessler, simultaneously petitioning to inspect “the numbers and types of surgeries performed at the Medical Center in each of the last three years,” according to a copy of the complaint filed in …