Late in the afternoon on Monday, February 10th, 2020, the Wyoming State Legislature failed to pass House Bill 75, a measure intended to pave the way for Medicaid expansion. Although the bill failed before it could officially be introduced in the House of Representatives, examining the contents of House Bill 75 closely to determine whether or not ex...

by Benjamin Barr Today we celebrate the tenth anniversary of the Supreme Court's ruling in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission. You have probably heard a number of bad things about Citizens United, but its core truth is simple: groups of people are free to spend money for political speech. Before Citizens United, corporations and unions—...

The Department of Health released their final report on Medicaid expansion in Wyoming and enrollment cost projections. Medicaid already covers hundreds of poverty-stricken individuals in our state. But, the Revenue Committee in the Wyoming Legislature would like the full body to consider expanding Medicaid to non-disable, childless adults, over the...

by Philip Baron, MBA As 2019 draws to a close let's look at the tax increase bills to watch out for in the 2020 budget session. Here is a summary of the tax increase bills that have been endorsed by the Interim Joint Revenue Committee for introduction in February 2020. Corporate Income Tax: Link to bill: National Corporate Tax Recapture The biggest...

Despite the clear cut law that names of government servants are public records, Superintendent Jillian Balow thinks she is above the law. School districts across this state will burn through more of our tax dollars hiring attorneys to try and weasel out of a simple public record request by Senator Tom James asking for the names and salaries of thos...

by Philip Baron, MBA At the October meeting of the interim Joint Transportation, Highways & Military Affairs, a fifty-cent tax "fee" was proposed on every phone connection in the state. The proposed bill was not sponsored by the committee, who declined to vote on moving the bill out of committee. This fee would be administered in a similar way ...

by Philip Baron, MBA A draft bill sponsored by Rep. Harshman, R -- Casper, proposes that the Office of State Lands and Investments solicit proposals to maximize the value of school and state trust lands. The draft bill was discussed at the November 12, 2019 meeting of the Select Committee on Capital Financing and Investments. The aim of this legisl...

by Philip Baron, MBA A proposed bill to tax electricity generated in Wyoming was heard Interim Joint Revenue Committee on Tuesday, Nov 12th, 2019. The committee failed to vote on the legislation. The proposal led by Sen. Cale Case, R – Lander, seeks to tax electricity generated in Wyoming at a rate of $1 a Megawatt-hour (MWH) or the gross receipts ...

by Evan Blauser Lawmakers say Medicaid expansion is an "investment" for Wyoming. The numbers say otherwise. Prior to the passage of a Medicaid expansion bill at the Interim Revenue Committee's meeting on November 12th, 2019, select lawmakers made claims about Medicaid expansion functioning as an investment from the federal government into the state...

by Austin Hein Last week, the Wyoming Joint Judiciary Committee voted 8-6 to kill a gun control bill that would have expanded the National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS). The bill was a trojan horse for further restrictions on the people's right to keep and bear arms. Luckily, eight committee members were able to put a stop to "Fix...