by Wyoming Liberty Group Staff The Government Employment Ratio (GER) is one of several measurements of the size of government. Likewise, the Government Compensation Ratio (GCR) is a measurement of the cost of government related directly to the performance of the private sector. Main finding: Wyoming has the largest GER and the second highest GCR of...

by Austin Hein Last week, I wrote about the constitutionality of education choice programs and how they relate to the recent Supreme Court ruling of Trinity Lutheran v. Comer. If that was not enough to convince you of the Constitutionality of education choice programs, this will. Regardless of the Trinity Lutheran decision, programs like Education ...

by Wyoming Liberty Group Staff Every time I open the Casper Star Tribune I feel the urge to write another "set the record straight" piece. Just last week I had to correct the Tribune's account on the corporate income tax; this week's exhibit of biased reporting is their July 21 story on government spending reform. The article gives the reader a fir...

by Wyoming Liberty Group Staff Government spending in Wyoming is under scrutiny, in part because of proposals to raise taxes as an alternative to spending cuts. This Report examines three spending areas with reference to government charges, calculating the net spending by those areas. Main finding: Because of the net balance between spending on the...

By Philip Baron, MBA Decreased mineral tax revenue has led Wyoming lawmakers to consider raising the tax on wind energy from $1 a Megawatt Hour to $5 a Megawatt Hour. Wyoming is the only state that has a true "Wind Tax" of $1 per kilowatt-hour. When compared to other wind producing states in the West, Wyoming has had a lack of wind development sinc...

by Wyoming Liberty Group Staff It is sometimes suggested that Wyoming needs more government spending per capita because we are a rural state. As recently as on July 21, the Casper Star Tribune suggested as much: According to a 2018 analysis by USA Today, state and local government spending per capita in Wyoming is the second-highest in the nation, ...

by Wyoming Liberty Group Staff The last Weekly Economic Report explained that there had been no visible effect on government spending in Colorado since the introduction of TABOR. This Report looks at the revenue side of the budget. Main finding: The introduction of TABOR has had a limited but statistically visible effect on state revenue in line wi...

by Wyoming Liberty Group Staff Education choice is vital to growing and developing Wyoming as a state. Wyoming needs a strong, student-centered education system to move forward. Many of the state legislators understand this, but why is there such little progress in education freedom? Most arguments you hear are weak excuses, such as the case with t...

by Wyoming Liberty Group Staff The bankruptcy of Blackjewel LLC on July 1st, 2019, led to the closure of their operations in Wyoming at the Bella Ayr and Eagle Butte mines. Around 600 miners were put out of work. These mines generate around $30.4 million1 a year in severance taxes (tax on minerals taken from the ground), and about $15.2 million2 a ...

by Wyoming Liberty Group Staff Some citizens who have corresponded the Revenue Committee in opposition to tax hikes have been asked for input on where the state can make budget cuts. This is a welcome question, one that legislators have asked before. Before I respond to this request, I would like to point out that there is not exactly a vacuum wher...