by Wyoming Liberty Group Staff The persistent deficits in the federal budget, as well as in the Wyoming state finances, are painful reminders of government overspending. Understandably, we often hear calls for drastic spending reductions, and they will become necessary soon enough, unless we begin reforming our state and local governments in the di...

by Wyoming Liberty Group Staff In response to questions from a couple of blog readers, here is a short review of the industrial structure of the Wyoming economy. One reader wanted to know how much each industry contributes to our state's economy; the other asked what industries provide the biggest tax base. These two questions are about the same to...

by Wyoming Liberty Group Staff >>Due to travel, the second part of the report on government revenue has been postpone one week.<< Private-sector employment in Wyoming is up by 5,000 in January 2019 over the same month a year earlier. This 2.4-percent increase is the largest since 2015. The construction industry led the state in jobs cre...

by Wyoming Liberty Group Staff As I have noted on a couple of occasions now, 2019 is shaping up to be a great year to start reforming government spending here in Wyoming. Two sessions in a row, the legislature has rejected massive tax hikes and even refused to appoint a commission to overhaul our tax system. Time is ripe to talk about spending refo...

by Wyoming Liberty Group Staff This year is a great time to discuss the future of Wyoming, especially in terms of what role government should play in our state's economy. On February 22 I proposed a list of topics for this conversation, ranging from comprehensive transparency and efficiency reforms to school choice and free-market reforms in health...

by Philip Baron According to a Wyoming Taxpayers Association report, that was distributed to the legislators in the 2019 session, a three-person household pays in $3,070 in taxes and receives $27,600 in public services. This analysis only considers taxes as a source of revenue and does not look at all of the funding through fees and other sources o...

Natrona County School District faced scrutiny after the non-profit group OpenTheBooks published records of nearly $10 million in credit card purchases – highlighting voids in financial transparency breeding excessive spending culture throughout Wyoming. More than a year's worth of credit card records for Natrona County published demonstrated a shoc...

by Wyoming Liberty Group Staff The Bureau of Labor Statistics is slightly behind in releasing state and county level employment data. We will have state-level numbers for January on March 11 and the February numbers on March 22. We can also look forward to the county-level numbers for the third and fourth quarters of 2018. In the meantime, here is ...

by Wyoming Liberty Group Staff Setting the Scene: America's Opioid Epidemic According to the Wyoming Department of Health, 67% of drug-related deaths in Wyoming occurred because of prescription drug overdoses. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimates that in 2017, 49,000 Americans died from opioid overdoses, with overall overd...

Six full years of Wyoming state spending records are now available with the click of a button thanks to Wyoming's new State Auditor Racines. She produced all records for less than $180 and refunded the previous payments for requests made totalling $7,820. Next up? Saving Wyoming taxpayers millions of dollars in avoided wasteful spending. It is time...