A favorite corporate welfare scheme in Wyoming uses tax dollars to attract private companies to the state. One headline-grabbing scheme involves tax breaks and grants for data center attraction. When spinning the benefits of these subsidies, politicians make effusive claims to taxpayers, raving on about diversifying the economy, creating jobs, boos...

As the minerals boom turned to bust, so did the revenue supporting big government in Wyoming. Now our politicians have a choice. Should they: cut spending back to a level Wyoming taxpayers can afford;use revenues hoarded in savings accounts to continue spending at ever higher levels until savings run out, or;give money to private companies to magic...

Wyoming Voters Say Individuals Make Better Spending Decisions than Government Introduction The Wyoming government depends overwhelmingly on the minerals industry to fund its activities. The minerals industry, however, is a source of cyclical revenue; when revenues rise, so does government spending and hording. When revenues fall, politicians look t...

The Wyoming Business Council (WBC) enables a number of programs that funnel tax dollars to private companies. When the WBC asked the State Loan and Investment Board for a $1.35 million grant for a Wyoming town to benefit a private company, McGinley Orthopaedic Innovations, the Board rubber stamped it, as expected. This is but one example of a corpo...

Governments everywhere favor some companies over others by showering them with other people's money. In Wyoming, the constitution forbids legislators from giving tax dollars away directly, but this hasn't stopped indirect giveaways. One giveaway is called Public Purpose Investment, or PPI. Although sold on the basis of its supposed benefits, these ...

As dreams of palaces turn into nightmares, Wyoming's Capitol renovation project muddles along to fiscal disaster. After paying millions to design and architectural consultants and having state employees work on the project for more than a year, the committee has decided it's time to hire someone to manage the project. But instead of hiring someone ...

Have you ever wondered whether government should buy coal or natural gas, convert it to a higher valued product and then sell that product in the open market? If this sounds like a bad idea to you, you'd be right. Private companies have already invested their own money in this type of scheme and lost big. It is unlikely government would do better w...

The 2015 legislative session created a number of measures that put taxpayers into the risky business of supporting some private companies. It also, in contrast, set up the Minerals Tax Task Force that could turn this corporate welfare trend around. The job of the task force is to study and make recommendations for a fair, viable and simplified syst...

A Wyoming love story For thousands of years, alchemists tried to change base metals into gold. Today, this lofty goal rests unachieved, but its legacy remains. Now, instead of changing lead to gold, crafty alchemists look to change money from the pockets of taxpayers to their own, and governments seem happy to assist. High on the alchemy hit list i...

"We need to look like we are doing something for that community." Wyoming Sen. Wasserberger, Joint Appropriations Committee, January 26, 2015 Facing declining mineral tax revenues, the desire to continue spending and the inability, so far, to raid the rainy day fund, Gov. Mead's push to diversify the economy to create jobs and generate more tax rev...