State revenues are declining dramatically and are expected to continue to decline. That means big ticket items, even crucial ones like K-12 education, must feel the pinch. No one wants the quality of education in Wyoming to drop, but the spending on it must decrease. Why? The Consensus Revenue Estimating Group (CREG) projected in January that total...

by Charles Katebi Liberals frequently claim that Medicaid expands healthcare options to the less fortunate. But without major reforms, Medicaid will become a major barrier for patients seeking care. Medicaid's looming threat to patients stems from its wasteful reimbursement regime. The program pays most doctors, hospitals, and clinics on a fee-for-...

by Charles Katebi No single provision of Obamacare has been more disastrous than Medicaid Expansion. It's cost taxpayers billions more than promised and hurt the very people it was intended to help. Now Governor Mead wants to try yet again to expand this ruinous government program in Wyoming. Following an event at an oil recovery facility in Rivert...

Last week I discussed the potential consequences of the latest CREG report's long-term spending outlook. I pointed to the risk for a structural budget deficit, in other words a deficit that does not go away with an improving business cycle. Part of the reason is the role that minerals-based taxes – primarily severance taxes – play in the Wyoming st...

The latest CREG report predicts that General Fund revenue will grow at a crawling 2.1 percent per year on average from 2016 through 2020. Worse, as Figure 1 shows, the trend for most revenue sources is downward: The Wyoming state government has weathered tough times before, which is one reason why the state has, basically, two years of spending sta...