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...

An Analysis of the British Columbia Model to Cut Red Tape – How They Eliminated 1/3 of all Regulations in 3 Years. Wyoming is a society afflicted by distrust when it comes to taxes, an economy reliant on minerals, and government spending. Support for reducing regulation is broad-based as the general public supports such initiatives while lawmakers ...

by Philip Baron, MBA Many industries in Wyoming focus around the production of oil, gas, and coal. These industries have many small businesses and suppliers that support the miners who extract the minerals from the ground. Some of the support industries that build equipment or manufacture parts could find work making specialty parts for the aerospa...

by Philip Baron, MBA A draft bill to raise property taxes by nine mills died with a tie vote of 6 – 6 in the Joint Revenue Committee Meeting on September 19th, 2019. This legislation was first proposed in the spring 2019 legislative session and was not considered for introduction into the house chamber. The proposed property tax increase was to tak...

by Wyoming Liberty Group Staff As a political economist I am the first to admit that the final word on any policy reform goes to facts and impartial analysis. There are many times when I have recommended against reforms even though they were ideologically desirable, simply because the economic and fiscal aspects of the reform did not work out right...

by Wyoming Liberty Group Staff The State of Arizona has an ESA program (Empowerment Scholarship Account) that is often discussed in the national debate over education choice. What would an ESA program look like in Wyoming? Main finding: A Wyoming version of the Arizona ESA, with universal eligibility for the K-12 student population in the state, co...

by Wyoming Liberty Group Staff With the reported change in personal income in Wyoming, from work-based to equity-based and sourced from entitlements, it is valid to ask what the implications are for consumer spending. Main finding: Consumer spending is relatively weak. Basic necessities, including insurance take up a larger share of consumer spendi...