In mid-November, Wyoming Attorney General Peter Michael joined an amicus (friend-of-the-court) brief filed in a Maryland case that will soon be heard in the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit. The case, Kolbe v. O'Malley, challenges a law recently enacted in Maryland that bans numerous semi-automatic rifles in the state and limit...

Our introductory blog on this topic focused on the premises of graduate criminal justice fellow Brice Hamack's recent article in the Wyoming Law Review. It is important to clarify that while Mr. Hamack's general concerns are well founded, Wyoming's juvenile justice system has uniquely entrenched problems unique from and, in many ways, worse than th...

For Wyoming parents wondering what really happens behind the scenes to push the direction of statewide education policy, they need look no further. A stunning video released this past week by the parent-led group, Wyoming Citizens Opposing Common Core, revealed minutes from an October meeting convened by an education bureaucracy-led group called th...

As I recently explained, about two thirds of state government spending in Wyoming is dedicated to core welfare-state programs within education, health care and human services (broadly known as "welfare"). With a likely revenue crisis on the horizon, and with the causes of that revenue crisis being structural, it is necessary for the Wyoming state l...

The most important – and most challenging – part of public policy research is to create convincing pathways toward more economic freedom. Compared to the efforts going toward criticizing "big government", the reform issue receives only minor attention. That is not to say there are no proposals out there. On the contrary, in some policy areas it is ...

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...

CHEYENNE – Wyoming Liberty Group attorneys Benjamin Barr and Steve Klein filed an amicus curiae (friend-of-the-court) brief in the Texas Fifth Court of Appeals at Dallas, arguing that a political contributor's convictions for organized crime, bribery and money laundering for campaign finance violations unconstitutionally abridge his First Amendment...

In the two years that Republic Free Choice has been investigating Wyoming's juvenile justice system we have uncovered appalling details within the Wyoming system which juvenile justice advocates and even Wyoming legislators' admit is failed and broken. Even the basic necessity of education for juvenile offenders during incarceration is a frequently...

Is Wyoming in need of a tax reform? Recent economic news indicates that this may be a question worth considering in a not too distant future. The latest CREG report on state government tax revenue presents an improved forecast of General Fund revenue by four percent over January. While the first reaction appears to be a rush to the spending binges,...

Steve Klein speaks with Glenn Woods on Boldrepublic.com about Internet regulation and the likely and negative outcome for free speech as the Federal Election Commission tries to expand its jurisdiction to online speech. 

In an editorial from October 24, the Casper Star Tribune attacks alleged wage discrimination. Citing statistics that women in general earn less than men, the newspaper predictably calls for more government intervention as the universal solution. That solution, says the Tribune, would be "fair schedules and paid sick leave so that workers with care ...

The Tax Foundation, one of America's most influential think tanks, has released their State Business Tax Climate study for 2015. For good reasons, this annual publication attracts a lot of attention from state legislators, policy analysts and media. With its thoroughness and attention to quality and detail, the Tax Foundation sets a high methodolog...

One of the core arguments for government expansion is that there is no other way to reliably help the poor to a better life. This false notion has very deep roots, all the way back to the days when the first elements of the welfare state emerged on European soil. Back then, radical liberals convinced social conservatives that collectivized compassi...

Talk of pension reform in the government sector starts the usual hand wringing among those who think they know best for everyone else. At the moment, Wyoming's government signs most of its workers up to a defined benefit pension plan, whether these workers would prefer another option or not. Most people in the private sector, if they have a pension...

Lorraine Quarberg and Glenn Woods from Boldrepublic.com discuss Gov. Mead's position on Medicaid expansion, and what to do if you are unhappy about what your state government is doing. 

After five years of gridlock, last week a majority of four of six commissioners at the Federal Election Commission finally voted to update the FEC's regulations to comply with the Citizens United decision. For years, the three commissioners representing the Democrats insisted that along with updating the regulations the commission should add new "d...

A recent article in the Wyoming Law Review by graduate criminal justice fellow Brice Hamack from California's Santa Clara University School of Law clearly defines how Wyoming's juvenile justice practices are violating juveniles' due process rights. Mr. Hamack weaves his well-referenced article with legal precedence, constitutional law and case law ...

An unfortunate trend in election law is emerging across America. Campaign finance laws—first designed to supposedly eliminate corruption in government—often instead become the tools of political operatives used to delay, impede, and harass opponents. In other words, campaign finance reform itself is corrupting; its tool is the criminalization of Am...

One of the silliest carve-outs (or exceptions) in modern campaign finance law is the so-called "Socialist Workers" exemption to campaign finance reporting. The Supreme Court ruled in the 1976 case Buckley v. Valeo that if certain groups could show retaliation and oppression due to their views, they could be exempted from disclosing their contributo...