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 Philip Baron, MBA Wyoming's proposed corporate income tax is back in a new version that was presented at the Joint Revenue committee in Pinedale on September 19, 2019. This bill sponsored by Rep. Obermueller, R – Casper, passed the committee with a 9 – 4 vote. This new version of the bill would tax all businesses with more than 100 shareholders....

by Evan Blauser In 1963, New York became the first state to implement a new policy mandating that healthcare facilities (including nursing homes) comply with numerous state requirements in order to expand their facilities or construct a new building. The basic tenant behind the policy was that if the government is able to limit the expansion of hea...

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 Philip Baron, MBA On Friday, August 26, 2019, the Joint Judiciary Committee met in Casper, Wyoming, for their second interim meeting of the summer. The most controversial issue discussed was the proposed legislation entitled "Reporting Mental Illness Adjudications to Firearm Dealers." This bill is a part of the national "Fix NICS" (National Inst...

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 Austin Hein It has been almost a full year since the 2018 Farm bill was signed into law by President Trump. One of the few good provisions of that bill legalized the production of hemp. This is especially good for a state like Wyoming, which has the opportunity to capitalize on this new and exploding market. Unfortunately, as it was reported in ...

by Evan Blauser A National Overreliance on Federal Grant Money Medicaid is an open-ended federal match program with a national average match ratio of 60 - 40, meaning 60% of funding comes from the Federal government, and the remaining 40% comes from the states. Due to the open-ended match status of Medicaid, states have a built-in incentive to expa...

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...

A proposed bill being considered by the Judiciary Committee is tabled until their Halloween meeting for concerns from stakeholders and questions about what the bill would actually accomplish. The bill considers taking a bite of the elephant that is public records being stored and accessed electronically through the creation of a website to house so...

by Wyoming Liberty Group Staff Imagine someone walking into a hotel in New York saying "the same hotel room would only cost $80 in Wyoming, so you should only charge me $80 for this $250 room". Absurd? Of course it is. The cost of doing business varies from state to state, even from county to county. Taxes vary, market wages vary, the regulatory bu...

by Wyoming Liberty Group Staff A month from now the Bureau of Economic Analysis releases 2018 consumer-spending data for the states. In two parts, this Report will give an update on the recent history of consumer spending and personal income in Wyoming, compared to other states. This the first part examines personal income. Main finding: Persistent...

Philip Baron, MBA At the Joint Revenue Committee meeting in July 2019, Wyoming lawmakers were presented draft legislation to increase the state fuel tax by 3 cents per gallon. According to the Wyoming Department of Transportation (WyDot), this tax would bring in $20 million a year. WyDot would receive 67% of this revenue, about $13.4 million, and t...

"Premature protectionism of agencies and bodies will hinder progress." This was the key message delivered by the Wyoming Liberty Group to the Judiciary Committee when they convened for their second meeting on August 15thand 16th. The Committee agreed, and in a sweeping vote, killed Senator Tara Nethercott's motion to move forward on drafting a bill...

by Wyoming Liberty Group Staff Wyoming has the nation's highest Government Employment Ratio and the third-highest Government Compensation Ratio. Our state also lacks in industrial diversity. Main finding: Counties where government earnings are a significant share of employee compensation are more industrially diverse than counties with a relatively...

by Evan Blauser Medicare's History and Background At the height of the President Lyndon B. Johnson's "War on Poverty" and "Great Society", the idea of paying in advance for senior's medical costs was presented and passed by the 89th Congress in 1965, and Medicare came into fruition. Since their inception, Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security hav...

by Wyoming Liberty Group Staff With reference to the recent job losses in Wyoming coal mines, this Report presents a review of employment trends in the private sector since 1990. Main findings: 1) Job growth today is low by historic comparison. 2) In terms of employment, our economy is more diversified now than it was three decades ago. News storie...

by Austin Hein Earlier this year, the American Federation for Children (AFC) released the results of a poll they conducted, testing the favorability of school choice programs. The poll showed that 78% of people polled support education savings account programs (ESA). This begs the question: if nearly four-fifths of people support ESAs, why hasn't W...

By Philip Baron, MBA A draft bill presented to the Joint Revenue Committee in July of 2019, would allow voters in a city to approve a sales tax increase (up to 1%) for up to four years. Tax increases imposed for a specific project would expire if they collect the amount of funding needed for the project before the four-year time period. Right now, ...

by Wyoming Liberty Group Staff The Government Employment Ratio (GER) is one of several measurements of the size of government. Likewise, the Government Compensation Ratio (GCR) is a measurement of the cost of government related directly to the performance of the private sector. Main finding: Wyoming has the largest GER and the second highest GCR of...