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...