The "Rich States, Poor States: ALEC-Laffer State Economic Competitiveness Index" is an annual report published by the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) Center for State Fiscal Reform. It ranks states' economic competitiveness using fifteen equally weighted policy variables, including various tax rates, regulatory burdens, and labor polic...

Welcome to another episode of Eye on the Issues. Today, we're delving into the energy sector in Wyoming with Pete Obermueller, President of the Petroleum Association of Wyoming. Pete shares insights on the vital role of oil and gas in Wyoming's economy, detailing the industry's contributions to GDP, employment, and tax revenue.  Discover how t...

In this episode, we hear about the business climate of Wyoming with Renny MacKay, head of the Wyoming Business Alliance.  Renny shares his extensive background, from serving as Policy Director for Governor Mark Gordon to his role in communications for Governor Matt Mead. Now leading the Wyoming Business Alliance, Renny represents a diverse arr...

by Wyoming Liberty Group A lawyer for Rep. Harriet Hageman, Wyoming's member of the U.S. House of Representatives, recently sent a cease-and-desist letter to a candidate running for the U.S. Senate, demanding that he stop issuing social media posts suggesting that Hageman is backing his candidacy. "[Y]ou have persisted in your attempts to mislead R...

by Wyoming Liberty Group In a recent message on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, Rep. Rachel Rogriguez-Williams, a state lawmaker from Cody in the 50th District, shared an important quote from the former chief of operations for the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency. Here's that quote: "We quickly realized that money from selling fentanyl on th...

In this episode of Eye on the Issues, we hear takeaways from the recent legislative session and explore key outcomes with Senator Wendy Schuler, who represents Senate District 15 in Uinta County.  Senator Schuler reflects on the budget session, highlighting the challenges and successes of passing the budget. She provides an overview of the leg...

by Wyoming Liberty Group Earlier this year, a California woman in her early 30s was sentenced to two years of probation—with no prison time—after stabbing her boyfriend over 100 times with a long-serrated bread knife and killing him. Oh, and she also received a hundred hours of community service. What explained the brief sentence for the chilling m...

Welcome back to another episode of Eye on The Issues! We recorded this interview with Dr. John Mansell during the 2024 Wyoming legislative session when it was still to be determined if this year's session would see yet another attempt to expand Medicaid in our state. For the first time in several years, no actual attempts were made. However, very r...

by Steve Klein  The most recent reports from the Wyoming Attorney General to the Legislature that I discussed in a recent post paint a detailed but incomplete picture of cash seizures under the Wyoming Controlled Substances Act from 2018 through 2022. This is part of a practice called civil forfeiture, which permits the government to seize and...

by Wyoming Liberty Group They call it "California sober." Or "Cali sober," for short. "They" are teenagers and others who are increasingly using marijuana instead of alcohol under the premise that pot is somehow safer. It's a well-entrenched thing when there's already a nickname for a habit. "Cali sober," as a term and practice, began to take hold ...