Archive for February, 2010
-
Budging the Budget
On Tuesday, and today, the full House and Senate each heard dozens of amendments to the $2.9 billion budget. You keep a cheat sheet handy, and run back and forth between chambers. But you’re bound to miss something – the Senate will be working
more -
Zebra Mussels and State Sponsored Rodeo
It’s bad enough that pine bark beetles are turning Wyoming forests rust brown. Now there’s a pesky little mollusk, the zebra mussel – originally from Russia, wouldn’t you know – that’s spreading through North America on the bottoms of
more -
School Construction & the State Employee Retirement Fund
A question, Wyoming: have you put up a new school in your town recently? Chances are you have – the education building binge has been revving in high gear for years now, and many school districts have some nice new bricks and mortar. Whether the
more -
Concealed weapon authority (HB0113)
The easiest way to mock or demonize the cause of those who lobby for the liberty to obtain, carry, conceal and use firearms of all sorts is to describe their most vocal and insistent members. Perhaps it’s fairer to mention first the more reasona
more -
The Prevailing Wind
You don’t need a weatherman to know which way the legislature is blowing: on the issue of wind, they’re taking charge, with proposals to tax, regulate, and strip wind power transmission lines of their right to blow over property owners. But ex
more -
Steps Toward Taxing Wind Energy
Wyoming took a big step yesterday toward becoming the first state to tax wind energy production – not property tax, not severance tax, but an excise tax, a duty on the megawatts produced by wind turbines. The House passed the tax on first readin
more -
HAVING ‘FUN’ IN COMMITTEES
Only a government geek could produce a list of whichlegislative committees are the most “fun” to attend, but I can’t help myself –hey, I’m the same guy who rushed back from a Valentines Day weekend at a spawith my favorite wife to attend
more -
The I-80
The various fees and federal money that go into maintaining Interstate 80 don’t pay the bill, according to the Wyoming Department of Transportation, and so it’s asking the Wyoming legislature to create a “Tolling Authority” to collect fare
more -
Energy and the Race for Governor
Wyoming is the nation’s energy bread basket, and every year the legislature has to tackle some new aspect of how government stimulates production, protects the environment, or extracts some revenue from the enormous number of ergs the state prod
more -
Bark Beetle Epidemic
Rep. Seth Carson (D-Laramie) didn’t get a deer this year, and he’s wondering if it has anything to do with the bark beetle epidemic that is turning the Medicine Bow Mountains rusty red. Well, maybe not. Actually, the openings in the forest t
more