The Equality State is one of nine states that do not tax residentsâ job-related earnings.
Supported for decades by revenues from mineral extraction, Wyoming is notoriously tax-averse. A number of newly-elected Wyoming legislators campaigned on a âno new taxesâ pledge, and there are only nine other tax-friendly Democrats in the 60-person Wyoming Legislature. But Yin told the Jackson Hole Daily opposition to taxes âdoesnât mean we shouldnât be pushing this conversation.
âWe have a budget crisis, and we need to deal with it,â he said.
Revenues from oil and gas have cratered in recent years, decimating the state budget. Lawmakers are expected to face tough questions about K-12 education funding this legislative session, which restarted Monday.
Wyoming House looks to require ID at the polls, exclude student, out-of-state IDs By Brendan LaChance on March 1, 2021
Staff prepare mail-in and early ballots for the tabulation machine at the Natrona County Courthouse in Casper. (Dan Cepeda, Oil City)
CASPER, Wyo. The Wyoming House of Representatives passed House Bill 75 on first reading on Monday, March 1 which would require people to show identification when voting at the polls.
At question is which forms of identification would be acceptable should the legislation become law.
Rep. Chuck Gray (Natrona County) argued against allowing three types of identification during the House’s debate:
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Credit Wyoming Legislature
During a Wyoming House Education Committee meeting, School District officials said they have been cutting budgets for many years and those cuts are starting to erode programs. The committee is looking at cutting education funding by $100 million.
School leaders urged lawmakers to find the money to pay for education and avoid cuts. School district officials testified during a public hearing that they are charging fees to keep activities afloat, are asking teachers to take on additional duties including special education and are reducing their budgets that have been downsized by legislative directives and in some cases the local tax base.
Credit Stephanie Joyce / Wyoming Public Radio
An effort to educate Wyoming school children on the topic of suicide prevention has been defeated by the Wyoming House of Representatives. Lawmakers defeated House Bill 62 saying that such discussions should take place outside of schools.
Gillette Rep. John Bear who lost his son to suicide, opposed the bill, saying young people need to get hope from the faith community.
But House Minority Floor Leader Cathy Connolly countered that not all young people attend church. She noted that in a legislative hearing on the bill, a number of students testified that they were aware a sibling was considering suicide.
Mental health and addiction emerge as Wyoming legislative priorities
The restored Wyoming State Capitol building is seen at night on Feb. 11, 2020, in Cheyenne. (Dan Cepeda, Oil City)
The state’s mental health and substance abuse treatment network took center stage early in the 2021 legislative session as lawmakers advanced bills to ease licensing requirements in an effort to bring more counselors to the state.
Two House bills developed by the Joint Labor, Health and Social Services committee over the last year give boards that license the state’s addiction and mental health counselors more flexibility and lessen some requirements for addiction treatment experts in an effort to attract more to the state.