by Wyoming Liberty Group Staff In the United States, it is estimated that 52% of households over the age of 65 have no retirement savings. What is more alarming is that a full 27% of Americans have neither retirement savings, nor a defined-benefits plan, meaning they are wholly unprepared for the mountain of expenses that faces almost everyone foll...

by Wyoming Liberty Group Staff Starting this Spring, the Joint Revenue Interim Committee will take a second look at a number of the failed tax bills from the spring 2019 session. One of the bills that could be reintroduced in the next session is Wyoming House Bill 220 (HB 220), "The National Retail Fairness Act". This bill will be in the discussion...

by Philip Baron The State of Wyoming has a new law on the books that will obligate electric, public utilities who are not cooperatives, to purchase coal-generated electricity. The law also limits the rate of recovery costs for the purchaser of the retired plant. Cost recovery is the costs to regain the value of an expense, usually done as the depre...

by Philip Baron In 2017 Wyoming had 292 state and local government employees per 1,000 people working in the private sector (according to employment data from the Bureau of Labor and Statistics). The state government made up 5.4%1 of the employment in the state in 2017. Local government made up 16.7% of the state's employment for the same year. Wha...

By Austin Hein Job creation is among the most pivotal topics in American politics. People want and need to work to provide for their families and themselves. Unfortunately, the government has increasingly put restrictions on the workforce. Today, nearly a quarter of all jobs in the United States require occupational licensure — up from 5% sixty yea...

by Wyoming Liberty Group Staff The 2009 recession had a widespread negative impact on every state in the country. Much of the United States is still suffering from the recession now ten years removed, but there is increasing optimism around the country that recovery is occurring. President Trump boasted a 2.6% GDP growth rate for 2018, but not ever...

By Sven R Larson, Ph.D. The issue of tolling I-80 is once again at the top of the news cycle, courtesy of Senator von Flatern, who wants to add a third lane on each side that would be used by cars and passenger vehicles only. He proposes that tolls charged to Wyoming drivers would be paid through the state's federal mineral royalties. Senator von F...

By Sven R Larson, Ph.D. How would you feel about a new kind of tax to fund our highways, one that was based on the miles you drive? Would you like to see it added to the taxes we already pay? In anticipation of topics that will be discussed in the interim committee season, please take a moment and consider the following idea. Suppose the legislatur...

by Wyoming Liberty Group Staff What is a Health Savings Account (HSA), and how can it help you? In the most basic of terms, a healthcare savings account (HSA) is a high-deductible savings account that is tax-deductible and can be drawn from to pay for pre-approved healthcare expenses. The idea behind HSA's is that you can set aside money for health...

by Wyoming Liberty Group Staff The persistent deficits in the federal budget, as well as in the Wyoming state finances, are painful reminders of government overspending. Understandably, we often hear calls for drastic spending reductions, and they will become necessary soon enough, unless we begin reforming our state and local governments in the di...

by Wyoming Liberty Group Staff In response to questions from a couple of blog readers, here is a short review of the industrial structure of the Wyoming economy. One reader wanted to know how much each industry contributes to our state's economy; the other asked what industries provide the biggest tax base. These two questions are about the same to...

by Wyoming Liberty Group Staff >>Due to travel, the second part of the report on government revenue has been postpone one week.<< Private-sector employment in Wyoming is up by 5,000 in January 2019 over the same month a year earlier. This 2.4-percent increase is the largest since 2015. The construction industry led the state in jobs cre...

by Wyoming Liberty Group Staff As I have noted on a couple of occasions now, 2019 is shaping up to be a great year to start reforming government spending here in Wyoming. Two sessions in a row, the legislature has rejected massive tax hikes and even refused to appoint a commission to overhaul our tax system. Time is ripe to talk about spending refo...

by Wyoming Liberty Group Staff This year is a great time to discuss the future of Wyoming, especially in terms of what role government should play in our state's economy. On February 22 I proposed a list of topics for this conversation, ranging from comprehensive transparency and efficiency reforms to school choice and free-market reforms in health...

by Philip Baron According to a Wyoming Taxpayers Association report, that was distributed to the legislators in the 2019 session, a three-person household pays in $3,070 in taxes and receives $27,600 in public services. This analysis only considers taxes as a source of revenue and does not look at all of the funding through fees and other sources o...

Natrona County School District faced scrutiny after the non-profit group OpenTheBooks published records of nearly $10 million in credit card purchases – highlighting voids in financial transparency breeding excessive spending culture throughout Wyoming. More than a year's worth of credit card records for Natrona County published demonstrated a shoc...

by Wyoming Liberty Group Staff The Bureau of Labor Statistics is slightly behind in releasing state and county level employment data. We will have state-level numbers for January on March 11 and the February numbers on March 22. We can also look forward to the county-level numbers for the third and fourth quarters of 2018. In the meantime, here is ...

by Wyoming Liberty Group Staff Setting the Scene: America's Opioid Epidemic According to the Wyoming Department of Health, 67% of drug-related deaths in Wyoming occurred because of prescription drug overdoses. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimates that in 2017, 49,000 Americans died from opioid overdoses, with overall overd...

Six full years of Wyoming state spending records are now available with the click of a button thanks to Wyoming's new State Auditor Racines. She produced all records for less than $180 and refunded the previous payments for requests made totalling $7,820. Next up? Saving Wyoming taxpayers millions of dollars in avoided wasteful spending. It is time...

March 4, 2019 In a sweeping 600-plus-page bill, the federal government proposes to seize millions of acres and hundreds of miles of rivers from almost every state. This land grab expands the federal estate yet again. The US Senate's bill, S. 47, the Natural Resources Management Act, passed 92-8, and passed the House with only 62 NO votes. Senator B...