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Blow by Blow on HB82
March 9, 2012 - Richard AgerIn the language of the legislature, House Bill 82 is, in part, “An Act relating to welfare and the personal opportunities with employment responsibilities program; requiring controlled substances testing for applicants as s
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Good Sense Prevails in Cheyenne
March 7, 2012 - Geoff O'GaraAs a sometime critic of Wyoming’s part-time “citizens” legislature – cramming so much lawmaking and money-spending into just a few weeks – I’ve got to admit: serious thinking and sensible decisions often prevail.
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Community Colleges a Budgetary Priority for Wyoming House of Representatives
March 2, 2012 - Geoff O'GaraBy Geoffrey O’Gara and Mike Morris March 2, 2012 Fiscal discipline has been something of a strait jacket on the legislature this year, with declining natural gas tax revenues inclining legislators to tighten purse str
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Behind the Scenes of “Capitol Outlook”
February 27, 2012 - Geoff O'GaraOften in these reports we try to take you behind-the-scenes to show how legislation gets made – the lobbyists providing hand-outs to overwhelmed legislators, the subtle horse-trading at early morning committee meetings, the
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Citizen Decision
- Richard AgerI’ve been caught in the mad whirl of the Wyoming legislative session for less than two weeks so I’m still catching my breath – literally and figuratively. Just trying to make sense of things. Budget sessions are lik
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Handling Success
February 24, 2012 - Geoff O'GaraThe workload at this year’s Wyoming legislature seems bearable – the budget bill is lighter with the drop in energy severance tax revenue, there have been no bloated debates on issues like gun control or abortion, and the
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Gun Control
February 23, 2012 - Mike MorrisGuest blog provided by Mike Morris, a recent graduate of the University of Wyoming who has been reporting and assisting in production of Wyoming PBS' Capitol Outlook series on the Wyoming legislature. Given the traditio
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From Scoops to Hoops; Abandonded Mines and Basketball
February 22, 2012 - Geoff O'GaraIt’s possible that someone mined coal at the site of the University of Wyoming’s Arena-Auditorium a century ago, but I can’t find any record of it. Nevertheless, the Wyoming House of Representatives is advancing a bill
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Public Schools and Accountability
February 21, 2012 - Geoff O'GaraIt was the Wyoming courts – responding in the 1990s to lawsuits sparked by the uneven distribution of revenues to local school districts – that started a revolution in Wyoming education. The state courts shifted the power
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Devils and Bad Gods
February 16, 2012 - Geoff O'GaraIt’s no easy job being in the Wyoming legislature. Figuring budgets and revenue charts that include items like the $417 million “BRA (from FMRs)”, or divining complex formulas for educator accountability standards, or e
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