Legislative

The President of the University of Wyoming says while the six percent budget cuts are better than the eight percent the Governor had previously proposed…he says they will still cause pain.  

President Tom Buchanan told the legislature’s Joint Appropriations Committee that the cuts could cost U-W 60 to 95 employees and added that some may have to be layoffs.  Buchanan also made the case for increasing U-W’s faculty and staff salaries by three percent.             

State Superintendent of Public Instruction Cindy Hill says she is looking forward to addressing a legislative committee next week following a report that was critical of her department.

The Legislative Service Office report said that errors and communication problems led to delays in the Department of Education’s ability to provide necessary federal information and required state accountability data.  Hill says the report is inaccurate. 

Republicans in the State Senate have elected Cheyenne’s Tony Ross to serve as Senate President and Laramie’s Phil Nicholas to serve as majority floor leader.   

The House previously announced its makeup, choosing Tom Lubnau to be speaker and Kermit Brown to be majority floor leader.  Steve Harshman  of Casper will become the new chair of the House Appropriations Committee.  The Senate also added some new committee chairman, the most notable being Riverton’s Eli Bebout who was chosen to serve as its Appropriations Committee Chairman.  

A report by consultants hired by the Legislature gives the Wyoming Department of Education poor marks in implementing state education reforms.
 
The report says the agency has failed in some of its responsibilities and hindered other entities involved in the state's initiative to better prepare its public school students for college and careers.
 
 The report blames much of the agency's failings on loss of too many key personnel in the last two years.
 

At last night’s congressional debate, four out of five candidates for Wyoming’s U.S. House seat said climate change is not a concern.

The three third-party candidates all said they don’t believe that human activities contribute to global warming. Constitution party candidate Daniel Cummings said he thinks the earth is warming because of a natural sun cycle.

“So those who want to put a cap on global warming have got to find a way to turn down the sun,” Cummings said.

During tonight’s Congressional debate, Democrat Chris Henrichsen attacked Republican Rep. Cynthia Lummis for losing hundreds of millions of dollars of Abandoned Mine Lands money that were destined for Wyoming.

Coal-producing states receive AML funds in order to pay for mine reclamation, but Wyoming used a portion of the money for buildings, infrastructure and other projects. This fall, Congress voted to severely limit the amount the Cowboy State gets.

Henrichsen says Lummis failed in her duties because she failed to stop the measure.

Wyoming's Republican Party Central Committee has chosen three finalists to become state treasurer.

They include Bruce Brown, an accountant; Mark Gordon, a former board member with the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City; and Clark Stith, a Fulbright scholar.

Gov. Matt Mead is to meet with the three on Wednesday and choose one later this week to replace the late Joe Meyer.

55 Republican State Committee members attended Monday's voting and that another 17 were represented by proxy.

This November, incumbent US House representative Cynthia Lummis will defend her seat against a democrat and three third-party candidates. Among them, physician Daniel Cummings, Constitution Party candidate and owner of a family practice in Casper, Wyoming. If elected to the US house, he says he would do his part to stop any increased spending, which he believes could eventually create a state of national violence and collapse.

Wyoming US Congresswoman Cynthia Lummis says she supports a plan to completely reform Medicare.  Lummis was speaking during an interview that will air this week on Open Spaces.   The Republican says she is a supporter of Vice Presidential Candidate Paul Ryan’s plan to reform Medicare.   Lummis says it is wrong to call the effort a cut.  She argues that the main part of the reform that she likes is that the healthiest and wealthiest recipients of Medicare will pay more into the system.   Lummis says getting a handle on Medicare is critical if the federal budget is going to be balanced. “Medi

Wyoming delegates to the Democratic National Convention say they are getting re-invigorated about a number of issues ranging from equality to health care. 

Laramie Businesswoman and former Mayor Jodi Guerin says the discussions she’s heard about the Affordable Care Act have her more enthusiastic about the law.  She notes that Republicans keep saying they want to retool the law, but she doubts their sincerity.

U.S. Rep. Cynthia Lummis and Democrat Chris Henrichsen both ran unopposed in today’s primaries, and they’ll be facing each other in November.

The two candidates say they have different approaches to working with their colleagues across the aisle.

Lummis says ending the stalemate in Congress is simple.

A University of Wyoming history professor is dropping his bid to run as an independent for U.S. Senate.

Phil Roberts says there is no room in this year's Senate race for him because in order to be successful he would need support from a number of Republicans. But as his petition drive to gather signatures progressed, it became clear that most of his support was coming from Democrats and independents.

Roberts was a Democratic candidate for governor in 1998 and lost the primary to John Vinich, who then lost the general election.

      Wyoming U-S Senator John Barrasso continues to hope that the U-S Supreme Court will toss out the entire Affordable Care Act and force Congress to develop a new health care overhaul.  

If that happened, some popular programs– including the ability for children to stay on their parents’ health insurance plan until the age of 26 – would go away.  During an appearance on FOX News, Barrasso said that would be part of any new legislation.

An orthopedic surgeon who has risen
quickly to become one of the highest-ranking Republicans in the
U.S. Senate is officially seeking his first full term in office.
     Sen. John Barrasso kicked off his campaign Tuesday at the
Wyoming State Capitol in Cheyenne by saying Wyomingites want the
federal government to leave them alone.
     Democratic Wyoming Gov. Dave Freudenthal appointed Barrasso in
2007 after the death of Sen. Craig Thomas.
     Barrasso since has risen to chairman of the Senate Republican

The Casper Democrat running against Wyoming U.S. Rep. Cynthia Lummis is a political newcomer who says
he wants to represent the interests of working families.

Chris Henrichsen is a 35-year-old political science instructor
at Casper College. He filed paperwork on Thursday declaring his
candidacy to run against Lummis.

Lummis announced on Monday that she's seeking a third term as
Wyoming's lone member of the U.S. House of Representatives. A
Republican, she served earlier as Wyoming treasurer and in the
state Legislature.

U.S. Rep. Cynthia Lummis has announced her bid for a third term as Wyoming's lone member of the U.S. House.

Lummis was first elected to the House in 2008. She easily won re-election in 2010, defeating Democrat David Wendt with more than 70 percent of the vote.

So far, two candidates have announced plans to challenge Lummis this year. Casper College political science instructor Chris Henrichsen is running as a Democrat, and former Roman Catholic priest Charlie Hardy announced he will run as an independent.

  U-S Senator John Barrasso continues to be critical of the Obama administration over environmental regulations that he says will cost Wyoming and the energy industry jobs. 

During an appearance on Wyoming Public Radio, Barrasso was asked why Wyoming would not be able to capitalize on regulations that could benefit the state’s low sulfur coal reserves.

“When the administration goes against what’s coming out of coal fired power plants and their closing across the country.  The makes it harder to sell any coal and use any coal.”