The 2026 Wyoming Legislature, Part 2. Pre Legislative Committee Edition.

 

November 15, 2025

Wyoming ‘Tim Tebow’ Rule Heads To Lawmaking Session

I'm frankly not keen on this at all.  Playing sports and being in activities are vital parts of school.  They help socialization.  Parents who seek to avoid socialization are harming their children and there are nwo a lot of private school options that would be better choices for those seeking to evade the perceived dangers, often fictional, of public schools

A long time legislator has passed away.

John Eklund, Longtime Wyoming Lawmaker And Rancher, Dies At 74

Wyoming Rep. John Eklund dies: Legislators say they will remember Eklund for his mentorship, kind spirit and thoughtful approach to lawmaking.

November 18, 2025

Governor Gordon Proposes $11.13 Billion Two-Year Budget

November 19, 2025

Gray 'Alarmed' Gordon Doesn't Back His Request For Extra Money

Curt Meier, however, praised it.

The Secretary of State received $200,000 less than it asked for.

Here’s what Gov. Mark Gordon is proposing for Wyoming’s next budget: The governor's $11.1 billion request would boost state worker pay, bolster wildfire-fighting capacity and renovate the veterans home in Buffalo, among other things.

Wyoming Lawmakers Advance Five Bills To Rein In Slot-Machine-Like Gaming

Wyoming Horse Racing Is Thriving, But Legislators Want More Regulation

November 22, 2025

This is flat out irresponsible and insane:

Wyoming Legislators Advance Plan To Kill All Residential Property Taxes

December 16, 2025

Five takeaways from the Wyoming Legislature’s budget hearings: The Joint Appropriations Committee wrapped up its first round of hearings Friday.

December 19, 2025

 A Q&A with Pine Bluffs’ Justin Fornstrom, Wyoming’s newest state lawmaker: Laramie County commissioners selected Fornstrom to represent a House seat vacated by the late John Eklund.

January 8, 2026

We had this news posted here yesterday:

Abortion in Wyoming and the Law of Unintended Consequences.

 This is what happens when a dumb, paranoid,  amendment to the Constitution is made.

The amendment that brought down the state's abortion laws was passed due to right wing paranoia that the AHCA would create "death panels". That fear was frankly stupid, but it was adopted by far right Republicans who really believed it.  The prime architect of the amendment has gone on record that he'd feel awful if the amendment caused the abortion laws to fail, and in fact he should feel awful.

I'll confess that when I first posted this, I was harsher on the paranoia of the Wyoming Republican Party that gave us the dumbass head in the sand amendment to the Wyoming Constitution based on fear of the ACHA.  I'm obviously being less kind here.

Anyhow, the Tribune notes:

Wyoming Republicans seek to amend constitution

The flaming dipshits that passed the amendment that caused this to occur in the first place ought to just repeal that amendment.  Indeed, they ought to cal lit "B______ B_________was a dumbass paranoid moron amendment repeal".

They won't, as the best thing to do when somebody does something rampagingly stupid is to double down on the stupidity, apparently. After all, look at the ongoing Republican support for Donald Dipshit Trump.

Anyhow, they're going to address their failure with a proposed amendment to the Constitution. That amendment will fail to get support from the electorate, which they'll find basically likes the idea of killing babies as it means they can complain about gays and the transgendered while being sexually immoral themselves.

January 9, 2026

Rep. Elissa Campbell files resolution for Wyoming abortion amendment

That was fast.

Wyoming Democrats, I'd note, are making the classic blunder.  They should simply say nothing at all, and not go out to own a result that they don't really own.  The Wyoming Supreme Court's ruling came about as the far right of the Wyoming GOP went out and shot itself in the foot.  Now it's going to go to the voters.  A smart Democratic policy would be just to sit back and do nothing at all.  But, they  just can't help themselves:

Laramie lawmakers celebrate abortion ruling

The state supreme court ruled abortion is a fundamental constitutional right. Provenza, Chestek and Rothfuss say it’s a win for individual liberty and they’ll resist calls to change the constitution.

Chances are high that not enough Wyoming voters are going to vote for the proposed constitutional amendment for it to pass, and if there are, the Democrats are going to effect that anyhow.  Indeed, by making it an issue and embracing abortion, it'll drive GOP voters who likely would vote against the amendment or sit the election out, into voting as they'll want to vote against the Democrats.  Given the immorality of abortion, it's truly an example of errare humanum est perseverare diabolicum.

January 10, 2026

Lawmaker Unveils Bill To Prevent DUI Charges For Drunk Horseback Riding

January 13, 2026

Wyoming Freedom Caucus aims at state spending, voting machines and the judicial branch in 2026 priorities: The group of conservative Republicans has promised cuts since last spring, but won’t say where and how deep.

Lawmakers question Wyoming Public Media’s funding

The public radio station is headquartered on the UW campus and receives some state funding via UW’s block grant. WPM weathered a 10% cut when the Corporation for Public Broadcasting was axed.

January 14, 2026

The freakishly dumb caucus votes to keep everyone else as dumb as possible.

Lawmakers vote to axe UW’s block grant, defund Wyoming Public Media: Wyoming Freedom Caucus members on a key budget committee take aim at the state’s lone four-year public university.

Wyoming Lawmakers Propose Cutting Governor's Budget To UW By $61 Million

My opinion, of course, is harsh, but frankly many of the Dukes of Hazzard crowd in the Freely Dumb Caucus don't trust education.  People who are educated don't believe the same dumb stuff they do, so they don't like it.

And they're going after the Wyoming Business Council.

Legislators Vote To Defund And Dismantle Wyoming Business Council

This one at its core is a completely unthinking objection to socialism.  We don't like socialism, because it's socialism.  Not much more thought behind it than that.

I'll often hear that the WBC picks "winners and losers" which might be right, but the state's economy otherwise is pretty much making all Wyomingites losers.

January 16, 2026

Gov's Office: "This Is Nuts" As Bill To Kill Wyo Biz Council Heads To Legislature

January 17, 2016

Sigh . . . 

Rep. John Bear Calls Sen. Ogden Driskill A ‘Doofus’ In Clash Over Budget

January 24, 2026

Going Feral: Lawmaker Unveils Bill To Sell Between 30,000 And 2...: Another moronic idea by a Wyoming Republican, a party which seems to draw from the endless well of bad ideas. Wasserburger is going right on...

Jacob Wasserburger came up with this bad idea, but it sounds a lot like he's been sitting around with Mike Lee, the Senator from Deseret.  He's signed on to the no prescription for Ivermectin act as well, these two things indicating that he's hanging out with, in not in, the Freedom Caucus.

January 27, 2026

Nuclear waste, state land use top Wyoming Legislature’s energy agenda: Recent controversies over sprawling energy development have triggered a slate of bills to empower voters and communities in state-level energy ambitions.

The assault on education in the legislature continues on:

After pushback, legislative committee scales back proposed cuts to public education: Lawmakers tweaked provisions that would have increased class size and omitted positions like school counselors from the funding model. This came after hours of testimony, much in opposition.

Noble act from the football coach.

Wyoming Football Coach Jay Sawvel Cuts Salary $125K To Boost Player Funding

When things are so bad that even UW football is cutting back, you know the "we don't need no education" crowd is way out of control.

The following should be a hard "no". 

Rep. Bill Allemand asks judge to rescind court-ordered alcohol testing during upcoming legislative session: The Midwest lawmaker is contesting his DUI charge following his arrest last month in Johnson County.

Tracking Shot Bears With Dogs Would Be Legal Under Hunting Bill

January 28, 2026

Wyoming Lawmakers Reverse Course, Will Not Deny $58 Million In Medicaid

Bill Would Force Wyoming Counties To Pay Self-Defense Legal Fees

January 29, 2026

Judge Orders Wyoming Rep. Allemand To Submit To Alcohol Testing During Session

Last edition:

The 2026 Wyoming Legislature, Part 1. The way too early edition.

Labels: 2020s, 2025, 2026, 2026 Wyoming Legislature, Agriculture, Court, Democratic Party, Gomers, Municipal Organizations, Municipalities, Nuclear power, police, Taxes, Wyoming Freedom Caucus

Thursday, December 31, 1925. Reining in New Years.

The first attempt at a worldwide New Year's celebration was made via international radio when the United States sent out musical entertainment and New Year's greetings from the consuls general of various foreign countries in New York.

There was an effort in many locations in the US to rein in New Years celebrations, which if they were in compliance with the law, should be dry:

European flooding which had broken out on the 29th hit Belgium.

Today In Wyoming's History: December 31:  1925  The legendary Swan Land & Cattle Company issued its corporate holdings report for the year.

Last Edition:

Wednesday, December 30, 1925. Ben-Hur.

Labels: 1920, 1920s, 1925, 1925 at the movies, 1970s, Biology, Clothing, Education, Education Societies, Female Biology, Menstruation, trends, Women

Saturday, November 28, 1925. Grand Old Opry premiers.

Nashville's WSM radio premiered the WSM Barn Dance which became the Grand Ole Opry.

It was a Saturday.

The French government reigned after failing to reach a settlement with the US over war debt.

Last edition:

Friday, November 27, 1925. Hill Packing.

Labels: 1920s, 1925, 1928, 1930s, Afghanistan, Diplomacy, Economics, Equine Transportation, Feral Horses, Germany, Imperial Russian Army, Industry, Russian Civil War, USSR, Wyoming (Casper)

Blog Mirror: 1925 Radio at the Beach

 

1925 Radio at the Beach

Saturday, September 1, 1945. Truman addresses the nation. This Land is Your Land.

Truman addressed the nation by radio.

The thoughts and hopes of all America—indeed of all the civilized world—are centered tonight on the battleship Missouri. There on that small piece of American soil anchored in Tokyo Harbor the Japanese have just officially laid down their arms. They have signed terms of unconditional surrender.

Four years ago, the thoughts and fears of the whole civilized world were centered on another piece of American soil—Pearl Harbor. The mighty threat to civilization which began there is now laid at rest. It was a long road to Tokyo—and a bloody one.

We shall not forget Pearl Harbor.

The Japanese militarists will not forget the U.S.S. Missouri.

The evil done by the Japanese war lords can never be repaired or forgotten. But their power to destroy and kill has been taken from them. Their armies and what is left of their Navy are now impotent.

To all of us there comes first a sense of gratitude to Almighty God who sustained us and our Allies in the dark days of grave danger, who made us to grow from weakness into the strongest fighting force in history, and who has now seen us overcome the forces of tyranny that sought to destroy His civilization.

God grant that in our pride of the hour, we may not forget the hard tasks that are still before us; that we may approach these with the same courage, zeal, and patience with which we faced the trials and problems of the past four years.

Our first thoughts, of course—thoughts of gratefulness and deep obligation—go out to those of our loved ones who have been killed or maimed in this terrible war. On land and sea and in the air, American men and women have given their lives so that this day of ultimate victory might come and assure the survival of a civilized world. No victory can make good their loss.

We think of those whom death in this war has hurt, taking from them fathers, husbands, sons, brothers, and sisters whom they loved. No victory can bring back the faces they longed to see.

Only the knowledge that the victory, which these sacrifices have made possible, will be wisely used, can give them any comfort. It is our responsibility—ours, the living—to see to it that this victory shall be a monument worthy of the dead who died to win it.

We think of all the millions of men and women in our armed forces and merchant marine all over the world who, after years of sacrifice and hardship and peril, have been spared by Providence from harm.

We think of all the men and women and children who during these years have carried on at home, in lonesomeness and anxiety and fear.

Our thoughts go out to the millions of American workers and businessmen, to our farmers and miners—to all those who have built up this country's fighting strength, and who have shipped to our Allies the means to resist and overcome the enemy.

Our thoughts go out to our civil servants and to the thousands of Americans who, at personal sacrifice, have come to serve in our Government during these trying years; to the members of the Selective Service boards and ration boards; to the civilian defense and Red Cross workers; to the men and women in the USO and in the entertainment world—to all those who have helped in this cooperative struggle to preserve liberty and decency in the world.

We think of our departed gallant leader, Franklin D. Roosevelt, defender of democracy, architect of world peace and cooperation.

And our thoughts go out to our gallant Allies in this war: to those who resisted the invaders; to those who were not strong enough to hold out, but who, nevertheless, kept the fires of resistance alive within the souls of their people; to those who stood up against great odds and held the line, until the United Nations together were able to supply the arms and the men with which to overcome the forces of evil.

This is a victory of more than arms alone. This is a victory of liberty over tyranny.

From our war plants rolled the tanks and planes which blasted their way to the heart of our enemies; from our shipyards sprang the ships which bridged all the oceans of the world for our weapons and supplies; from our farms came the food and fiber for our armies and navies and for our Allies in all the corners of the earth; from our mines and factories came the raw materials and the finished products which gave us the equipment to overcome our enemies.

But back of it all were the will and spirit and determination of a free people—who know what freedom is, and who know that it is worth whatever price they had to pay to preserve it.

It was the spirit of liberty which gave us our armed strength and which made our men invincible in battle. We now know that that spirit of liberty, the freedom of the individual, and the personal dignity of man, are the strongest and toughest and most enduring forces in all the world.

And so on V-J Day we take renewed faith and pride in our own way of life. We have had our day of rejoicing over this victory. We have had our day of prayer and devotion. Now let us set aside V-J Day as one of renewed consecration to the principles which have made us the strongest nation on earth and which, in this war, we have striven so mightily to preserve.

Those principles provide the faith, the hope, and the opportunity which help men to improve themselves and their lot. Liberty does not make all men perfect nor all society secure. But it has provided more solid progress and happiness and decency for more people than any other philosophy of government in history. And this day has shown again that it provides the greatest strength and the greatest power which man has ever reached.

We know that under it we can meet the hard problems of peace which have come upon us. A free people with free Allies, who can develop an atomic bomb, can use the same skill and energy and determination to overcome all the difficulties ahead.

Victory always has its burdens and its responsibilities as well as its rejoicing.

But we face the future and all its dangers with great confidence and great hope. America can build for itself a future of employment and security. Together with the United Nations, it can build a world of peace rounded on justice, fair dealing, and tolerance.

As President of the United States, I proclaim Sunday, September the second, 1945, to be V-J Day—the day of formal surrender by Japan. It is not yet the day for the formal proclamation of the end of the war nor of the cessation of hostilities. But it is a day which we Americans shall always remember as a day of retribution—as we remember that other day, the day of infamy.

From this day we move forward. We move toward a new era of security at home. With the other United Nations we move toward a new and better world of cooperation, of peace and international good will and cooperation.

God's help has brought us to this day of victory. With His help we will attain that peace and prosperity for ourselves and all the world in the years ahead.

The speech, set out above, declared September 2 VJ Day, the third such day to claim that title. 

The War Department issues a report regarding an anticipated world wide coal shortage.

From Sarah Sundin's blog:

Today in World War II History—September 1, 1940 & 1945: US soldiers liberate two civilian internment camps in the Tokyo area. US ends military rule in the Philippines and turns over civil administration to President Sergio Osmeña. Britain reduces clothing ration to 3 coupons pe

Military rule in the Philippine government ended.

A temporary government was established by the British in Hong Kong.

The Xinghua Campaign ended in communist victory in China and the Battle of Dazhongji began.

The lyrics to This Land Is Your Land by Woody Guthrie were published.  The song had been written in 1940, but not released.  The recording would not be released until 1953.

In my view, it's one of the greatest American folk songs.

Last edition:

Friday, August 31, 1945. New dances.

Labels: 1940s, 1945, Diplomacy, Finland, Japan, Marcus Island, Music, Occupation of Japan, Rock Music, United States, USSR, World War Two

Stop the presses: Wyoming press corps suffers historic blow

Stop the presses: Wyoming press corps suffers historic blow: Uinta, Platte, Niobrara, Goshen and Sublette counties become "news deserts" as News Media Corp shutters eight local Wyoming newspapers with no notice. The oldest had been in print for 122 years. Thirty people lost jobs.

This is sad indeed. 

This is part of a long term trend. . . the death of the written newspaper, and its a feature of the evolution of technology.

It's also part of what's made the United States a meaner, ruder, and stupider society in recent years.

Small town newspapers once thrived.  Every town had a newspaper, and even minor cities had more than one. Casper had two daily newspapers for years.  When traveling, one of the things I always used to do was to buy a local newspaper, usually first thing in the morning.  I'd normally read it as I ate breakfast.  For that matter, lots of cafes had newspaper machines there in anticipation of people doing just that.

Now my local paper, barely hanging on, comes to me with a digital format.  It's a shadow of its former self.

Also specter like is respect for the press.  People have always tended to hate the press, just as they hate lawyers, but for a different reason.  People don't like having their dirty laundry aired in public, even if they like looking at the dirty laundry of others, and people always feel that bad news is, somehow, a conspiracy.  But when the news was mostly distributed by print media, people still had to largely accept that the news was real.

This started to erode even when the internet was in its infancy.  Buffoons like Rush Limbaugh, who came on the radio and spouted propaganda, began to be taken as news.  Now they're everywhere.  People who'd prefer to get their news from the high school locker-room, for instance, can listen to Joe Rogan.  Fox News and  the like can provide streams of one sided blather a la Tass or the Völkischer Beobachter.  People, who don't really like to be distressed by the news, can take comfort in these sources that tell them exactly what they want to hear.

What they won't be hearing much about is local events, as the local papers pass away.

Tuesday, August 7, 1945. Fallout.

The news of the Atomic Bomb, including that it was just that, was now in the headlines.

Radio Tokyo reported the attack on Hiroshima, but without specificity.

Late in the day Japan's central commend stated that a new type of bomb was used, presuming that more than one was dropped.

U.S. radio read Truman's August 6 statement about the use of the atomic bomb. This caused the Japanese government to meet and confer.

The Air Force carried out raids on Yahata, Tokyo and Kukuyama.

The Nakajima Kikka, the Japanese ME262 inspired jet fighter, made its first flight.

Staff officers of the U.S. 1st Army met on Luzon to plan the invasion of Japan.

Tito refused to let King Peter II back into Yugoslavia.

The British revealed the existence of the wartime development Radar.

Last edition:

Monday, August 6, 1945. The Atomic Bombing of Hiroshima.

Labels: 1940s, 1945, Blog Mirror, Chester Nimitz, Fr. Joseph Krupp, Hiroshima Japan, Japan, Operation Silverplate, U.S. Air Force, U.S. Navy, Wake Island, War Crimes, Weapons, World War Two