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Rule disputes spur questions of fairness within Wyoming Republican Party

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Rule disputes spur questions of fairness within Wyoming Republican Party


Minor lapses in rule following by Wyoming’s county-level Republican events have highlighted the chasm between conventional conservatives and laborious liners inside the state’s GOP.

The county Republican events in Albany, Criminal and Sublette didn’t notify their respective county clerks about after they would maintain their county conventions, which is required underneath state bylaws.

In the meantime, the Laramie County Republican Get together is prone to dropping nearly all of its delegates to the upcoming state Republican conference after the group admittedly broke guidelines at their county conference.

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Rule breaking has not been scrutinized up to now, however this 12 months there’s been a brand new emphasis placed on rule-following among the many state and county-level Republican events.

At a Wyoming GOP government committee assembly in early April, the panel unanimously handed a movement that acknowledged that the occasion will “vigorously help and implement all state and county bylaws on the 2022 State Conference.”

That focus spurred a name from the Laramie County GOP — one of many counties that steadily clashes with state GOP management — for state occasion officers to deal with all counties equally relating to enforcement.

“The issue with the state occasion is selective enforcement,” mentioned Diemer True, a former state lawmaker and state occasion chairman. “They’re overlooking those that they need to overlook.”

Now that it’s clear that county events in Albany, Sublette and Criminal didn’t observe the bylaws, Laramie Republicans are calling for all counties to be held to the identical normal. As of Tuesday night, no formal complaints had been lodged with the state government committee over these counties’ failure to inform their clerks of their conventions.

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“Whereas Laramie County believes all counties must be seated, if the Credentials Committee doesn’t look equally on the violations of all counties, it should present bias and an unfair software of the foundations,” Dani Olsen, chairwoman of the Laramie County GOP, mentioned in a press release.

State Chairman Frank Eathorne didn’t reply to a message searching for remark.

The variety of delegates that every county will get relies on its inhabitants, and Laramie is probably the most populous within the state. But when the Laramie occasion loses most of its delegates, it should find yourself with much less voting energy than Niobrara, the county with the smallest inhabitants in Wyoming.

The scale of a county occasion’s delegation ties on to its voting energy on the state Republican conference, which is about to start Might 5. The conference is held to vote on occasion platforms, resolutions and guidelines. The selections made and adopted on the conference can affect the state’s politics — together with which payments are dropped at the Wyoming Legislature.

Within the case of Laramie County, the state GOP’s government committee acquired a criticism that alleged the delegate and alternate delegate choice that occurred at that occasion’s GOP conference violated occasion bylaws. Particularly, Laramie County didn’t settle for nominations from the ground or use secret ballots.

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The Wyoming GOP’s State Credentials Committee is about to fulfill Might 5 to contemplate the criticism, in accordance with a press release from the state GOP. They’ll then challenge a advice that might be thought-about Might 7.

That assembly was moved as much as the conference’s first day in order that the Laramie County delegation would have time to cancel their resort reservations if they aren’t seated, in accordance with the state GOP assertion.

“The Wyoming Republican Get together is working laborious to safeguard its inside actions and preserve the best requirements of transparency and integrity,” the assertion reads. “No different complaints about county conventions have been introduced earlier than the State Govt Committee.”

Laramie County is just not the one giant county in Wyoming dealing with a lack of delegates. Natrona County, the second-most populous within the state, has already misplaced most of its delegates for failing to pay dues.

Natrona and Laramie are the 2 counties that regularly conflict with the Wyoming GOP and argue in opposition to the way it’s being run. Olsen believes that is why there may be an try to cut back their voting energy on the conference.

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A county occasion, not to mention two of them, not having their delegates seated on the conference is unparalleled lately.

“Natrona misplaced its delegates now, [the state party is] on the lookout for a rule to maintain Laramie County from having a full slate of delegates, and the reason being as a result of they need to maintain an iron fist of management on the state conference,” True mentioned.

The county events are made up of volunteers. There are nationwide, state and county bylaws and statutes to maintain observe of, so minor errors do happen.

Bryan Miller, chairman of the Sheridan County GOP, mentioned that it may be tough to maintain observe of all of the completely different necessities, and that’s why his county occasion holds trainings for all precinct committeemen and ladies. Not all counties maintain these trainings, nevertheless.

The GOP chairmen for Albany, Sublette and Criminal counties didn’t reply to requests for remark.

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Wyoming

Wisconsin football transfer safety commits to Wyoming

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Wisconsin football transfer safety commits to Wyoming


Wisconsin redshirt freshman safety Justin Taylor announced his transfer commitment to Wyoming on Wednesday.

Taylor entered the portal earlier this month after two years with the Badgers. He joins the Cowboys with three years of eligibility remaining.

 Wisconsin football 2024 transfer portal departure tracker

Taylor initially joined Wisconsin as a three-star recruit in the class of 2023, ranked as the No. 936 player in the class, No. 73 athlete and No. 18 recruit from his home state of Illinois. He committed to the program on May 14, 2022, back when Paul Chryst was still the head coach and Jim Leonhard ran the defense. He stuck with that commitment through the program’s coaching turnover and subsequent hire of Luke Fickell.

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The safety is one of numerous members of Wisconsin’s class of 2023 to depart, either this offseason or last. Only four of the program’s 15 signees from the abbreviated cycle remain with the program.

Taylor commits to a Wyoming program that went 3-9 in 2024 under first-year head coach Jay Sawvel. The program previously made six bowl games in the eight preceding seasons. It is typically a model of consistency in the Mountain West.

Wisconsin already addressed its need at safety in the transfer portal, adding Richmond breakout freshman Matthew Traynor. The program is in search of a new starter next to senior Preston Zachman, who recently announced his return for the 2025 season. The Badgers also need depth at the position with Taylor and other underclassmen in the portal.

For more on Wisconsin’s transfer pursuits at the position, bookmark our transfer offer, visit and commitment tracker.

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Contact/Follow @TheBadgersWire on X (formerly Twitter), and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Wisconsin Badgers news, notes, and opinion.





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Wyoming deploys $76.7M in ARPA funds for community projects

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Wyoming deploys .7M in ARPA funds for community projects


CHEYENNE, Wyo. — Wyoming’s allocation of American Rescue Plan Act funds has been fully committed, the state announced in a release.

Wyoming received nearly $1.1 billion from the federal ARPA of 2021. Of that amount, approximately $584 million was used to replace revenue lost as a result of the economic downturn caused by the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. One impact of the downturn was that, for the first time in the state’s history, there was a period of time when no oil and gas drilling rigs were operating in Wyoming.

Most of the revenue replacement funds were used within the Department of Health and Department of Corrections to conserve the General Fund dollars appropriated to them, ensuring the state had a sustainable approach to its operations during the economic downturn.

Some of those General Fund dollars were also put into permanent savings, which will generate income to the benefit of Wyoming taxpayers for future generations.

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“The ARPA funds appropriated by the Federal government will be paid for by our children and grandchildren,” Gov. Mark Gordon said. “It is fitting that we use those funds at a state level to reduce the potential tax burden of Wyoming’s current and future taxpayers.”

ARPA funds can only be used for certain purposes as determined by the federal government, including the requirement of a nexus to direct impacts of the pandemic. The Wyoming Legislature appropriated the remaining ARPA funds for support of mental health, healthcare, infrastructure and water and sewer projects.

These funds were granted through state agencies. In addition, all proposed projects were reviewed by the State Budget Department, in consultation with an audit firm, and the Office of the Attorney General to assure compliance to the extent practical with federal and state law and regulations.

In addition, $13.7 million was conditionally approved by the State Land and Investment Board for inflationary costs for approved Health and Human Services–related projects during the 2023 General Session through 2023 House Bill 0195.

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Casper area sees slight unemployment rise from last year as overall economy improves

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Casper area sees slight unemployment rise from last year as overall economy improves


CASPER, Wyo. — According to data from the Wyoming Economic Analysis Division, Natrona County’s unemployment rate at the end of September is slightly up from the same point in 2023, as well as the state’s average at the same point.

At the end of September, Natrona County’s unemployment rate was 2.9%. At the same point in 2023, the county’s rate was 2.6%. And in the most recent survey, Wyoming’s unemployment rate also sat at 2.6%. The state’s unemployment rate is down 1% from the same point in 2023.

Despite the slight rise in unemployment in the Casper area community, the report found that the economy is steadily improving. The Economic Analysis Division measures counties’ economic stability with an economic health index that looks at a variety of factors. In every indicator except for the unemployment rate, Natrona County saw improvement.

In addition to the unemployment rate, the economic health index considers the total nonfarm employment, the sales and use tax and the average home value.

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Despite the unemployment rate rising by 0.3%, the total number of employed Natrona County residents grew by about 1.2%. Overall, the number of nonfarm payroll jobs in the county was 40,800 in September.

Sales and use taxes grew approximately 5.1%, and Natrona County’s collection of the 4% sales and use tax was reported at $10.3 million in September 2024.

The average Natrona County home value rose 2.2% from 2023 to 2024. According to the report, the average home value is $296,100.

However, because sales and use tax collections the county receives for a given month represent transactions that took place four to six weeks prior, the tax collection data lags by one month in the economic health index model.

Employment in Wyoming totaled 295,900 jobs at the end of September, up 2,800 from the same point last year.

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“Total employment continues to increase year-over-year, but at a slowing rate,” Economic Analysis Division economist Dylan Bainer said.

Statewide, private education and health fields added the most jobs in the past year.



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