"Punish the poor" bill endorsed by Republican-controlled Wyoming House

From the Billings Gazette:

A bill to require drug testing for some state welfare recipients has received preliminary approval in the Wyoming House of Representatives. The House endorsed a bill sponsored by Rep. David Miller, a Riverton Republican, by a voice vote on Thursday. It would require drug tests for people who receive welfare payments through a program administered by the Wyoming Department of Family Services.

Miller and other supporters noted it's common for private-sector employers to require drug testing. They said the tests could help people get drug treatment if necessary. 

The House defeated a proposal from Democratic Rep. James Byrd of Cheyenne, who proposed expanding the drug-testing requirement to include legislators. 

Opponents of the bill said the testing would violate the U.S. Constitution's ban on the government performing searches without probable cause.

Thanks to Rep. Jim Byrd, a Democrat, for adding some levity to the proceedings.

Wyoming Sen. Al Simpson talks about new biography and his longtime support of LGBT rights at "Out West at the Autry" in L.A.

Wyoming U.S. Sen. Al Simpson of Cody will be featured at "Out West at the Autry" Feb. 27 at the Autry in Griffith Park in Los Angeles. Some of you may not know this, but Sen. Al is a longtime proponent of LGBT rights. While Wyoming Republican politicians traditional defend individual rights, they don't always declare their support of everyone's rights. But Big Al does this on a regular basis and talks about it in the new authorized biography by Donald Hardy, "Shooting from the Lip: The Life of Senator Al Simpson." In a Feb. 7 post on the Autry blog, writer Gregory Hinton, who grew up in Cody and just finished a research fellowship at the BBHC, muses on how he found common ground with Sen. Al on the issue of being gay in Wyoming. Read the Autry blog post here. Biographer Hardy also appears at the event. Hinton will act as host for Sen. Al's Feb. 27 presentation. 

Action alert: Ask Wyoming Senators to restore crucial HIV/AIDS funding

Wyoming Equality's Joe Corrigan wrote a letter to concerned citizens today about a legislative cut in funding for much-needed HIV/AIDS meds.

Dear Friends,  

Yesterday we learned of a mistake in the Wyoming Health Department Budget regarding funding for HIV/AIDS Treatment.  The error cuts treatment funds by $400,000. If not corrected, it could cost the state matching funds from the Ryan White Care Act Part B.  I am asking you to please take the time today to email your Senator and Representative and ask them to restore these funds. Please prepare your own original email.  You can send your email to as many Senators and Representatives as you like. Please be as polite as possible.   Your letter may make all the difference in the world for the 135 currently people being helped by this program as well as future recipients.  Talking points are listed below.  Shorter letters are appreciated by our elected officials.

Read the rest at http://outinwy.blogspot.com

Find your Representative here, and find your Senator here. For a complete list of all Senators and Representatives visit the LSO Website.

Should Zombie Apocalypse arrive, Wyoming will be ready

Rep. David Miller (R-Riverton) has proposed a "Doomsday bill" to allow Wyoming to prepare for the coming Zombie Apocalypse.

He actually doesn't mention zombies in his bill. He does mention the U.S. debt which could somehow spiral out of control and all heck would break loose. Not to mention the Mayan Calendar predictions and the coming end-of-days scenario foretold by both certain versions of the Bible and many TV preachers.

The bill does not mention the worse case scenario of Rick Santorum being elected president.

That's when I head for the hills.

Read about Miller's bill here.

Wyoming legislators with ties to ALEC

This list goes a long way toward explaining some of the more extreme laws proposed in this session of the Wyoming Legislature (last year's session, too). This is an updated list to the one we ran in August 2011. Thanks to Larry Kurtz at Interested Party for the update:

ALEC is not a lobby; it is not a front group. It is much more powerful than that. Through ALEC, behind closed doors, corporations hand state legislators the changes to the law they desire that directly benefit their bottom line. Along with legislators, corporations have membership in ALEC. Corporations sit on all nine ALEC task forces and vote with legislators to approve “model” bills. They have their own corporate governing board which meets jointly with the legislative board. (ALEC says that corporations do not vote on the board.) They fund almost all of ALEC's operations.  

Participating legislators, overwhelmingly conservative Republicans, then bring those proposals home and introduce them in statehouses across the land as their own brilliant ideas and important public policy innovations—without disclosing that corporations crafted and voted on the bills. ALEC boasts that it has over 1,000 of these bills introduced by legislative members every year, with one in every five of them enacted into law. ALEC describes itself as a “unique,” “unparalleled” and “unmatched” organization. It might be right. It is as if a state legislature had been reconstituted, yet corporations had pushed the people out the door. Learn more at ALECexposed.org.

Wyoming Legislators with ALEC Ties

House of Representatives 

§  Rep. Peter Illoway (R-42), State Chairman
§  Rep. Allen Jaggi (R-18)
§  Rep. Lorraine Quarberg (R-28)
§  Rep. Richard L. Cannady (R-06), ALEC Civil Justice Task Force Member
§  Rep. Lisa A. Shepperson (R-58), ALEC Civil Justice Task Force Member
§  Rep. Carl R. Loucks (R-59), ALEC Civil Justice Task Force Member
§  Rep. Dan Zwonitzer (R-43), ALEC Telecommunications and Information Technology Task Force Member
§  Rep. Rosie M. Berger (R-51), ALEC Tax and Fiscal Policy Task Force Member
§  Rep. Charles P. Childers (R-50), ALEC Tax and Fiscal Policy Task Force Member
§  Rep. Bryan K. Pedersen (R-07), ALEC Tax and Fiscal Policy Task Force Member
§  Rep. Tim Stubson (R-56), ALEC Public Safety and Elections Task Force Member
§  Rep. Lorraine K. Quarberg (R-28), ALEC Public Safety and Elections Task Force Member
§  Rep. Thomas E. Lubnau, II (R-31), ALEC International Relations Task Force Member
§  Rep. Kathy Davison (R-20), ALEC Health and Human Services Task Force Member
§  Rep. Thomas Lockhart (R-57), ALEC Energy, Environment and Agriculture Task Force Member
§  Rep. Matt Teeters (R-05), ALEC Energy, Environment and Agriculture Task Force Alternate and Education Task Force Member
§  Rep. John Eklund, Jr. (R-10), ALEC Education Task Force Member
§  Rep. Allen M. Jaggi (R-18), ALEC Education Task Force Member
§  Rep. Pete S. Illoway (R-42), ALEC Commerce, Insurance and Economic Development Task Force Member
§  Rep. Jon A. Botten (R-30), ALEC Commerce, Insurance and Economic Development Task Force Member
§  Rep. Clarence J. Vranish (R-49), ALEC Commerce, Insurance and Economic Development Task Force Member
§  Rep. Sue Wallis (R-52), ALEC Tax and Fiscal Policy Task Force Alternate
§  Rep. Amy L. Edmonds (R-12)^[16], ALEC Tax and Fiscal Policy Task Force Alternate
§  Rep. Pat Childers (R-50), ALEC Energy, Environment and Agriculture Task Force Alternate  

Senate 

§  Sen. Grant Larson (R-17), ALEC Energy, Environment and Agriculture Task Force Member

§  Sen. Bruce Burns (R-21), ALEC Civil Justice Task Force Member

§  Sen. Stan Cooper (R-14), ALEC Telecommunications and Information Technology Task Force Member
§  Sen. Curt E. Meier (R-03), ALEC Telecommunications and Information Technology Task Force Member
§  Sen. John M. Hastert (D-13), ALEC Public Safety and Elections Task Force Member
§  Sen. Eli D. Bebout (R-26), ALEC Energy, Environment and Agriculture Task Force and International Relations Task Force Member
§  Sen. Leslie Nutting (R-07), ALEC Health and Human Services Task Force Member
§  Sen. Dan Dockstader (R-16), ALEC Health and Human Services Task Force Member
§  Sen. James Anderson (R-02), ALEC Education Task Force Member
§  Sen. Cale Case (R-25), ALEC Telecommunications and Information Technology Task Force Alternate and International Relations Task Force Member
§  Sen. Henry H. Coe (R-18), ALEC Education Task Force Alternate

How about drug and alcohol tests for Republican legislators?

Here's a copy of the letter to the editor Cheyenne’s Ken McCauley submitted to the WTE yesterday. It concerns the mandatory drug-testing (aka “punish the poor”) bill making its way through the Wyoming House: 

Last week several legislators introduced a bill to require drug testing of needy families participating in the (Power Program). The bill was introduced by the sponsor as a state budget concern. 

Of the 47 legislators who voted to introduce this bill, 14 voted against mandatory testing of DUI suspects last year. They are willing to force those with extreme financial need to undergo drug testing, but oppose testing drivers who exhibit behavior extreme enough to qualify as probable cause to a trained law enforcement officer. 

Rep. Frank Peasley, of Douglas, speaking against the DUI bill last year, called it “a pretty intrusive concept … something right out of a good 'ol vampire movie.” Rep. Bunky Loucks, of Casper, told a reporter, “What are you going to do? Are you going to strap people down [to test them]? To me that’s a scary visual.” 

But apparently, mandating testing for the poor doesn’t bother these representatives a bit. 

The program targeted by the bill is the Personal Opportunities with Employment Opportunities (POWER) program. The POWER program is a “work program” -- not a handout. Recipients are assigned jobs within their community in order to learn job skills that will make them self-sufficient. Many suffer from social disabilities or lack basic work skills. Most are assigned a job for a full 40-hour week, but in return for their work they receive a maximum benefit of just $577 per month (for a family of three). 

Let's put that in perspective. A Wyoming legislator receives $150 per day in salary from the state. Most receive an additional $109 per day for expenses. That means they receive more in just 4 days than a struggling family of 3 will receive in an entire month with this subsidy. 

Rep. Miller says the bill is necessary to control state costs – but the program does not receive any funding from state revenue. Unlike the legislature budget, the POWER program is funded 100% by a federal block grant and does not impact the state budget at all. The drug testing, however, would be paid for by the state when the recipient passes the test. 

If the legislature is seriously concerned about paying state resources to someone who might be under the influence, I'd suggest morning and afternoon alcohol testing of the members of the legislature. This bill and the supporting votes clearly shows we have members who are impaired. 

Thanks to Ken for doing the research on this bill -- and digging up the legislative quotes. Find out more about the "punish the poor" bill at http://legisweb.state.wy.us/2012/Introduced/HB0082.pdf

Drinking Liberally at Uncle Charlie's Feb. 23

Drinking Liberally convenes in Cheyenne on Thursday, Feb. 23, 6 p.m.-to-whenever, upstairs at Uncle Charlie's Tavern on Yellowstone Blvd. Drink Liberally. Speak Liberally about the strangeness (thus far) in the Legislative session. Talk to Dem issue lobbyists. Have fun. Open to all.

Wyoming ACLU: Keep track of anti-choice HJ7 in Wyoming Legislature

Wyoming ACLU tracking anti-choice bill in Wyoming House. The right-wing whackadoodles are at it again. Read more at http://acluwyomingchapter.blogspot.com/2012/02/action-needed-to-stop-resolution-hj7.html

Obama for America/WY holds online training session Feb. 26 in Cheyenne

From Robert Vernon-Kubichek, Obama for America/Wyoming:

We are going to be holding our first volunteer leader training online Sunday, February 26, at 3pm. Essentially this will be an opportunity for those of you who are interested in taking a leadership role in your communities to hop on and learn about setting goals in Dashboard, running your own team meetings, events, and phone banks. This will be the first of our regularly scheduled online training sessions in the state, and I would love to see all of you there. We are starting to see lots of support for the work the campaign is doing across the state. But the objective is to give YOU the leadership role in running your own teams, and meeting your own objectives. My role is to facilitate this work, not to micromanage it. So if you are interested in taking a Core Team Member or Neighborhood Team Leader role, join us for the training and learn how to take charge. The link to the training event is http://obama.adobeconnect.com/wyoming/

Laramie County Democrats meet tonight at IBEW hall

From Linda Stowers: Don't forget that the Laramie County Democrats meet tonight. Gumbo and King Cake at 6:30 p.m. and the meeting at 7. We will be discussing the upcoming Legislative Reception, the Coalition fundraiser in March, the County Convention in April, and others. Come join us at the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) hall, 810 Fremont St., Cheyenne. FMI: 307-634-0768.

"Punish the poor" bill advances in Wyoming House

Rev. Joe Bair of Douglas has a fine letter in today’s Casper Star-Tribune. It addresses the “punish the poor” bill advanced by the Wyoming House last week. HB 82 stipulates drug-testing for state welfare recipients.

These laws are not really about drug use. Let's call it what it is: picking on the disempowered for the sake of garnering a couple of votes. It's bad public policy, it's cruel, and it's beneath the people of Wyoming.

Right on, Reverend!

Read more: http://trib.com/opinion/letters/poor-are-an-easy-target/article_8c5cc867-d07f-55c6-8bcf-f38c0b45117c.html#ixzz1mwYxYcpY


FYI: All of the bill's sponsors are Republicans: Representatives David Miller (Fremont County), Donald Burkhart (Carbon), Kathy Davison (Lincoln/Sublette/Sweetwater), Amy Edmonds (Laramie), Gerald Gay (Natrona), Allen Jaggi (Uinta/Sweetwater), Frank Peasley (Converse/Platte), Lorraine Quarberg (Big Horn/Hot Springs/Park) and Matt Teeters (Goshen/Platte); Senators Kit Jennings (Natrona) and Ray Peterson (Big Horn/Park).


Call hem. Ask them why they want to punish the poor. Get contact info at http://legisweb.state.wy.us 

Wyoming Arts Alliance holds advocacy luncheon Feb. 24 in Cheyenne

The upcoming week in Cheyenne is filled with events. But there’s one on Friday that you shouldn’t miss. Lyndsay McCandless, director of the Wyoming Arts Alliance, sends this info:

The Wyoming Arts Alliance in partnership with the Wyoming Arts Council invites you to join us for the “Arts Advocacy Luncheon for Legislators” on Friday, February 24, 11:30 a.m.-2 p.m., in the Herschler Building West Wing Atrium in Cheyenne. Join us to thank our Legislators for their support of the arts in our state! Please pass this information along to anyone who is interested in the arts in Wyoming: www.wyomingarts.org 

Without the South, we'd have a better country -- but the music and novels would suck

Denver Post columnist Ed Quillen offers some alternative thoughts about Abe Lincoln’s legacy during this President's Day weekend:

While Abraham Lincoln certainly had some admirable traits, recall that his main goal was to hold the Union together. Now, ponder what a fine country we'd have if Lincoln had just let the South go in peace. 

Without the South, we'd probably enjoy decent passenger rail service, improved public education and single-payer health insurance. Our federal taxes would be lower, as many of the old Confederate states enjoy substantial subsidies. Mississippi, for instance, collects $2.02 from the federal government for every dollar it pays in federal taxes. It's $1.78 for Louisiana, $1.65 for Alabama and $1.51 for Virginia. 

--clip-- 

Granted, American popular music would be worse than dreadful without Southern contributions.

Not to mention American fiction writing without Southern writers. Instead of U.S. writers from the South, the following would be notable writers from the C.S.A.: William Faulkner, Flannery O'Connor, Walker Percy, Tennessee Williams, Eudora Welty, Katherine Anne Porter, Harry Crews, Rita Dove, Zora Neale Hurston, Peter Taylor, Barry Hannah, Pat Conroy, Rosemary Daniell, Lewis Nordan, Truman Capote, Carson McCullers, Kaye Gibbons, Yusef Komunyakaa, Natasha Tretheway, Barbara Kingsolver, and so on. 

Thing is, they might not have become the writers we know without the angst that comes with being defeated rebels. And there are some African-American writers on this list who might not have had the freedom to write in an agrarian slave-based country.   

Read Quillen’s column at http://www.denverpost.com/opinion/ci_19983335?source=pop

Birth control debate provokes sixties' flashback

Catholics of a certain age will recognize Foster Friess’s recent “aspirin solution” comment as a joke from an earlier age.

In case you hadn’t heard, Rick Santorum’s premier contributor, Foster Friess of Jackson, joked last week that back in his day, aspirin was the perfect birth control pill. Women were told (only half-jokingly): “Take an aspirin, and hold it between your knees.”

LOL.

Although we didn’t say LOL then. We said hardy-har-har, or something similar.

In America’s pre-pill era, women, especially Catholic women, were screwed. They were sexual beings who were told by the men in their lives – boyfriends, husbands, priests, politicians – that birth control was not an option. It was their womanly duty to have sex and their bear the consequences – children. It was God’s will. Barefoot and pregnant and in the kitchen was the reality of this “every sperm is sacred” mentality.

The guys were in charge.

That changed with the advent of safe birth control. And the women moved out of the kitchen and went to work and here we are today, debating this subject all over again.

But men, especially older white men, are being threatened as never before by smart and successful women. Minorities, too -- we have a black president! Technology and rapidly changing world events are scary. All hell is breaking loose! Women back to kitchen!

I grew up Catholic and am still, nominally, a Catholic. My coming-of-age was in the sixties. My parents were devout Catholics and they practiced the rhythm method.

LOL.

This was the only birth control method available to church-going Catholics. Abstinence, too – can’t forget that. Thus, most Catholic families engendered multiple offspring. In the case of the Shay family, that was nine children (with two miscarriages). My mother used to joke, “I was pregnant for 15 years.” That would have been longer had she not had twins. In the end, she had a hysterectomy and that was that. She died at the young age of 59, two years younger than I am now. She lasted only 18 months after an ovarian cancer diagnosis.

My parents urged their children to be careful and judicious when it came to sex. My mother, a nurse, urged birth control upon her offspring. In the emergency room, she regularly saw the depredations of unwanted pregnancy. She cast a jaundiced eye on church fathers that urged sex-for-procreation-only and then turned their backs on the results. On the other hand, she was mightily offended whenever people would look down their noses at her brood. “Nine kids – heavens to Betsy!” It usually wasn’t elitist secularists and liberals making these remarks. In the South, it tended to be our Protestant brethren and sistren. They tended to have smaller families, whether the result of birth control or abstinence or sheer cussedness I cannot say. As I look back, I remember that we were a large family even among my Catholic high school friends. Three kids tended to be the norm, with a few in the five-seven range and some of us with whopping big numbers. But we were rare.

What kind of birth control did I practice in high school? Fear and guilt kept me from toiling in the devil’s workshop. We joked about the rhythm method or the aspirin-between-the-legs or chastity belts or whatever. Meanwhile, we only had lust in our hearts. Nothing could be done for it. In our senior year, the blonde-haired, blue-eyed head cheerleader got in trouble, courtesy of the football star. She was sent away to live with her aunt in Ohio, and she missed graduation. The football star did not. Both of these people were my friends. From what I hear, both have had more than their share of life’s struggles. But their fate could have easily been ours. Just say no! And that’s what I did until I was 21.

Catholics of a certain age know the tragedies behind the church’s procreation policies. There are tragedies repeated today, in a time when science has given us an array of dependable birth control, a time in which college students can purchase morning-after pills along with Twinkies in student union vending machines. Birth control has given us all more freedom. Women, especially. And they should have all possible means available to them.

What has happened to my brothers and sisters? Surviving members (we lost a brother in 2010) all seem to be leading useful and productive lives. Among the nine of us, we have 19 children. My two kids have plenty of first cousins, although they live far away in Florida. None of my siblings are devout Catholics, although some go to church. When my brother Patrick Kevin Shay (my son’s godfather) died in 2010, he had a secular ceremony in a park. I officiated. Good ol’ secular liberal me. There were remembrances and even a few prayers. We partied later and remembered the dead. We even argued politics, which we consider a contact sport.

Even when I was a practicing adult Catholic, I paid no attention to the church’s pronouncements of matters that were none of its business. The church cannot tell me whom I can sleep with, appropriate procreation methods, which candidate to vote for, what books to read, etc. Church fathers make it their business but they are regularly ignored, if recent polls can be believed. It’s interesting to note that most Catholics who have to live in the real world regularly ignore those who don’t.

Mr. Friess can joke about the aspirin solution all he wants. We know that it’s not a joke to most women. Women who vote, women like my wife Chris of 30 years, do not consider Foster Friess a comedian. They see him as a tired old man living in an imagined golden age. That’s the way she sees Rick Santorum, too, and all of his fellow travelers. They are throwbacks to another age. This is their last hurrah and they are being as loud and as obnoxious as possible. It’s up to us to ignore them, and then go to the ballot box to vote for people who believe in a future filled with intelligence and empathy and choice.

Santorum, Friess, the Catholic Church and the aspirin solution

Reception Feb. 22 for "New West Art at the Hynds" in downtown Cheyenne

New West Art Show at the Hynds 1602 Capitol Avenue Cheyenne. Featuring the work of 15 artists. Rachael Eastman,Don Hendricksen,Terry Kreuzer,Phillippa K. Lack, Edward Marron, Mike McIntosh, Lynn Newman, Sally Newman, Connie Norman,Do Palma, Win Ratz, Jennifer Rife, Kevin Robinett, Georgia Rowswell, Laurel Shelley-Ruess . Public reception this Wednesday February 22 from 5:30 till 7:30. FMI: 630-4077

Santorum wins GOP straw poll in Laramie County

The Wyoming Republican Party is reporting straw poll results on Facebook. Here are the results for Laramie County: Santorum 66, Romney 55, Gingrich 6.

No votes for Ron Paul in Libertarian-leaning Wyoming?

Santorum whips Romney in heavily-Mormon Wyoming?

I can only assume that Laramie County Republicans heart Santorum's anti-birth control, anti-women, anti-gay, anti-public education, anti-public worker, anti-union, anti-immigrant, anti-EPA, anti-science, anti-99%, anti-gubment, anti-nearly-everything-good-in-this-world agenda.

I'm only assuming...

Good news from WPEA: Retirement bill fails introduction in Wyoming House

The Wyoming Public Employees Association reports this today:

HB91, sponsored by Representative Pedersen, a bill to change the Retirement System to a Defined Contribution program, failed to collect the required 2/3 votes of the House members today. The final vote count was 30 ayes and 30 noes; a no vote was the correct vote as it killed the bill.

So, the bill sponsored by Laramie County Republican Bryan Pedersen, failed introduction. It would have radically changed a solvent retirement system that is the envy among other states. One can only assume that this is attempt to certain Republicans to punish us terrible public workers – a trend we’ve seen in other Republican-dominated legislatures in Wisconsin, Ohio and Florida. But not all Repubs voted for a change only they believe in – note that some of the no votes came from Republicans. Thanks to moderates Del McOmie, Dave Zwonitzer, Owen Petersen, Rita Cannady, Pete Illoway and others. Special thanks to all of our House Democrats. And fie on those Laramie County Republicans who voted for the bill. That includes Rep. Pedersen and my Rep., Bob Nicholas.

The bill will return during next year’s lawmaking session. By then, let’s hope that voters have booted out some of the more regressive Republicans. Not likely, but hope springs eternal among Democrats in the reddest of red states. 

  

Here are the results of the roll call via the Legisweb site. 

Ayes:  Representative(s): Berger, Blikre, Bonner, Brechtel, Brown, Buchanan, Burkhart, Edmonds, Gay, Gingery, Greene, Jaggi, Kasperik, Kroeker, Krone, Lockhart, Loucks, Lubnau, Miller, Moniz, Nicholas B, Peasley, Pedersen, Quarberg, Reeder, Semlek, Stubson, Teeters, Wallis, Zwonitzer, Dn. 

Nays:  Representative(s): Barbuto, Blake, Botten, Byrd, Campbell, Cannady, Childers, Connolly, Craft, Davison, Eklund, Esquibel, K., Freeman, Goggles, Greear, Harshman, Harvey, Hunt, Illoway, Madden, McKim, McOmie, Patton, Petersen, Petroff, Roscoe, Steward, Throne, Vranish, Zwonitzer, Dv. 

Wilderness ethics, Buddhism, and Native American mythology just some of the topics on tap for poet Gary Snyder's Jackson presentation

Gary Snyder, who's given Mother Nature a voice for decades, will be reading from his work March 13-14 in Jackson. Teton County's a bit too far for a jaunt to see Gary, but it's good to know that he's visiting our fair state, energy colony to the nation.

Here's some background on his Wyoming visit:

Get free tickets to “Page to the Podium: Gary Snyder” beginning on Wednesday, February 29 at 5 p.m. at Teton County Library or during regular hours at Alta Branch Library. Tickets are limited to one per card; available first-come, first-serve. Patrons may claim tickets for friends or a spouse but must bring a library card or card number for each ticket they wish to claim.

Snyder’s Page to the Podium event will be on Tuesday, March 13 from 6-8 p.m. at the Center for the Arts, Center Theater. Snyder will give a poetry reading followed by an interview with author, Exum mountain guide, and Zen practitioner, Jack Turner. A book signing with Snyder will complete the evening. Snyder’s Page to the Podium event will be on Tuesday, March 13 from 6-8 p.m. at the Center for the Arts, Center Theater. Snyder will give a poetry reading followed by an interview with author, Exum mountain guide, and Zen practitioner, Jack Turner. A book signing with Snyder will complete the evening.

Snyder’s accomplishments include 18 published collections of poetry and essays, numerous awards and fellowships, countless international interviews, keynote lectures and an endowed chair at University of California at Davis. His writing delves into themes of pollution and overpopulation, wilderness ethics, Buddhist principles, as well as Native American mythology. In 1975, Snyder won the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry for “Turtle Island,” a meditation on the geo-mythical history of the planet. Read more about Snyder at http://www.poetryfoundation.org/bio/gary-snyder.

Also, on Wednesday, March 14, from 5:45-7 p.m. at the Old Wilson Schoolhouse, Snyder will give a poetry performance. Space for this second event will be limited, without tickets, and seating is first-come, first-serve.

Learn more about this and many other library events at www.tlcib.org.

Wyoming right-winger Foster Friess prescribes aspirin-between-the-knees for women's contraception

Teton County, Wyoming, billionaire Foster Friess, a member in good standing of the 1% and one of right-wing wacko Rick Santorum's largest funders, wants women to keep their legs -- and mouths -- shut.

Yesterday he said,

This contraceptive thing, my gosh it's such inexpensive, back in my days we used Bayer aspirin for contraception, the gals put it between their knees and it wasn't that costly.

Says Bri Jones:

I am not willing to go back to the days when a woman did not have the choice of when and how to reproduce.  I'm not interested in shutting up. I'm embarrassed for Wyoming.  I don't want people to associate the Equality State with someone so regressive.  I don't want my home state painted as anti-woman. Help me tell a different story.

Will you pitch in $25 today to keep Foster Friess' voice from being the only one coming from Wyoming? 

We deserve a better spokesperson.  Don't let this one go unanswered.  

State budget cuts impact Wyoming's most vulnerable children and families

For the most part, Wyoming fares poorly in children's health care. It's not Alabama-bad, but statistics provided by national organizations regularly put us somewhere in the middle of the pack. This would seem to run counter to Wyoming's status as one of the few states that prospered economically during the past decade. 

The latest Wyoming Kids Count data report ranks Wyoming 28th when it comes to twelve criteria, including teen death rates, low birth weight babies, adequate prenatal care, etc. Here's a summary:

The child well-being indicators in the 2012 Wyoming Kids Count report show improvement over time for just four of the twelve indicators. Results have worsened over time across the remaining eight. Many Wyoming mothers do not receive adequate prenatal care, have difficulty finding a hospital to give birth, and they are often lacking in education about the risk factors that can negatively impact childbirth and child development. 

Whatever the topic -- health care, mental health, substance abuse, K-12 education -- Wyoming ends up ranked either in the bottom of the top tier or the top of the bottom tier. This runs counter to the idea that Wyoming can have it all -- or "do it all," as Gov. Mead said in his recent State of the State speech. We might be able to do it all, but we haven't yet.

This is why it's distressing to learn about cuts to my favorite non-profit organization. UPLIFT provides services to those families with special needs children. I've been a board member since 1998. I've also received UPLIFT services for my special needs children. More about that below. But first, here's is some background on the current budget cuts:

In 2011, thanks to UPLIFT, families of 717 children with special health care needs received support, advocacy, mentoring, and training with a positive impact on their skills in the following areas:

·         Ability to better care for their child at home

·         Ability to advocate for their child’s needs

·         Ability to access needed services

·         Reduction of family stress due to their child’s special health care needs

The most important piece of data indicated parents were better able to care for their children at home thus reducing the need for costly out-of-home place. The average annual cost for a child in out-of-home placement is $120,000.  UPLIFT support services average annual cost is only $1,500 per child.


In 2011 UPLIFT served children in 21 Wyoming Counties. UPLIFT currently maintains 5 regional offices to better serve children and families statewide. Current state budget cuts of 44% will result in the closing of offices and a significant reduction in the number of children and families that will be served.

UPLIFT is the only statewide family-run organization providing these support services and has been an active part of Wyoming communities since 1990. Over the past 5 years UPLIFT has served 3,600 children and their families. Current budget cuts will result in a loss of services to approximately 200 children annually. Without adequate funding, anticipated negative outcomes for families and communities might include increased out-of-home placement, juvenile justice involvement, school failure, and increased family stress.


If you're disturbed by these cuts, contact your state legislators and tell them to do something about it. I did. Here's my e-mail:


Dear Sen. Fred Emerich:

I was shocked to hear this week that Wyoming Department of Health budget cuts to UPLIFT will result in the closing of offices and a significant reduction in the number of children and families that receive crucial services from this non-profit organization. These cuts amount to 44 percent of the funding that UPLIFT receives from the state.

I urge you to support a bill that will restore this funding during the upcoming biennium.

Why is UPLIFT important? It’s been crucial to my family on several occasions. UPLIFT is the only organization in the state that provides one-on-one assistance to families whose children require Individualized Education Programs or IEPs. My son was diagnosed in kindergarten with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). Without special help provided by an IEP, he never would have graduated and gone on to college (which he did). IEP meetings require parents to meet with a phalanx of administrators, teachers and counselors from the school. Parents are often clueless as to what they can request as far as special accommodations. UPLIFT provides family support specialists who accompany the parents during these school meetings. My wife and I received assistance from UPLIFT employees at IEP meetings at McCormick Junior High and East High School. All this was at no cost to us.


Our son is a community college grad and will attend CSU in the fall. He's doing just fine, thank you.

Eight years later, our daughter needed assistance to cope with a severe learning disability, epilepsy and Attention Deficit Disorder. UPLIFT staff assisted at IEP meetings. Later, after our daughter was treated in a mental health facility for bipolar disorder, UPLIFT provided crucial wrap-around support to help our daughter transition back to school and the community. This was paid for through the Wyoming Children’s Mental Health Waiver. This was a great thing because, without it, we never could have afforded the long-term mental health care or the transition services. These on-site support services cost much less than in-patient treatment at a mental health facility. The average annual cost for a child in out-of-home placement is $120,000.  UPLIFT support services annually average only $1,500 per child.

I am happy to report that our daughter, now 18, is a student in the music program at LCCC – and received a full scholarship. This would never have happened without crucial services provided by UPLIFT.

We read so much about Wyoming’s pioneer status and the difficulty its citizens have in receiving health care services. Here is an organization that fills a huge need in the state, one that would not be addressed without UPLIFT.

I am not just talking about families in Laramie County where UPLIFT’s main office is located. In 2011, UPLIFT served 717 children in 21 Wyoming counties through its five regional offices. In Fremont County, UPLIFT served 120 children. This county, as you know, is home to thriving communities in Lander and Riverton and Dubois. It is also home to pockets of grinding poverty, substance abuse and domestic violence, both on and off the Wind River Reservation. It’s not too much of a stretch to say that UPLIFT has saved lives in Fremont County.

Over the past five years, UPLIFT has served 3,600 children and their families. Current budget cuts will result in a loss of services to approximately 200 children annually. Without adequate funding, there will be increased out-of-home placement, juvenile justice involvement, school failure, and increased family stress.

I’ve been following the committee meetings leading up to the legislative session. I know that tough budget choices have been made – and will continue during the session. But this is one funding measure that is crucial to the well-being of Wyoming’s children. Please support Sen. Peterson’s amendment. Our families are counting on you.

Sincerely,

Michael Shay

Feel free to use any of my wording. You probably have your own story. Tell it.

In the meantime, contribute to UPLIFT here.

Not Zombie lobbyists -- just Zombies lobbying for a new Wyoming film

No, this isn't just another batch of Zombie energy company lobbyists. They are Zombies though, gathered in front of the State Capitol during the annual Legislative session. This was a flash occupation (note the upside-down "We are the 99%" sign) to promote a new movie being filmed in Wyoming. "From the Trailer to the Grave" is an all-Wyoming production, a "Redneck Zombie Romantic Comedy" with auditions this week around the state. Producer/director is Harrison Sweeney, Worland native and UW grad, last seen in good-ol'-boy roles in "Rizzoli & Isles" and a Foster's Beer commercial. He's the guy (back to camera) with the scarf snapping Zombie photos. Harrison will be talking about his film on Meg Lanker-Simons' bitchin' Friday night radio show this Friday 10 p.m.-1 a.m. on KOCA-FM, 93.5 in Laramie. 

Read it yourself: "Public employee retirement plan"

In reference to my previous post about legislation changing the retirement plan for state employees....

I've posted below the summary of the bill. On its face, it's not so bad. And hey, why should I be so concerned about a bill that doesn't affect my retirement? The bill, if passed, changes retirement for those hired beginning in the next fiscal year. I started with the state many fiscal years ago and I'm closer to retirement than not.

But the state has a great plan already. It's reasonable. It's solvent. It's managed properly by the WRS board. Its assets were not invested foolishly in credit default swaps or some other Wall Street nonsense. In fact, the board issued a public statement in 2011 that supported the current retirement set-up.

Go read it for yourself. And then ask why a change is needed.

Here's the summary from Legisweb:

SF0097-12LSO-0109 Public employee retirement plan.

This bill would modify benefits and requirements for benefits for general members of the public employees retirement plan ("big plan") hired after September 1, 2012. The new benefits would be based on a multiplier of 2% for each year of service (rather than 2.175% for the first 15 years of service and 2.25% for each year thereafter under current law). The bill would also provide that benefits would be based upon the highest 5 years, rather than 3 years, of salary. Finally, the normal retirement age would be increased from 60 to 65 (the rule of 85 would remain the same).