Good and not so good comes out of Legislature

The 2010 Wyoming Legislative Session will wrap up today or tomorrow with some good things accomplished, some things left undone and some things that should stay undone.

Obviously approving a balanced budget is a good accomplishment, something our federal government struggles with on a regular basis. We wonder, however, about the formula used to determine hardship counties. You would think a county that doesn’t generate much in mill levies, that has had the highest or near the highest unemployment rate in the state for much of last year and this year, would be considered a hardship county. Apparently that’s not the case for our Wyoming Legislature or at least the Joint Appropriations Committee and Chairman Sen. Phil Nicholas who helped develop the formula.

We are pleased that the bill to authorize tolling on I-80 has failed this session. Wyoming has set a high standard for state and federal highways and we appreciate it. However, there are too many questions and variables to setting up tolling on I-80. For one, why should we as state taxpayers, who already pay our property tax and gasoline tax and sales tax, have to pay more to use the highway.

A toll road is for everyone, truckers and residents alike. The state was smart enough to realize that Hot Springs State Park is unique enough not to charge an entrance fee. They should be smart enough to realize charging to use I-80 is not an answer to raising funds to support our highways.

Another question is how many toll booths are there going to be. Anyone who has driven across the state on I-80 knows there are many, many exits and entrances to the Interstate. Who wants to deal with that?

We are also pleased to the see House Bill 113 that would have allowed people over the age of 21 to carry a concealed weapon without a permit die in the Senate Judiciary Committee. We appreciate Rep. Lorraine Quarberg’s defense of our Second Amendment rights but what is so wrong with getting a permit.

Here in Basin, Carroll Brown has been more than accommodating to hold numerous permit classes as the need arises. Brown has said that since last year the number of permit applications has been increasing, perhaps in fear that a Democratic president would take away our Second Amendment right but no move has been made in that direction.

In an age where our society has seemingly become more and more violent do we really want everyone to be able to carry a concealed weapon around. Common sense needs to prevail and with a system already in place — the permitting process — to allow for the carry of a concealed weapon, let’s not take a chance on creating dangerous situations where there shouldn’t be any.

At the start of the session the Senate and House were dealing with 219 pieces of legislation, along with the budget. That’s a lot of legislation and one wonders if they are all really necessary. Obviously, the Legislature felt that 100 of the pieces were not necessary at least this year, but are our lives going to change dramatically with the more than 100 pieces of legislation that were passed or expected to pass as of this writing.

---Karla Pomeroy