Rep. Lawley to Commission: ‘If local government is always having to beg for money, we kind of become a ward of the state’

Rep. Martha Lawley (R) Worland met with county elected officials at the commissioner’s meeting on Dec. 2.  In addition to commissioners Deb Craft and Dave Neves others in attendance included  Clerk Lori Smallwood, County Attorney Marica Bean, Assessor Gina Anderson, Emergency Management Coordinator LaRae Dobbs, Treasurer Nicole Vigil, Clerk of District Court Serena Lipp, Cozette Winters of the assessor’s office and Deputy County Attorney Jennifer Kirk. Commissioner Bruce Jolley was unable to attend. 

Lawley addressing the room, noted that it is a challenge to represent just a small portion of Big Horn County but it is her favorite part of the county. Growing up in Worland, she has childhood memories of Manderson, Hyattville, etc. “Thank you for having me and your input is very important to me.” She continued that those in the room help her understand better the perspective of this county. 

“One of my priorities going into the session is to survive it. It is going to be challenging. No question about that. Especially on the House side,” Lawley said. “But my priority in the broadest terms is to be fiscally responsible and to try to push back against things I find to be fiscally irresponsible and even dangerous. In terms of tweaking the tax systems and things like that. Another priority is to get a good balance of how we are doing our savings.” She added that she normally supports Gov. Gordon’s position about savings and what the state is doing with them. But she has a different view about how much is held back for the Legislative Stabilization Fund, a.k.a. Rainy Day Fund. 

The Rural Health Transformation (RHT) Program will also be a priority for Lawley. “It is going to be huge. First of all, under that Act and the money we are expected to get…will be the end of December. We are likely to get 100 million dollars a year for over a five-year period.” A goal tied to the RHT is more transparency on how it is spent.  She discussed the money that came into the state from Covid funds. Some people were upset that the process wasn’t more transparent. “This time we can learn from that. We can do better for the sake of the people. We need to focus the money where it is most needed.” 

Both Washakie and Big Horn Counties are “rural;” however the counties really are “frontier” in regards CMS (Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.) ratings. She added that both Gordon and the Department of Health have this on their radar, especially when it comes to Emergency Medical Services (EMS). In Gordon’s budget letter in November, he wrote that that Wyoming needs to sustain its provider network for critical services. His budget recommends increases to assure care for people with developmental disabilities, increase home health reimbursements for high needs children, improve access to maternity services for new moms and families, and continue providing community-based resources that allow senior and those with disabilities to stay in their homes longer. 

Lawley also spoke about the discussion about eliminating property taxes and increasing sales taxes. “We can’t use ½ penny to support EMS.” The special districts such as schools, cemeteries, water districts, etc., would be negatively impacted as well if property taxes are cut or eliminated. She will give priority to protecting funding for local government including direct distribution. There is currently nothing binding the state to provide the distribution. 

The the sources for local and state revenue are different and many don’t understand the distinction. “The loss of the ability for local government to raise their own money completely destroys the idea of local control,” said Lawley. “You can’t have effective local control when you don’t have the ability to raise revenue…to do the things that are your priority.” 

She noted that she has been recording and posting videos on her Facebook page called “Representative Martha Lawley WY State House.” Her hope is that people will go watch them to gain a better understanding of what is happening that is impacting or will impact the people of Wyoming. She continued that while people may initially think proposed legislation sounds great, real damage could be done if it passes. “If local government is always having to beg for money, we kind of become a ward of the state. Then they (the state) set our priorities.” 

Lawley asked each person in the room to share their concerns about proposed legislation including property tax and how it would impact their department. She suggested that the department heads and commissioner’s provide detailed information on how the cuts would impact the people of the county.