Episode Details

It's time to take a look at what's happening around Wyoming for Wednesday, March 4th. I'm Mac Watson.

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State Treasurer Curt Meier said Wyoming needs $6 billion for housing in the next 15 years and that doesn't count infrastructure. Cowboy State Daily's David Madison reports that legislators considered housing legislation this year, but nothing passed.

"Housing is kind of the hot topic of this session, but nothing happened. No bills passed. You might say it was the radioactive topic of this session. It was interesting to hear from Senator Gierau from Jackson, Senator Sherwood from Laramie about how, yes, they were disappointed that nothing really passed. They were disappointed that nothing passed this session to address the housing needs in Wyoming and Gierau took it a step further. He said, 'Do you know why Teton County has such a booming economy? Is because we've built 1,700 affordable units and even with that kind of build out of affordable housing,' he says only 15% of the 100 employees involved in his businesses actually live in Jackson."

After touting his office's role as the single largest supplier of revenue in the state budget, Meier pivoted to what he called the intersection of affordable housing, workforce development and capitalism — telling the Republican faithful that housing and a great economy "go arm-in-arm with, essentially, capitalism."

Read the full story HERE.

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Wyoming legislators denied amendments Tuesday to allow districts to use money for instruction and teacher pay on other things. Cowboy State Daily's Clair McFarland reports that some say districts need leeway, others that the rule guards against districts "continually saying, 'Not enough, need more.'

"Teachers, paraprofessionals, other educators, their compensation and instructional money would all be in kind of its own section of the grant that the districts can pull from. And that's because there's been a controversy in the past of the legislature saying, 'Oh, here's money for you to give all your teachers raises, raises, or to hire more teachers.' And sometimes the money, you know, it can be pulled for other things. And so some of the really small school districts, especially are saying we have to have that flexibility. As the recalibration sits now, it would give teachers raises, and it would make it so that instructional direct to classroom teachers, paraprofessionals, money can't go for other things."

The recalibration bill must survive one more reading in the House, an approval of House changes by the Senate, and the governor's desk to become law.

Read the full story HERE.

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This winter has certainly been record setting for little-to-no snow and warm temperatures in Wyoming as the East has been getting hammered with blizzards and record cold. Cowboy State Daily's Andrew Rossi reports that meteorologist Don Day says, "We have never seen anything of this magnitude in modern times."

"So, it's really been a tale of two winters. Meteorological winter was over at the beginning of March. And if you want to get an idea of just how extreme and unprecedented this winter was, between December 1 and February 28 Salt Lake City received 2.5 inches of snow over that same period. Augusta, Georgia, in the Deep South, got 3.5 inches. So we're really looking at an extreme divide between the western and eastern United States, where the West was dry and warm. In Wyoming, it was the warmest winter on record, going back 135 years in some places."