Split reactions from constituents during Cheyenne town hall with state representatives
About half of the approximately 30 people who gathered in the room were pleased by their representatives' remarks, while the other half were less than impressed.
The lawmakers fielded questions on a wide range of topics, from the importance of revisiting Wyoming's election laws to how they plan to ensure funding for mental and maternal health care.
Cheyenne Republican Reps. John Eklund, Lee Filer, Rob Geringer, Ann Lucas, Steve Johnson, Daniel Singh and Jacob Wasserburger participated in the panel, which was organized by Filer. A majority of the panelists were in their first or second term as a state legislator.
For the last hour or so of the scheduled three-hour event, patrons were invited to come forward and speak directly with the lawmakers. However, roughly half the audience left the room immediately after the panel portion ended.
Local resident Jeff Daugherty moderated the panel and read out questions written on cards by audience members.
Better Wyoming member Angela Silvester told the Wyoming Tribune Eagle after the town hall she was disappointed her question wasn't properly asked.
'I had a few questions, and one of our (volunteers) also had some questions about health care,' Silvester said. 'They kind of looped it in together.'
Silvester said her question asked lawmakers why they voted for or against increasing Medicaid reimbursement rates in the supplemental budget for maternal and mental health care. Gov. Mark Gordon recommended a $2.3 million allocation to the Wyoming Department of Health to increase Medicaid reimbursement rates in his supplemental budget request to the Legislature this year.
But, for the first time in recent memory, the Legislature failed to pass a supplemental budget.
'I'm a little bit disappointed (Daugherty) didn't read my question exactly,' Silvester said.
Not everyone was disappointed by the panel, however. A couple of attendees told the WTE they were pleased by their representatives' comments and said it appeared the lawmakers knew what they were talking about.
'I thought it was good,' said Cheyenne resident Celeste Simmons. 'They explained why they made certain decisions and explained how the process works.'
Property taxes, education, elections
The 68th Wyoming Legislature passed bills related to education funding, election laws and property tax relief. A universal school choice bill and a 25% property tax cut were among the more controversial topics heavily debated during the 37-day session.
One of the first questions panelists tackled was the impact of major property tax relief. Critics of the 25% property tax cut said city services and special districts will take a major hit, especially without any backfill from the state.
During another Cheyenne town hall that was held a little more than three weeks ago, Lucas said Laramie County is 'wealthy,' and downplayed the effects of property tax cuts on local governments, which she claimed are 'inflation proof.'
'I'm here to tell you, Laramie County has reserves,' Lucas said during the previous town hall. 'I really don't know that there's any need to reduce fire protection when we are such a wealthy county.'
Rep. Ann Lucas, R-Cheyenne (2025)
Rep. Ann Lucas, R-Cheyenne
However, Lucas changed her tune a bit during Wednesday's town hall.
'I live in Laramie County. I was mostly concerned with how the 25% residential property tax cut would hit us, because this is our home,' Lucas said. 'I'll be honest with you, there's a couple of fire districts that are probably going to be hurting a little bit.'
She maintained that 'we'll be OK,' but added that the income cut to some fire districts 'is a big deal.'
'Will the government have to learn to spend a little less? Yes,' Lucas said.
In light of the property tax cuts, panelists also addressed a question that asked how the Legislature will ensure adequate funding for its K-12 public schools, especially considering a recent Laramie County district court decision that found the state has unconstitutionally underfunded its public school system.
Geringer said public school funding will be OK in the short term, but the state should 'be careful … looking into the future.'
Rep. Rob Geringer, R-Cheyenne (2025)
Rep. Rob Geringer, R-Cheyenne
'We're so dependent on a volatile market in the revenues that come into the state, and our schools are highly depend on that,' Geringer said.
He said the state should be cautious about stripping its various savings accounts just because it believes the government is too big. The state has to be able to provide funding when revenues are down, 'and it will come.'
Singh, who serves on the House Education Committee, chimed in that fossil fuels are a major source of education funding. He said the state should consider diversifying its education revenue, such as by expanding its tourism industry.
Rep. Daniel Singh, R-Cheyenne (2025)
Rep. Daniel Singh, R-Cheyenne
'There are other avenues that we can explore to add to the funding for our education system, including from a tourism reserve account,' Singh said. 'There are a lot of different discussions that we have going into the budget session, but that would be one way to add to the funding in our education system.'
The Legislature also considered a record 45 election-related bills that were filed for the session, which made up 8% of the total legislation considered, according to WyoFile.com. Only four cases of election fraud have been reported in Wyoming since 2000, according to The Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank.
Lawmakers were asked why they felt election integrity is so important to the state of Wyoming. Only Lucas and Johnson volunteered to answer the question. They were also the only two representatives at the panel who were primary sponsors on election bills.
Rep. Steve Johnson, R-Cheyenne (2025)
Rep. Steve Johnson, R-Cheyenne
'As a whole, the citizens of Wyoming are due a legal, honest election,' said Johnson, who is a member of the House Corporations, Elections and Political Subdivisions Committee.
Lucas said it is a matter of patience getting all the election bills through, since a majority of them failed to go into law this year. But she didn't explain why Wyoming's election laws need to be revisited.
Visions for the future
Daugherty asked panelists one last question before they were released to speak with audience members one on one: What is your vision for the 2027-28 biennium?
Eklund, who has served in the Legislature since 2011, said he'd like to see lawmakers move on from 'bloc voting.' In the recent legislative session — the first in which the Wyoming Freedom Caucus held a majority in the House of Representatives — he said it 'was about a 35-25 vote every time.'
Rep. John Eklund, R-Cheyenne (2025)
Rep. John Eklund, R-Cheyenne
'When I started 14 years ago, I was able to bring an idea to the Legislature and have citizen legislators who came and tried to help my bills get across the finish line,' Eklund said. 'We're just not doing that.'
He said he didn't think it was constitutional, and it's already happening in Washington, D.C. Nine thousand people gave him their vote, Eklund continued. He can't represent his people if he's stuck in a bloc voting group.
'That's a vision I would have, for wanting to get out of this ridiculous, unconstitutional way we're trying to run the government,' Eklund said. 'That's how Washington, D.C. does it. We don't need to do that if we're a citizen legislature.'
Other representatives offered their perspectives on the budget for the next biennium, which will be debated in February during the 2026 budget session. Lucas said the state should curb the rate of government growth in spending. Geringer said the state should take a deeper look at how to fund education and be responsible in how it makes cuts to the budget.
'We don't need to just cut for the sake of cutting, but be surgical in how we look at the budget,' he said.
Filer said he wants to heavily focus on protecting the state's savings accounts, which generate revenue from collected interest. Lawmakers successfully eliminated the Budget Reserve Account in the recent session, and Filer said he was a bit concerned about this trend.
Rep. Lee Filer, R-Cheyenne (2025)
Rep. Lee Filer, R-Cheyenne
'We're cutting out our revenues by eliminating accounts that we have that are … making money off the investments,' Filer said. 'We want to actually look at our budget with our general fund and make sure we're spending the dollars correctly, the way we're supposed to, and not eliminating investment dollars.'
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Axios
12 minutes ago
- Axios
Richmonders to get $3.5K tax cut in 2026
The average Richmonder will see a federal tax cut of nearly $3,500 in 2026 thanks to the "big, beautiful bill," per an analysis from the Tax Foundation, a nonpartisan research group that mostly supports lower taxes. Why it matters: That's money folks can spend on other things — which could be essential next year given that wages still haven't caught up with inflation and tariffs threaten to push costs up further. State of play: The spending bill Congress passed last month made President Trump's first term tax cuts permanent — and added on a bunch more. The new tax breaks include deductions for tips and overtime income, a cut for seniors and an expanded child-care credit. These are temporary provisions. By the numbers: At $3,773, Richmond city residents will see the largest average tax cut next year among RVA metro area localities, per the Tax Foundation's number crunching. Chesterfield residents will see the smallest — $3,183. For Hanover taxpayers: $3,668. And it's $3,366 for Henrico residents. Zoom out: There are broad geographic differences in tax benefits from the spending bill due to variations in state and local taxes, plus areas where more high-earners live, Axios' Emily Peck and Jason Lalljee report. Virginia's Goochland County residents will see some of the largest average tax cuts in the state ($7,359), while Petersburg taxpayers will see the smallest ($1,428). The largest cuts in the country are going to mountain resort towns where high-earners and business owners live. In Teton County, Wy., residents will see an average tax cut of $37,373, the highest in the U.S. The smallest breaks are in rural counties — like Loup County, in Nebraska, where the average tax cut is $824. Zoom in: Business owners will get some of the biggest cuts — thanks, in part, to tax breaks being made permanent for research and development expenses and other provisions. Those in high-tax coastal regions will also get big breaks, thanks to the increased cap on state and local tax deductions (known as SALT — also temporary). For example, the average tax cut in 2026 for Westchester County, N.Y. — a high-income New York City suburb poised for a big SALT payoff — is $6,644. But just to the south, in the Bronx, the average tax cut is $1,761. Reality check: The "big, beautiful" bill also made some steep cuts to social spending on food benefits and Medicaid, but those mostly don't kick in until 2027 and 2028.
Miami Herald
12 minutes ago
- Miami Herald
Health groups aim to counter growing ‘national scandal' of elder homelessness
At age 82, Roberta Rabinovitz realized she had no place to go. A widow, she had lost both her daughters to cancer, after living with one and then the other, nursing them until their deaths. Then she moved in with her brother in Florida, until he also died. And so last fall, while recovering from lung cancer, Rabinovitz ended up at her grandson's home in Burrillville, Rhode Island, where she slept on the couch and struggled to navigate the steep staircase to the shower. That wasn't sustainable, and with apartment rents out of reach, Rabinovitz joined the growing population of older Americans unsure of where to lay their heads at night. But Rabinovitz was fortunate. She found a place to live, through what might seem an unlikely source — a health care nonprofit, the PACE Organization of Rhode Island. Around the country, arranging for housing is a relatively new and growing challenge for such PACE groups, which are funded through Medicaid and Medicare. PACE stands for a Program of All-Inclusive Care for the Elderly, and the organizations aim to keep frail, older people in their homes. But a patient can't stay at home if they don't have one. As housing costs rise, organizations responsible for people's medical care are realizing that to ensure their clients have a place to live, they must venture outside their lanes. Even hospitals — in Denver, New Orleans, New York City and elsewhere — have started investing in housing, recognizing that health isn't possible without it. And among older adults, the need is especially growing. In the U.S., 1 in 5 people who were homeless in 2024 were 55 or older, with the total older homeless population up 6% from the previous year. Dennis Culhane, a University of Pennsylvania professor who specializes in homelessness and housing policy, calculated that the number of men older than 60 living in shelters roughly tripled from 2000 to 2020. 'It's a national scandal, really, that the richest country in the world would have destitute elderly and disabled people,' Culhane said. Over decades of research, Culhane has documented the plight of people born between 1955 and 1965 who came of age during recessions and never got an economic foothold. Many in this group endured intermittent homelessness throughout their lives, and now their troubles are compounded by aging. But other homeless older adults are new to the experience. Many teeter on the edge of poverty, said Sandy Markwood, CEO of USAging, a national association representing what are known as area agencies on aging. A single incident can tip them into homelessness — the death of a spouse, job loss, a rent increase, an injury or illness. If cognitive decline starts, an older person may forget to pay their mortgage. Even those with paid-off houses often can't afford rising property taxes and upkeep. 'No one imagines anybody living on the street at 75 or 80,' Markwood said. 'But they are.' President Donald Trump's recent budget law, which makes substantial federal cuts to Medicaid, the public insurance program for those with low incomes or disabilities, will make matters worse for older people with limited incomes, said Yolanda Stevens, program and policy analyst with the National Alliance to End Homelessness. If people lose their health coverage or their local hospital closes, it will be harder for them to maintain their health and pay the rent. 'It's a perfect storm,' Stevens said. 'It's an unfortunate, devastating storm for our older Americans.' Adding to the challenges, the Labor Department recently halted a job training program intended to keep low-income older people in the workforce. Those circumstances have sent PACE health plans throughout the country into uncharted waters, prompting them to set up shop within senior housing projects, partner with housing providers, or even join forces with nonprofit developers to build their own. A 1997 federal law recognized PACE organizations as a provider type for Medicare and Medicaid. Today, some 185 operate in the U.S., each serving a defined geographic area, with a total of more than 83,000 participants. They enroll people 55 and older who are sick enough for nursing home care, and then provide everything their patients need to stay home despite their frailty. They also run centers that function as medical clinics and adult day centers and provide transportation. These organizations primarily serve impoverished people with complex medical conditions who are eligible for both Medicaid and Medicare. They pool money from both programs and operate within a set budget for each participant. PACE officials worry that, as federal funding for Medicaid programs shrinks, states will curtail support. But the PACE concept has always had bipartisan support, said Robert Greenwood, a senior vice president at the National PACE Association, because its services are significantly less expensive than nursing home care. The financing structure gives PACE the flexibility to do what it takes to keep participants living on their own, even if it means buying an air conditioner or taking a patient's dog to the vet. Taking on the housing crisis is another step toward the same goal. In the Detroit area, PACE Southeast Michigan, which serves 2,200 participants, partners with the owners of senior housing. The landlords agree to keep the rent affordable, and PACE provides services to their tenants who are members. Housing providers 'like to be full, they like their seniors cared for, and we do all of that,' said Mary Naber, president and CEO of PACE Southeast Michigan. For participants who become too infirm to live on their own, the Michigan organization has leased a wing in an independent living center, where it provides round-the-clock supportive care. The organization also is partnering with a nonprofit developer to create a cluster of 21 shipping containers converted into little houses in Eastpointe, just outside Detroit. Still in the planning stages, Naber said, the refurbished containers will probably rent for about $1,000 to $1,100 a month. In San Diego, the PACE program at St. Paul's Senior Services cares for chronically homeless people as they move into housing, offering not just health services but the backup needed to keep tenants in their homes, such as guidance on paying bills on time and keeping their apartments clean. St. Paul's also helps those already in housing but clinging to precarious living arrangements, said Carol Castillon, vice president of its PACE operations, by connecting them with community resources, helping fill out forms for housing assistance, and providing meals and household items to lower expenses. At PACE Rhode Island, which serves nearly 500 people, about 10 to 15 participants each month become homeless or at risk of homelessness, a rare situation five or six years ago, CEO Joan Kwiatkowski said. The organization contracts with assisted living facilities, but its participants are sometimes rejected because of prior criminal records, substance use, or health care needs that the facilities feel they can't handle. And public housing providers often have no openings. So PACE Rhode Island is planning to buy its own housing, Kwiatkowski said. PACE also has reserved four apartments at an assisted living facility in Bristol for its participants, paying rent when they're unoccupied. Rabinovitz moved into one recently. Rabinovitz had worked as a senior credit analyst for a health care company, but now her only income is her Social Security check. She keeps $120 from that check for personal supplies, and the rest goes to rent, which includes meals. Once a week or so, Rabinovitz rides a PACE van to the organization's center, where she gets medical care, including dental work, physical therapy, and medication — always, she said, from 'incredibly loving people.' When she's not feeling well enough to make the trek, PACE sends someone to her. Recently, a technician with a portable X-ray machine scanned her sore hip as she lay in her own bed in her new studio apartment. 'It's tiny, but I love it,' she said of the apartment, which she's decorated in purple, her favorite color. KFF Health News is a national newsroom that produces in-depth journalism about health issues and is one of the core operating programs at KFF— an independent source of health policy research, polling, and journalism.
San Francisco Chronicle
12 minutes ago
- San Francisco Chronicle
First domino in national redistricting fight likely to fall with Texas GOP poised for vote on maps
AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — The first domino in a growing national redistricting battle is likely to fall Wednesday as the Republican-controlled Texas legislature is expected to pass a new congressional map creating five new winnable seats for the GOP. The vote follows prodding by President Donald Trump, eager to stave off a midterm defeat that would deprive his party of control of the House of Representatives, and weeks of delays after dozens of Texas Democratic state lawmakers fled the state in protest. Some Democrats returned Monday, only to be assigned round-the-clock police escorts to ensure their attendance at Wednesday's session. Those who refused to be monitored were confined to the House floor, where they protested on a livestream Tuesday night. Furious national Democrats have vowed payback for the Texas map, with California's legislature poised to approve new maps adding more Democratic-friendly seats later this week. The map would still need to be approved by that state's voters in November. Normally, states redraw maps once a decade with new census figures. But Trump is lobbying other conservative-controlled states like Indiana and Missouri to also try to squeeze new GOP-friendly seats out of their maps as his party prepares for a difficult midterm election next year. In Texas, Democrats spent the day before the vote continuing to draw attention to the extraordinary lengths the Republicans who run the legislature were going to ensure it takes place. Democratic state Rep. Nicole Collier started it when she refused to sign what Democrats called the 'permission slip' needed to leave the House chamber, a half-page form allowing Department of Public Safety troopers to follow them. She spent Monday night and Tuesday on the House floor, where she set up a livestream while her Democratic colleagues outside had plainclothes officers following them to their offices and homes. Dallas-area Rep. Linda Garcia said she drove three hours home from Austin with an officer following her. When she went grocery shopping, he went down every aisle with her, pretending to shop, she said. As she spoke to The Associated Press by phone, two unmarked cars with officers inside were parked outside her home. 'It's a weird feeling,' she said. 'The only way to explain the entire process is: It's like I'm in a movie.' The trooper assignments, ordered by Republican House Speaker Dustin Burrows, was another escalation of a redistricting battle that has widened across the country. Trump is pushing GOP state officials to tilt the map for the 2026 midterms more in his favor to preserve the GOP's slim House majority, and Democrats nationally have rallied around efforts to retaliate. Other Democrats join the protest House Minority Leader Gene Wu, from Houston, and state Rep. Vince Perez, of El Paso, stayed overnight with Collier, who represents a minority-majority district in Fort Worth. On Tuesday, more Democrats returned to the Capitol to tear up the slips they had signed and stay on the House floor, which has a lounge and restrooms for members. Dallas-area Rep. Cassandra Garcia Hernandez called their protest a 'slumber party for democracy,' and she said Democrats were holding strategy sessions on the floor. 'We are not criminals,' Houston Rep. Penny Morales Shaw said. Collier said having officers shadow her was an attack on her dignity and an attempt to control her movements. Republican leader says Collier 'is well within her rights' Burrows brushed off Collier's protest, saying he was focused on important issues, such as providing property tax relief and responding to last month's deadly floods. His statement Tuesday morning did not mention redistricting, and his office did not immediately respond to other Democrats joining Collier. 'Rep. Collier's choice to stay and not sign the permission slip is well within her rights under the House Rules,' Burrows said. Under those rules, until Wednesday's scheduled vote, the chamber's doors are locked, and no member can leave 'without the written permission of the speaker.' To do business Wednesday, 100 of 150 House members must be present. The GOP wants 5 more seats in Texas The GOP plan is designed to send five additional Republicans from Texas to the U.S. House. Texas Democrats returned to Austin after Democrats in California launched an effort to redraw their state's districts to take five seats from Republicans. Democrats also said they were returning because they expect to challenge the new maps in court. Republicans issued civil arrest warrants to bring the Democrats back after they left the state Aug. 3, and Republican Gov. Greg Abbott asked the state Supreme Court to oust Wu and several other Democrats from office. The lawmakers also face a fine of $500 for every day they were absent. How officers shadowed Democratic lawmakers Democrats reported different levels of monitoring. Houston Rep. Armando Walle said he wasn't sure where his police escort was, but there was still a heightened police presence in the Capitol, so he felt he was being monitored closely. Some Democrats said the officers watching them were friendly. But Austin Rep. Sheryl Cole said in a social media post that when she went on her morning walk Tuesday, the officer following her lost her on the trail, got angry and threatened to arrest her. Garcia said her 9-year-old son was with her as she drove home, and each time she looked in the rearview mirror, she could see the officer close behind. He came inside a grocery store where she shopped with her son. 'I would imagine that this is the way it feels when you're potentially shoplifting and someone is assessing whether you're going to steal," she said.
