Despite what the Gov says, Cindy Hill continues her war against public employees

Why does Wyoming Superintendent of Public Instruction Cindy Hill hate her permanent employees?

Probably because she can't fire them every time her little heart desires.

Hill had some juicy quotes in yesterday's Casper Star-Tribune story, "Wyo. Gov. Mead: At-will employment should be consistent."

“I have SOME permanent employees who are very personally committed and find ALL at-will employees are personally committed to their work,” Hill said.

I have capitalized "some" and "all." I am a permanent state employee. If I saw my agency director saying that only SOME of her employees were "personally committed," I would ponder several things:

1. Thank God that there are laws that protect me from Tea Party extremists such as Cindy Hill.

2. Why do Republicans hate the people who actually do the work?

3. This person is in charge of our public schools?

4. What is my union’s (Wyoming Public Employees Association) position in this tug-of-war between its members and Hill?

Cindy Hill is part of the Republican bid to privatize everything. As we've seen in Wisconsin and Ohio and Florida, Republicans governors and their lackeys are trying to undo every gain made by employees since The Great Depression.

One has to wonder how Wyoming will find and keep “personally committed” employees when right-wing extremists such as Hill are calling the shots.

Wyoming legislators travel to Hawaii; state employees told to curtail travel

The Billings Gazette reports today that more than two dozen Wyoming lawmakers who traveled to Hawaii last month for a conference are costing the state about $50,000.

Read more at http://billingsgazette.com/news/state-and-regional/wyoming/article_f56ff06e-d0e2-11e0-8621-001cc4c03286.html#ixzz1WISPqvWS

Meanwhile, state employees are being told to eliminate out-of-state travel and curtail in-state travel. Budget cuts, you know. Austerity measures must be put in place. Time to tighten your belts, you free-loading state employees.

Meanwhile, Wyoming's current budget surplus is $50 million and growing.

You do the math.

Hurry up with those flying cars -- Wyoming roads going to hell!

I thought I was seeing things when I read in last Friday's Casper Star-Tribune that Wyoming's roads are going to hell.

The road to hell may be paved with good intentions, but good intentions won't pave the roads through Wyoming.

Money will pave the state's roads, or else they will go to hell for decades without a substantial increase in funding...

Nice lede by reporter Tom Morton. His interview with Lowell Fleenor, district engineer for the central Wyoming division of WYDOT, yielded some great quotes:

"At current funding levels, there is no way the system will not deteriorate."

And...

"Due to funding constraints, WYDOT is moving from a transportation improvement program to a pavement preservation program."

This is bad news for all of us who depend on our roads to get from one place to another. Until jet packs and flying cars assume their rightful place in Wyoming garages, we will remain dependent on driving our four-wheeled personal mobility devices on paved roads.

There are several causes. Decline in federal revenue. Lack of Congressional action on a national highway bill. Low state fuel taxes, with Wyoming's 14 cents a gallon the lowest in the Rocky Mountain region. No action by the state legislature on raising fuel taxes or turning I-80 into a toll road or on retrofitting our cars with anti-grav devices.

Just kidding on that last one. Although that may happen before the legislature ever approves an increase in the fuel tax. Can't even say the "T" word in Wyoming.

So our roads go to hell.

Interestingly enough, Gov. Matt Mead has been talking up the importance of infrastructure. He’s proposed predictable, long-term revenue streams to fund municipalities and highways. His proposals have been rejected by the state legislature. The Governor’s motto is “Wyoming First.” At the Wyoming Association of Municipalities conference in Sheridan, he reiterated that and added that now is the time to invest in the state.

“I go the National Governors’ Association convention and Wyoming is in a much better place than almost every other state. We’re in competition with other states and they can’t do this now. Now is the time for Wyoming to do this. Our municipalities need this. Maintenance and building of infrastructure does not get cheaper with time.”

“If you want healthy economic development, you must have infrastructure.”

For more on this subject, read the CST's editorial in the July 6 edition: "Lack of Wyoming highway funding an emergency."

UPDATE: House GOP plans to cut $15 billion from transportation budget. See story at http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/fiery-words-over-gop-proposal-to-cut-transportation-funds/2011/07/07/gIQAm6fo2H_story.html. Guess we'll have to make do with travel on horseback over rutted trails. Back to the good ol' days!

ANOTHER UPDATE: Not too interested in this $250,000 flying car: http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/technology/2011/07/the-flying-car-is-now-cleared-for-highway-use.html

Wyoming doesn't have "forever" when it comes to rebuilding its infrastructure

Wyoming Gov. Matt Mead is big on infrastructure. He hammers away on the issue every chance he gets. On Thursday evening, he addressed the Wyoming Association of Municipalities Conference in Sheridan

He wants his home state to invest in its local communities. He wants the Legislature to treat the issue seriously. He wants all of us to speak out with one voice and say “Invest in Wyoming now!”

Meanwhile, over at State Capitol’s House and Senate chambers, crickets chirp.

There’s nobody there now to listen. But the place was crowded last winter when Gov. Mead delivered his “State of the State” address. As he spoke of his plan for “Wyoming First!” investment, it was so quiet you could hear crickets chirp if they weren’t hibernating or doing whatever crickets do in February. The Gov was speaking to his people – 76 of 90 legislators are Republicans. They weren’t in the mood for any new initiatives, especially one that messed with the state’s severance tax structure.

The Gov’s proposal was fairly simple. Set aside one-half of 1 percent of the severance tax. Divide it into thirds. Use one-third for local communities, one-third for highways and one-third for savings. He wanted this in place for the foreseeable future – or for at least seven years in order to generate enough revenue.

“We need predictability of funds,” the Governor said. “I wanted it at least for seven years.”

“I go the National Governors’ Association convention and Wyoming is in a much better place than almost every other state. We’re in competition with other states and they can’t do this now. Now is the time for Wyoming to do this. Our municipalities need this. Maintenance and building of infrastructure does not get cheaper with time.”

He noted that the Legislature did approve $45 million more for local communities. Not insignificant but still far short of the needs.

“If you want healthy economic development, you must have infrastructure. I will work with WAM to make sure that our towns and counties are strong.”

He asked WAM attendees for support and ideas. He asked us to speak up with one voice when talking to lawmakers.

Remember this. Infrastructure is crucial. You cannot have a prosperous state without it. And keep this in mind: Wyoming’s carbon-based economy will not last forever. Maybe that’s a short forever – five to ten more years. That means that carbon-based severance tax income won’t always be plentiful.

As the Gov said: “Invest now!”

Gov. Mead did not mention the arts specifically. But you can’t spell “infrastructure” with A-R-T-S. Just try to.

After the drought comes the deluge

DAN CEPEDA Star-Tribune:  Vicky Marlow takes snapshots of the swollen North Platte River near the whitewater park in Casper on Friday afternoon. The river has risen past its highest point last year, according to experts, and is expected to keep rising.

I spent most of my day working in the yard. Normally on May 28, I would have applied a healthy dose of sunscreen. I am a freckle-faced Celt, prone to sunburn and skin cancer. However, the sun made only a brief appearance in Cheyenne today. No sunscreen required. The rest of the day was cloudy and, as I was grilling salmon for dinner, the rains came. We're not getting cataclysmic storms, just steady rains. The mountains continue to get snow and, when the thaw does come, we're going to have some bitchin' floods.

Gov. Mead has dispatched the Wyoming National Guard to flood-prone areas of the state, which includes all but my own Laramie County, land of little rain and small creeks. Our local waterway is Dry Creek, which gives you some idea of how little water we usually have. All I can say about Dry Creek is that it is a bit less dry than normal, but not exactly a raging torrent.

On the other hand, the North Platte in Saratoga and Casper and the Laramie River in Laramie are out of their banks. The Popo Agie and the Snake are flooding, as is the Belle Fourche. You've got to hand it to us -- we have some sweet names for our creeks/rivers.

Last spring, I was in Lander as the Popo Agie roared through town, undercutting foundations of riverside homes and roiling over its banks. On the reservation, water was over the roads and more was expected. Much more is expected this year.

We have it pretty good compared to our fellow Americans in Mississippi and Louisiana. Still, our neighbors that serve in the National Guard will not be barbecuing but will be on alert this weekend, prepared to sandbag and rescue as the need arises. Think of them on Memorial Day. Think of them as you pay your taxes. Think of them the next time you criticize government employees.

Casper Star-Trib: "Wyoming can provide shots for needy children"

We agree with the Casper Star-Tribune editorial, "Wyoming can provide shots for needy children."

Wyoming Department of Health has cited budget constraints as the reason it will no longer provide free vaccinations against influenza, meningitis, Hepatitis A and human papilomavirus to needy children. The change will take effect in July. 

Undoubtedly there are places where the state needs to trim its budget and cut unnecessary spending. The vaccination program isn’t one of them. 

When it comes to providing for the public health needs of children whose parents can’t afford the immunizations, we think most Wyomingites would agree that we could sock away a little less into our state’s rainy-day accounts to pay for it.

Fortunately, the state will still provide vaccinations required for children to attend public school. But that still leaves families with children who don’t qualify for a federal vaccination program unable to pay for immunizations against four diseases.

The CST urges Gov. Mead to use some of his discretionary funds to fill in the gap until the legislature can address this issue in 2012. It's a public health issue. It's also the right thing to do. Read the entire editorial at http://trib.com/opinion/editorial/article_97d5faa8-ea58-5b6b-8824-05a7974015ba.html

Jon Stewart: New state Govs have gone psycho

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