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Articles written by Albert Sommers


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  • Legislature passes conservative budget, largest property tax reform package in state's history

    Albert Sommers and Ogden Driskill|Mar 14, 2024

    On Friday evening, we gaveled a close to the 67th Budget Session in the Wyoming Senate and House. It was a tumultuous budget year. Yet, despite political differences and policy disagreements, the Legislature passed a conservative, balanced budget that addresses our state's needs and invests in the future. Those investments include funding for nursing homes, preschool for developmentally disabled children and home services for senior centers. The budget supports mental health efforts and funds...

  • Property tax and the 2024 legislative session 

    Ogden Driskill and Albert Sommers|Jan 25, 2024

    During and shortly after the Pandemic, much of Wyoming saw significant in-migration of people from other states. This movement of people into Wyoming was a result of our scenic beauty, rural nature, freedoms, and a general sense of restlessness in the nation. The influx of people created a hot real estate market and higher home prices, which resulted in higher residential property taxes, as assessed values skyrocketed in select areas. The increases in assessed value and property taxes, however,...

  • 2024 Legislative Preview

    Albert Sommers and Ogden Driskill, House Speaker and Senate President|Jan 11, 2024

    As the Wyoming Legislature readies for 20 days of discussion and debate ahead of the 2024 Legislative Budget Session, we prepare for this work as servants to the people of our communities. Over the past eight months, legislative committees have held 62 standing committee meetings around the state. At these meetings, committees gathered public input and industry perspectives to draft common sense conservative solutions to the problems we face together. As the presiding officers of our respective...

  • Op-ed: The 67th General Session positions tomorrow's Wyoming leaders for success

    Ogden Driskill and Albert Sommers, Senate President and Speaker of House|Mar 9, 2023

    On March 3, the Wyoming Legislature gaveled out the end of the 67th General Session. The work your elected officials achieved was remarkable. As the leaders of the House and Senate chambers, it is our privilege to report out the accomplishments of this body’s work, which are strengthening the future of Wyoming, starting with strong investments in education. Educating Wyoming’s children is perhaps the single greatest investment our state can make. Public education is the crucible of democracy and the very foundation of our system of government....

  • Speaker of the House: I'm focused on Wyoming solutions, not out-of-state influences

    Albert Sommers, Speaker of the House|Mar 2, 2023

    Throughout the last decade serving as a Representative in the Wyoming State Legislature, I have consistently used the following metric to assess legislation: does it solve a Wyoming problem with a Wyoming solution? Some bills that come to the Legislature do not come from Wyoming but instead from another state, or they are templates from a national organization. Bills not crafted in Wyoming often take a one-size-fits-all approach that demands the Wyoming Legislature’s due diligence to ensure a bill solves a problem and does not create a new o...