The Blog at MSPC

Growing up in the era of pagers and pay phones, I survived cell phone-free until college. As a mom to a teenage boy, I tried to stave off phone use as long as possible. Debates on appropriate screen time, talks about cyberbullying, and warnings about predators have become the norm. For most students, cell phones are an integral part of everyday life, and thus, their use in school has become a contentious issue. Washington, Idaho, Montana, and Wyoming are each addressing cell

As one Idaho justice noted during oral arguments, lawmakers are capable of walking and chewing gum at the same time when it comes to education policy.

While workers in Wyoming have the ability to opt out of union membership, requiring them to proactively send dues instead of having them automatically deducted from paychecks ensures that they want to belong without doubt.

Civic education doesn’t belong to one type of school or region. It belongs to everyone. Our hope is that teams will come from across Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, and Eastern Washington, so students can meet peers from different communities, compete respectfully, and go home with a deeper appreciation for how our system works.

The Fast Track Permits Act is a great start to making housing more affordable and attainable in Wyoming. And in coming years, legislators should continue to find ways to allow more people across the income spectrum to enjoy home ownership and build generational wealth.

The Wyoming Legislature is considering a bill that would require hospitals in the state to post prices. The language of SF 57 would essentially force hospitals to list prices for services and materials, which would allow patients to become informed consumers of health care.

Wyoming legislators are right to address the necessity of upholding the principles of federalism in the 2026 Legislative Session in the form of SJ 2.

Wyoming just took an important step toward modernizing how work and benefits fit together. Lawmakers have introduced Senate File 41, a bill that would authorize the creation and use of portable benefit accounts for independent contractors—accounts that can pay for benefits like health insurance and retirement, without affecting a worker’s classification.

We have dozens of policy recommendations for lawmakers to consider. These reforms can be acted on even with the challenging budget situations across the states. Here are a couple of our top recommendations for Idaho, Washington and Wyoming lawmakers

The Wyoming Supreme Court made the right decision earlier this month to pause education mandates from Laramie District Judge Peter Froelicher that seemed more like royal decrees. Legislators can now wait until the appeal to his February 26 order is decided in the Wyoming Supreme Court, which heard arguments in the case on November 12.

In Teton County’s twisted logic, forcing residents to pay higher building fees to support “workforce housing” is the solution to its chronic housing shortage for lower-income residents. The fees apply even if those building include plans for rental units that would ease the problem.

While funds may be temporarily paused for the nearly 4,000 families approved to receive education savings account funding in Wyoming pending judicial review, they should not lose hope.

Government officials who damage private property must pay for what they ruin ruled the Wyoming Supreme Court unanimously last week in Thomas Hamann v. Heart Mountain Irrigation District.

Wyoming residents are speaking loudly in support of school choice. In the first two weeks that residents could apply to receive $7,000 allotment per student under the Steamboat Legacy Scholarship Act--signed into law March 4 -- the Wyoming Department of Education received 3,484 applications, which includes 164 for Pre-K.

One glaring omission from the state legislature’s recently released final list of topics it will consider before the next session is hospital price transparency.

The current Public Records Act does require the government to respond promptly showing receipt of the request and to release requested records no later than 30 days after sending the receipt unless good cause exists to extend the time frame.