Serving the Big Horn Basin for over 100 years
Serving the Big Horn Basin for over 100 years
Following her first interim session, State Rep. Martha Lawley (R-HD27, Worland) said, “I did not fully understand how busy [the interim] was. I knew how important it is, but it’s been really busy, and I’ve loved every minute of it. I really have.”
Lawley, who is part of the Education committee and the Minerals, Business and Economic Development committee, said, “One of the purposes of the interim, as I said earlier, is for the committees to gain more insight and information about topics related to that committee’s work.” According to Lawley, the interim is also an important opportunity for committees to meet jointly and work jointly on proposed committee bills. During this time, joint committees hear testimonies, learn from reports and ask questions. “We need to understand the fullness of an issue to interact with it in the most effective way […] That’s what this interim is for. We’re listening to both sides,” she said.
EDUCATION
COMMITTEE WORK
Lawley said, “I’m really passionate about education. One of the main reasons I wanted to be on the committee is because I feel that Wyoming can do better, and we can do some things better. That’s not to say people haven’t been trying. I esteem teachers so much. It’s one of the hardest jobs and the teachers in my district love their students and want what’s best for them,” but, “It’s important that we realize that the world is changing, and that the needs of students are changing. My goal is that every child in Wyoming gets the education they need to live their dreams in Wyoming if that’s their desire.”
During the interim, Lawley said the joint committee heard many testimonies from people all around the state, touching on various issues regarding education. The joint committee additionally received reports from the Department of Education, which helped to inform decisions.
Lawley first spoke about the topic of early childhood development and kindergarten readiness. She said, “We’re seeing more and more that children come to kindergarten, but they’re not ready.” Lawley similarly discussed the struggle with literacy for students in kindergarten through third grade. The committee heard several testimonies about these issues, according to Lawley, and she said, “This is not unique to Wyoming. We are seeing kids really struggling to read and we have not been as effective with intervening on an individual basis.”
Lawley went on to talk about parental rights and education choice. She said, “Some parents are concerned that some districts sometimes get going in a direction, and they kind of forget the parents. They forget that parents have the right to basically make decisions concerning the child’s upbringing and education.” The topic of education choice is similar, with parents considering other choices for education rather than the public school system as their dissatisfaction grows.
The education committee produced two committee bills that will be going into the 2024 budget session.
The first bill is related to parental rights, and Lawley said, “Parental rights bill basically requires schools to notify parents of any changes made to their students mental, emotional and physical health status […] One of the concerns of parents has to do with what’s happening in the area of gender transitioning, and some are just generally concerned about adolescent mental health. And again, they want to direct that.” When parents aren’t notified of a change in their children’s health status, then the parent’s right to direction and right to decide is in effect taken away, said Lawley.
The next bill, which is about education choice, would support educational savings accounts (ESA). These accounts would give parents a limited amount of money per year if they choose an alternative education process. For parents of children that would learn more with different teaching styles, or children that generally struggle in public school for a variety of reasons, this would help them access different options, according to Lawley.
“We found some nationally normed tests that are still effective to show that whatever they’re using, the child’s being educated appropriately. We kind of came up with a compromise on that, which I actually submitted and made that amendment to the bill […] [parents] have this choice but they’re also using public money, so there needs to be some evaluation of ‘are these kids getting an education,’” said Lawley.
Lawley said, “I support both of these bills, and we worked really hard on both of them during the interim to try to get them right. There will still be more work during the session within our individual committees […] But I’m really thankful for the work we’ve got done. I think these are important bills.”
MINERALS, BUSINESS AND ECONOMIC
DEVELOPMENT
COMMITTEE WORK
Lawley’s second committee, which is Minerals, Business and Economic Development, went on several field trips during the interim, which were, “helpful to get to know these industries,” said Lawley. The committee went to the Kemmerer Coal Company, Exxon’s Shute Creek Natural Gas Plant, the Trona Mine Operation located near Rock Springs and others.
Many of the bills coming out of this committee are “highly technical,” according to Lawley, but are important to the work that is achieved by the committee.
Lawley said that there will be bills related to Department of Environmental Quality regulations of Class VI injection wells, subsurface “pore space” ownership, supporting legacy mineral industries such as coal, oil and natural gas and other bills.
OTHER WORK
Lawley said she was selected to go to the Western Legislative Academy by the Council of State Governments. This academy is, “targeted leadership development for legislators,” she said, and “I was the only person in the House that was selected.” Lawley said, “I was very honored to be chosen. I’ve heard nothing but great things about this training and it’s very unique.” The leadership training will be held from Dec. 12 to 15 in Colorado Springs, Colorado.
In addition to attending the training, Lawley will begin preparing for her first budget session, which starts Feb. 12, 2024. She said, “The detailed budget is about 4,400 pages. I will be devoting a lot of my time between now and February 2024 studying the governor’s proposed budget.” The budget, which spans over two years, is $9.9 billion, and puts money toward property taxpayer relief, fighting utility rate increases and fighting federal government overreach from agencies, according to Lawley.
“Another thing that I really enjoyed during the interim was a chance to interact with constituents and help them with some problems they had,” said Lawley. “It’s an opportunity. Sometimes we solve a problem, or sometimes I just help them move down the road closer to getting to a solution to the problem.
“I still consider it to be an incredible honor to serve this district.”