Jan 12, 2011
Cheyenne, WY – Senate Minority Floor Leader
John Hastert and House Minority Whip Mary
Throne released the following statement in
response to Gov. Matt Mead’s first State of the
State address:
“In Gov. Mead’s
first State of the State address he outlined a
number of critical priorities to the citizens
of Wyoming. He rightfully noted our vast
resources from open spaces to mineral wealth to
our citizens.
Gov. Mead
highlighted the need to support state and local
governments, build our infrastructure, and
strengthen our connectivity. We look forward to
the specifics of Gov. Mead’s proposal to invest
our dollars in Wyoming’s Main Street rather
than Wall Street. He spoke of
streamlining state government and supporting
state employees. He indicated his support
for Wyoming workers when he called for
legislation that will grant Wyoming contractors
preference. These are all proposals we
support.
It is essential that we
continue discussing Wyoming education. We
must ensure that our children and their success
is central. If policy proposals will not
improve what goes on daily in the classroom
they should not be made. Our students
deserve an excellent education and our teachers
deserve the tools necessary to provide
one.
We continue to oppose the
unnecessary decision Gov. Mead made to join a
lawsuit against the federal government for
health care reform and oppose creating a
litigation fund of $2 million of taxpayer
funds. This money would be better spent
on providing care than paying lawyers.
The health care system fails our citizens every
day and continues to worsen. We must
continue to look towards innovative solutions
in Wyoming much like the 'Healthy Frontiers'
program, while we take those pieces of federal
legislation that will work for
Wyoming.
We join the Governor in
calling on the 61st Legislature to pay
attention to those things that matter most and
to have the courage and faith to make wise
decisions.”
