The following Letters to the Editor appeared in the July 8, 2026 edition of the Star Valley Independent.
$3.6 Million Sounds Generous—Until You Do the Math
By Amber Hyde
Disclaimer: The following article is protected speech under the First Amendment to the United States Constitution and reflect the author’s opinions based on publicly available, information and legislative proceedings.
On July 2, Governor Gordon announced $3,673,931 in state funding for eleven Wyoming communities to address aging water, sewer, and infrastructure needs and improve emergency preparedness. The money comes from the Mineral Royalty Grant Program.
At first glance, that sounds like a significant investment. But compared to Wyoming’s finances, it represents just 0.009% of the state’s total cash reserves.
According to state financial reports, Wyoming’s state and local governments held $42,001,282,515 in cash reserves as of June 30, 2025. Divide $3,673,931 by $42,001,282,515, and the result is 0.009%.
If our cash reserves exist to protect future generations and prepare Wyoming for tomorrow, is investing just 0.009% enough to address aging infrastructure?
This is not an argument against investing taxpayer dollars in water systems, sewer projects, fire protection, or public infrastructure. Those are precisely the core responsibilities of government—and exactly why taxpayers pay taxes.
The real question is why Wyoming continues to describe these basic responsibilities as financial ‘challenges.’
From Fiscal Year 2019 through Fiscal Year 2025, Wyoming’s state and local governments collected $105.1 billion in revenue while spending $91.3 billion, leaving a $13.8 billion surplus. During that same period, government revenue increased 52%, while expenditures increased 48%. Wyoming inflation over those years was 34.3%.
If revenues grew faster than inflation and governments accumulated a $13.8 billion surplus alongside $42 billion in cash reserves, why are aging water systems, sewer infrastructure, and fire protection still described as unmet needs?
Wyoming has 122 counties, cities, and towns responsible for maintaining essential public infrastructure. If government finances are this strong, taxpayers deserve to know why those needs remain.
Citizens should also ask whether spending priorities reflect constitutional responsibilities. Counties, cities, towns, and special districts spend tens of millions of taxpayer dollars annually on local charities, while one Wyoming county recently spent $3 million building a courthouse garden and walking path. Should projects like these take precedence over replacing aging infrastructure?
Government is already Wyoming’s largest industry. If the largest industry in the state cannot maintain essential infrastructure despite $13.8 billion in surplus revenue and $42 billion in cash reserves, taxpayers deserve more than press releases announcing 0.009% solutions.
They deserve a transparent accounting of where their money is going—and why Wyoming’s basic infrastructure still isn’t world-class.
Resources, and documentation on these findings can be requested by emailing seapk307starvalley@proton.me
Paid for by Amber Hyde
Recommit ourselves
Dear Editor
This month our nation marks its 250th birthday. In 1776, the vast majority of Americans were not the “pedigreed” elites but agricultural workers, apprentices, or laborers. They pledged their lives, fortunes, and sacred honor to create a new country grounded in liberty. They took action; they did not beg the king for “jobs”.
Today we are a very different people. I believe our Creator endowed us not only with unalienable rights but with unique gifts. Through equality of opportunity, each of us is called and able to rise, not by grasping for high positions or relying on favor that lifts us, but by innovating meaningfully where we are placed. We are not held down where we can not rise.
Yet far too many Americans now feel like mere placeholders: domesticated animals of burden rather than creators and innovators. We were told, “You didn’t build that.” We have been nudged into dependence on government and large economic interests, reduced to consumers of goods produced overseas and delivered to our doorsteps. This is not the legacy envisioned by our founders.
Our government has largely forgotten its essential duty: to create and maintain the conditions for genuine human flourishing. Rights are not abstract slogans. They require real opportunity, protection from unfair foreign competition, and policies that promote upward mobility so citizens can truly pursue happiness and improve their condition.
Next week, I will be delivering a legislative and engineering solution to the Wyoming Blockchain, Financial Technology, and Digital Innovation Select Committee intended to secure our digital privacy rights, to reduce LLC and Deed Fraud, and create new opportunities not just for Star Valley residents or all of Wyoming, but for the nation.
On this historic anniversary, we should recommit ourselves to the principles that made America exceptional, an America where free people, not servants of the state, useful idiots, or agents selling global commerce, are the true source of innovation and prosperity.
Sincerely,
David Roland
What is he talking about…
Dear Editor
This past July 3rd, our President spoke at the base of Mt. Rushmore and he sure had crazy things to say. He sure gets it entirely wrong. He basically stated that we are facing a Communist menace. That we are in a battle against Communism, and a mortal threat to American liberty.
Does he know the definition: Communism is “a political and economic ideology advocating for the elimination of private property and social classes, replacing them with public ownership of the means of production.”
It is another one of Trump’s fear tactics.
So what is a democratic socialist? They are political advocates who believe both the economy and society should be run democratically to meet human needs, rather that maximizing profits for the wealthy few.
So Wyoming, do you like that President Trump made $1.6 Billion dollars off the his time in office. That our tax payer dollars are funding his ballroom. He has taken national parks’ money to help fund these projects.
Trump wants to become the King George of this country. He will also face defeat when the time comes.
So how was your 4th of July? I took the time to read the Declaration of Independence out loud.
Jeff Bowen
