Our View: Legislative races more important

With elections around the corner, many eyes are focused on the contest between Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton.

However, more important races are taking place across the state, with more direct consequences tied to the victors. In the many campaigns for seats in the Wyoming Legislature, voters have a lot to consider when they walk into their voting booths. With a slumping energy economy, voters are tasked with deciding if they want representation who want to open the state’s Legislative Stabilization Reserve Fund to help state agencies, as well as county and municipal governments.

They will also have to decide if they want representation that will work to shift stewardship of public lands from the federal government to the state.

These are issues we haven’t shied away from in the past, and our views haven’t changed either. We think the state should make more of those “rainy day” funds available to ailing departments and local governments. We don’t think the state should take over federally-managed lands because the risk of losing public access to those lands is too great. Another issue we think should be addressed in the upcoming legislative session is school funding, as cuts made in the previous session should be eliminated.

Even at the national level, the race between Ryan Greene and Liz Cheney holds more sway over the future of Wyoming, with the two varying differently on a number of issues important to Wyoming. Each candidate brings something unique to the table, with Greene being a person from Wyoming and having a great grasp on what issues Wyoming industries and residents face.

However Cheney does have a network of individuals and organizations she could use to help the state as a result of her previous work in Washington, D.C.

Moving the lens closer to home, in the county and city elections, the results of those elections could have a greater impact on daily life in Green River, as they directly decide which roads get fixed, how much should be budgeted in the various departments and what the priorities should be for the immediate future.

While the attention may continue to be focused on presidential sparring between Clinton and Trump, more important decisions will take place in Cheyenne and Green River, which will have more impact on us in the next few years.