WYOMING — After the first “listening session” in Cheyenne gave more than 100 residents an open forum to share concerns, State Representatives Mike Yin (Teton County) and Karlee Provenza (Albany County) will continue their town hall tour across the state.
According to Yin’s press release, recent legislative updates will be shared, but the focus of each session is to “hear from the public to help inform future policymaking.”
“The listening sessions provide an opportunity for local residents to speak directly with their legislators about the challenges their communities are facing and what support they need from the state,” the release states.
Yin shared with Buckrail that residents always hear “politicians talk about issues that they think are important.” He said that during the first listening session, Cheyenne community members had an opportunity to discuss a wide range of topics.
“There were several challenges that kept coming up: young people are leaving, public lands are under threat, healthcare is expensive and still rising,” Yin said.
Yin stressed that he and Provenza, both Democrats, aim to hear from “all of Wyoming.”
“We want to figure out what hard-working people in every community tell us what issues are most important,” Yin said. “I think the everyday Wyomingite has been silenced in part by hyperpartisanship. I hope we can make sure they are heard again.”
According to Yin, the information gathered during the sessions will be used to help determine trends across the state. At the end of each listening session, there will be a question and answer period.
“We aren’t here to preach,” Yin said. “We’re here to answer the concerns we’re hearing. We’re hitting Lander this week, and doing one in the Big Horn Basin will help us tackle some of the smaller communities. We look forward to hopefully having more!”
The second listening session was held in Casper on Aug. 19. See upcoming town hall dates and locations below, with more expected to be scheduled throughout the fall:
- Lander: Thursday, Aug. 21, 6:30 p.m. at the Lander Library
- Sheridan: Wednesday, Sept. 24, at the Mars Theater (Time TBA)
- Cody: Thursday, Sept. 25, 6:30 p.m. at the Cody Library
- Worland (Big Horn Basin): Friday, Oct. 17, 6:30 p.m. at the Worland Community Center Complex
- Rock Springs: Date & time TBA
