Welcome to ESPC’s News Blog + Podcast!

Relevant policy and news updates in Wyoming regarding transparent government, fair elections, and thriving communities. Comment below-we look forward to hearing from you. Your input is extremely valuable to us as an organization.

  • Updates on the 2020 Interim session with Equality State Policy Center’s Senior Policy Advisor, Jen Simon, and Wyoming Coalition Against Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault’s Public Policy Director, Tara Muir. Listen here.
  • Protecting Elections: Part I, Unite America: Unite America is out there, on the front lines of the national efforts to protect our democracy and promote free and fair elections. Their mission is to put country over party. We’re hoping you’re already familiar with their work. But, if you aren’t, we’re pretty excited to make sure you know about them. Unite America is a movement of Democrats, Republicans, and independents working to put voters first by fostering a more representative and functional government. They invest in campaigns to enact reforms and elect candidates so that the right leaves have the right incentives to solve our country’s greatest problems. Right now, they’re on the front lines of the effort to think about and make choices and changes that will ensure free and fair elections across the country in 2020. They continue to look at incentives in the system and structural changes that might best protect democracy for all of us. Their recent white paper–Vote by Mail–contains several key points, all predicated on this essential truth: “Voter participation is a bedrock of a representative government, but voters should not be forced to assume a health risk to cast their ballots … The task before us is straightforward: to ensure every voter has the option of easily accessing a mail ballot this November to protect public health and election integrity, while working to optimize vote at home systems over the long-term to increase voter participation, strengthen election security, and reduce administrative costs.” They go on to examine the challenges and opportunities and make recommendations for critical next steps to ensure that all Americans have safe access to exercise their Constitutionally recognized right to vote. Download and read the paper here. Want more from Unite America? Check out their website and register for updates here.
  • The Bipartisan Policy Center (one of our favorite resources), is hosting a free event this week: When Women Vote, this Thursday, April 30 @ noon (mountain daylight time). This conversation sits at the intersection of two of our favorite topics: Fair Elections and Gender. BPC’s When Women Vote highlights the challenges that voters–particularly women–have faced and continue to face when trying to vote. They write, In the 100 years since the ratification of the 19th Amendment, reforms prohibiting restrictions on voting based on sex have led to improvements, but there is still room for continued progress. On April 30, the Bipartisan Policy Center’s Elections Project will host a discussion with the authors of When Women Vote, who make the case for further voting reform and for removing bias in the voting process by sharing stories and experiences of women voters and leaders throughout the United States. They will be joined by secretaries of state, who are the chief election officials at the state level. We can’t encourage you enough to join us for this conversation! You can register here (it’s free! and they’ll keep you in the BPC loop, if you want that). ESPC plans to host its own conversation about the intersections of gender, voting, and running for office in May to coincide with the Wyoming filing period for candidates for elected office. We’ll keep you posted on the date and time of that event. Never miss an event! Sign up here.
  • We need you to run for office. Want to understand even better the issues facing the state and why your perspective on policy and Wyoming’s future will be an invaluable addition to the conversation?Join us for (virtual) Management Council again this Friday at 8am. We’ll live tweet (as we are wont to do) and answer questions on social media. Part of our role here at WWAN is to demystify some of the process. ” Read More
  • “We are only just starting, and in the face of unprecedented circumstances, to understand that you can’t fix a structural problem by sheer force of personal will. That is part of what makes the current pandemic and what it demands of us so incredibly challenging, personally, professionally and civically. But civics and public policy depend on a deeply held belief that we are in this thing together. That the whole is greater (and more important) than the sum of its parts. That by extension children — and all the other things mentioned above — are essential to our communities. That caring for the young, caring for our elders, caring for each other and protecting our families and our health is not only important but a duty that can and should be shared across our communities, our society, our nation.” Read More
  • Listen to our podcast episode from December 2019 here!

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