In competing to represent the Powell area in the state House, Republican incumbent Dan Laursen and Democratic challenger Shane Tillotson offer voters two very different choices.

Laursen — who’s seeking a second term in House District 25 — says funding for K-12 education will likely have to be cut to make Wyoming’s ends meet; Tillotson says education should be seen as a priority and its funding maintained.

Laursen wants to allow anyone with a concealed carry permit to bring their weapons into schools; Tillotson is “firmly opposed” to that idea.

Tillotson says Wyoming should expand federal Medicaid to cover more state residents; Laursen believes expansion will only make things worse.

Laursen says he wants to and does listen to both sides of any issue, but “I think I’m a lot more conservative and I think that’s what we need,” he said in comparing himself with Tillotson. “We need to tighten our belts and get the federal government out of our everything.”

For his part, Tillotson says there’s a lack of fresh ideas in the Republican-controlled Legislature and that he can bring a different perspective on behalf of working families.

“Laursen’s legislative choices, a lot of times, don’t reflect the best interests of his constituents,”  the 35-year-old carpenter said. “And I can promise that will be the case with me.”

The budget

Laursen, a 56-year-old hydrographer for the State Engineer’s Office, said managing the state’s budget crunch is “going to be really tough.”

“I think we all (have) got to put our heads together, but there probably is room to cut government yet,” Laursen said. “I hate to say it, but you know, in the good times, I think we expanded too much.”

He thinks the Legislature can continue to use a “little bit more” money from its “rainy day” savings accounts to help balance the budget, and he hopes the mineral industry can rebound.

Though he knows it won’t be popular, “I think we’re still going to have to cut schools,” Laursen added, wondering if Wyoming will have to increase its class sizes.

Tillotson, meanwhile, said education is a top priority that must be maintained when other cuts are made.

“Cutting education may help you in the short term, but it’s going to hurt you in the long run,” Tillotson said, suggesting it could worsen Wyoming’s so-called “brain drain” of young adults leaving the state.

He’d also like the state to look at ways to boost revenue, suggesting a review of Wyoming’s tax exemptions.

Rather than being ranked as the nation’s most business-friendly state, “We could afford to be the fifth-most friendly or the sixth-most … business- friendly state and make sure we have our bills paid,” Tillotson said.

He likes the idea of raising taxes on properties owned by out-of-state corporations, but he thinks raising the sales tax (as Park County is considering) would have too great of an impact on the poorest people.

“I think we have to get more creative with that,” he said.

Tillotson said Wyoming should work to diversify its economy — through measures such as providing new job training for people who lost their jobs in the minerals industries, and offering low-interest loans to develop small businesses.

Guns in schools

Laursen supports allowing people to carry concealed weapons in schools if they have a permit, saying that’s worked fine in Utah.

“You should be able to carry in a court, a school, everywhere — a church,” Laursen said. He noted citizens must pass a background check and take a firearm safety training course, among other conditions, before receiving a permit from law enforcement.

“I think they’re responsible people that get those,” he said.

If schools took down their “Gun Free” signs and put up ones warning that people may be carrying concealed weapons, “I think that would deter a lot of people” from attacking a school, Laursen said.

While he ultimately supports allowing anyone with a permit to carry in schools, “I will be definitely open to maybe not (going) quite that far, and maybe in a couple years we can go to that point,” he said.

Tillotson, for his part, opposes allowing armed citizens in schools.

“I think the fact that we’re worried about concealed carry in schools in the first place, while the economy is tanking, is

rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic,” he said.

As far as protecting students, “We have enough problems with law enforcement personnel — who are trained to deal with shooting situations and threats of force properly — let alone people who are not trained nearly as much in threatening situations playing cowboys in schools,” Tillotson said, adding, “A good guy with a gun is not necessarily going to make the right call against a bad guy with a gun.”

Medicaid and healthcare

The Legislature has repeatedly declined to expand Medicaid — a federal program which helps provide healthcare to low-income residents — to cover more people.

“I won’t vote for it,” Laursen said.

He said states who’ve expanded the programs have had a hard time paying for it and said Medicaid’s lower reimbursement rates won’t help cash-strapped hospitals.

Conversely, Tillotson is supportive and says it would save the state millions of dollars it “desperately” needs while providing healthcare to 20,000 Wyomingites.

Beyond Medicaid, Tillotson would like to create a multi-state insurance exchange to distribute the cost of the Affordable Care Act’s exchanges over a broader base.

“You’re basically required to purchase insurance from one company right now if you’re going to go through (Wyoming’s exchange),” he said. “That’s not good for your average Wyoming citizen.”

Laursen, meanwhile, wants to encourage medical providers to donate their services to those in need in exchange for being shielded from legal liability.

“I think that would help a bunch,” Laursen said. “I think doctors would do it, even dentists, if they knew they weren’t liable and have to carry more insurance and all that for it.”

He added that, “If Trump does win — which I hope he does — things (in healthcare) might change real quick.”

What would you do with a ‘freebie’?

If they were allowed to pass any bill in the coming budget session, Laursen and Tillotson both said they’d eye changes to the structure of government.

Laursen said he wants to call for a Convention of States to amend the U.S. Constitution and require the federal government to stop spending more money than it collects.

“It’ll be hard on everybody, but the federal government’s got to cut. … We’re at $20 trillion in debt,” Laursen said of a balanced budget amending, adding, “it’s our kids and grandkids who get to pay for all the things we have.”

Laursen also thinks it’s worth considering amendments to impose federal term limits or allow a supermajority of the states to void Supreme Court decisions.

Tillotson, meanwhile, said “Wyoming could use an overhaul” to make government work for everyone and not just “the elites.”

As one idea, he favors a system being proposed in South Dakota that would make all elected offices non-partisan, where the top vote-getters in the primary — regardless of political party — advance to the general election.

“I think that helps make sure that the elected officials represented their constituents, not special interests or parties or whatever,” Tillotson said.