Our state legislators wrapped up the legislative session last week after a grueling budget session. Regardless of what anyone thinks of voting decisions, all should be commended for serving in their positions, for taking a large chunk of time out of their lives for not a large amount of pay to serve their constituents. 

Still, while I know as they get back to Park County they are likely tired after late nights and long days — having talked to a number of them over this and previous sessions, I can tell you they put in a lot of hours — I hope all are prepared to answer to their constituents. 

There will certainly be a lot of praise, and a fair amount of criticism, coming to them over the next few weeks, and it is our duly elected legislators’ duty to be available for it all, as county residents now digest and account for how what was decided in Cheyenne will alter their lives here. 

I had a chance to see some of that reaction Thursday, as Sen. Dan Laursen, R-Powell, showed up at the Wyoming State Shooting Complex Joint Powers Board meeting a day after returning from Cheyenne. The board members thanked him for his work on getting funding for the complex approved. 

I can tell you from chatting with him, he's happy to be back, as I'm sure all are. 

And I can imagine they’ll receive feedback for almost all of our area legislators co-sponsoring, and all supporting, the Human Heartbeat Act (HB 126) which Gov. Mark Gordon signed into law last week and which, in lieu of previous legislation to more fully ban abortions in the state, limits them to the time before a heartbeat can be detected, generally understood to be six weeks of gestation. 

Then there’s school and college funding measures, which were praised by our Northwest College President Lisa Watson, who said at the last college board meeting it wound up being a good session for them as far as getting more funding (certainly much better than some had initially expected) while local K-12 leaders such as Park 1 Superintendent Jay Curtis are concerned that the school recalibration bill overwhelmingly approved with the support of local legislators could lead to the loss of certain positions even as teaching staff receive raises. 

With our legislators getting back to town, all should be as quick to talk with supporters as those bringing grievances. 

And many, to their credit, have been very open throughout the session to either publish updates on social media or quickly respond to questions, which we very much appreciate. 

Keep an eye out in the newspaper pages and the community calendar for info on town halls hosted by our legislators where they will go over the session.