“You cannot ignore this problem any longer, “ then Wyoming Gov. Mike Sullivan said in a 1989 State of the State Address to the 50th State Legislature. “We are losing valued employees and faculty, and those that remain are finding it increasingly difficult to find loyalty, love of Wyoming, and personal ties enough to keep them here.”
Opinion
This grim forewarning to Wyoming’s people, made just months before I was born, holds true. Whether by way of regressive policies, stagnant professional opportunities, depleted resources for health and safety or the unaffordability of homes in our beloved communities, our neighbors are leaving — just as Sullivan declared 37 years ago.
Our state’s struggle to retain its residents is no mystery. It’s the predictable result of tired choices made by lawmakers decade after decade. We’re on the precipice of them doing it again.
The Wyoming Business Council, the state’s economic development arm, recently presented lawmakers with data showing steady economic decline, stagnant job growth and shrinking wages. The state’s exodus of residents is the worst in the country at twice the national average.
But rather than unanimously applauding the Business Council for seeking solutions, there are state legislators who, in the upcoming budget session, want it defunded.
Quite frankly, I question the sanity of those of us who opt to stay, myself included.
My family planted roots in Casper, a place hardened by a petroleum-fed cycle of feast and famine, long before I came into the world 36 years ago. It bred tough people. In the late 1980s, the state of our state was dismal on the periphery of a devastating bust, and I came quietly into a roughneck town. Here, Wyoming weasled its way into my bones, and I grew devoted to it, for better or worse.
I learned that the desire to leave Wyoming was itself a rite of passage. Across state lines was the opportunity to stretch through experience — to hear new stories, to ride escalators, to eat vegan food. The elders would boast of the children sowing their wild oats in the city, their starched denim replaced with pressed suits.
Wyoming high school grads share excitement about a world beyond the four plumb walls of our familiar square state. Stacks of dorm-sized belongings accumulate for our leap from the nest. Grand illusions of far-flung adventure aside, I hauled my mini fridge and big dreams just 150 miles south to Laramie — Wyoming’s beloved town of brown and gold.
The University of Wyoming, one of the few anchors for young people in the state, is also in the crosshairs of the Legislature’s zealous budget cutters.
My time there extended my departure, but I eventually would leave, along with most of my friends.
As I stayed rooted in Laramie, I too believed that our state’s precious minds would return after their time away, bringing expanded worldviews and fuller pocketbooks with them. Yet, through the years, the goodbyes have far outnumbered the welcome homes.
One of Wyoming’s premier exports is its educated young people, who leave to neighboring states in more of a gush than a trickle. A Harvard Growth Lab study identified that by the time people born in Wyoming reach their 30s, nearly two-thirds have left. Why did they leave? Ask former Gov. Sullivan or the Business Council or the Harvard researchers. Prohibitive house prices, a dearth of quality job opportunities and subpar services and amenities make it hard to stay.
Yet, Wyoming has a way of tugging us back by our bootstraps. My youthful thirst for broadened horizons took me from city to ocean, only to find my mind most comforted by a return to the wide open West. However, familiar soil isn’t guaranteed to be fertile.
I fell victim to Laramie’s fabled ailment: the boomerang effect.
In 1881, a jack of many trades, Edgar Wilson “Bill” Nye, took the lead of the new-to-town newspaper, which he named after his trusty mule. Nye said the thing about Boomerang was that he had a knack for wandering, but he always came back.
As a mule hungry for feed or a night’s rest away from the elements of the high plains, it’s no surprise that Boomerang kept coming home to Laramie. The question is, what made him wander from his companion’s care? Did Boomerang know greener pastures were just down the road, too?
The data shows, however, that the boomerang effect may only live on in Nye’s hooved pet. Growth Lab reports show residents leave the state at a young age, and most do not return in the years thereafter — contrary to the charming legacy. Rather, the exodus only grows. Older born-and-raised Wyomingites live outside the state at increasing rates — an all-too-familiar fallout of declining access to affordable medical care and services for senior citizens.
Instead, good legislation for Wyoming’s people keeps meeting its end at the Capitol steps while the lawmakers grandstand about how we’re resilient, how it’s not government’s role to lend a hand or produce solutions to generations-old problems.
Wyoming’s resilience is undeniable — look at how our trees bend with the wind. But gutting programs that invest in our communities, support our entrepreneurs and plan for our economic future isn’t an act of courage, nor defiance against anyone but your own. It’s negligence. To turn a blind eye to the needs of Wyoming’s people is, and was always, the wrong choice, even if we’re rugged.
I dream of a state that listens to Sullivan’s plea and sees itself as deserving of nurturing from thoughtful change-makers, not a stubborn adherence to tired tradition.
The organization that Ms. Brauer Chairs – Laramie Main Street – receives support from the Wyoming Business Council, and thus it’s understandable that she is personally motivated to defend it. But it isn’t as beneficial to native Wyoming businesses. It picks winners and losers among businesses (often engaging in egregious cronyism) and brings in and subsidizes out-of-state competitors that harm those businesses. It is also opaque, costly (more than $5 million per year in salaries alone), unresponsive (my small, local businesses have trouble even getting a phone call returned), unaccountable, and ineffective. We would do far better to dissolve it and create a much smaller, less costly, and more streamlined agency WITHIN state government that steers inquiries to local EDCs.
Brett, you are correct! I believe my personal involvement with such agencies strengthens my support and understanding of the WBC services and programs that are often misunderstood in our communities.
I volunteer as the Laramie Main Street board chair, which is affiliated with Wyoming Main Street, a national program housed under the Business Council. I’ve served with them in various capacities for nearly 15 years. While I don’t receive a paycheck from this role, I am a former (paid) marketing contractor of Wyoming Main Street and a payroll employee of the Wyoming Women’s Business Center, who receives significant support funding from WBC to leverage their federal funds for important statewide entrepreneurial support.
Furthermore, I’ve worked closely with entities like the WBC and its partners, such as the Small Business Development Center and The Local Crowd, as an entrepreneur myself, which launched my career in community development. Their technical assistance enabled me to retrofit a commercial kitchen, open a business, and later sell it — all of which was located on your commercial property in Downtown Laramie.
Perhaps, our personal interests in these agencies are more alike than you’d think.
Wyoming’s legislators are wholly unqualified to make good decisions about economic policy. They constantly pass legislation that is not in the best interest of the people of this state. With the Wyoming supreme court’s decision to allow women autonomy in deciding on their own health care choices, what do you want to bet they file impeachment proceedings against some of the judges.
I am dismayed by what I’ve seen so far from the JAC. I’ve lived and worked in Wyoming for almost 30 years and in last 15 years, the state’s voters and politicians are increasingly determined to roll society back to an imagined time of prosperity and harmony. Politicians wring their hands over young people leaving the state for better jobs and quality of life and then double down on cutting education and set their sites on healthcare, infrastructure, and the amenities that bring quality to life to communities. Every year I think the tide will turn back to a less extreme view of what life should be in Wyoming, but I’m always wrong. I am discouraged.
What I find both fascinating and deeply troubling is the growing number of legislators who moved to Wyoming from elsewhere, only to spend their time dismantling the very lifestyle and institutions that brought them here. Many of these members, particularly within the Freedom Caucus, appear to be waging what can only be described as an ‘ignorant war’ on healthcare, education, and essential infrastructure.
It is no wonder we struggle to retain young people when the amenities that support a future are being systematically defunded. The data on our current 68th Legislature is telling: roughly 62% to 65% of our 93 members are out-of-state transplants. It is a strange irony that those who chose Wyoming are now the ones most intent on deconstructing its foundation.
Supporting Facts:
Wyoming Legislature: Birthplace and Residency Statistics (2025–2026)
The 68th Wyoming Legislature continues the trend of high out-of-state representation:
Total Members: 93 (62 House, 31 Senate)
Wyoming Natives: ~35% – 38%
Out-of-State Transplants: ~62% – 65% (approx. 58–60 members)
While our youth and the older generation leave the state we can, at least, be reassured that wanna be politicians are moving in.
Thank you for your insightful words. Young people are aware that if they can get out of Wyoming they are likely to make more money, suffer less in life’s bad turns and be somewhat less likely to be shot. We live in a state that embraces guns and bans books. The only political discussion is between the rational republicans wanting to serve residents with adequate schools, infrastructure, health care etc. ( known as RINOs in some circles) and the ironically named freedom caucus.
As one of those who left young, I returned to spend time with my parents in their remaining years. They’ve been gone for a while now. I am still amazed at what a different place it is from what it was then. Politically that is, the natural wonders remain wonderful. Youthful flight will be the norm until we make it a more tolerable place to live.
Like you Jessica, I was born and raised in Casper. Through the ups and downs I was fortunate to remain here and raise a family while others that I knew moved on. I don’t know what it is about this place but it’s always been home to me, and always will be.
Until recently, the politics were always moderately conservative, which seemed to fit the rugged nature of this state and the people who live here. People could disagree without being disagreeable. While this state always consistently lagged behind it’s neighboring states in things like culture and fashion trends, the people were always friendly and cared for one another. Thanks to the far right tea party, followed by Trump’s MAGA movement and the offshoot freedom caucus, most of that goodwill among the residents has faded. Rather than having leaders in Wyoming looking towards the horizon, while continuing to improve on the society that we’ve built, we’ve got individuals who seem hell bent on returning us to more primative times when humans lived in caves and pummelled each other with sticks fighting over scraps of food.
I don’t know how this twisted logic could be so popular among so many of our neighbors but it seems to be the case. If you’re not a solid, Trump adoring republican, you’re labeled a RINO and a left wing lunatic by many, which couldn’t be farther from the truth in most cases. Many, like me, just want to return to the good ol’ days of rational, decent people (like Mike Sullivan since you mentioned him) running things in Wyoming so that people have a reason to stay. Wyoming certainly doesn’t need anymore Trump acolytes like Hagman, Gray, Rasner, etc when they constantly contribute to the divisions going on within our state. Maybe if the citizens of Wyoming would, for a change, elect someone for their integrity, vision, and character rather than which party they affiliate with, we may have a chance at actually retaining people rather than losing them. Nice piece Jessica, please keep them coming.
When I taught at UW ( for about twenty years)I had a number of students who were conflicted about leaving–or staying — in Wyoming . Many had been convinced by parents that they should stay. Some abandoned promising careers to remain. The murder of Matthew Shepherd freaked me out
I had left New York City to teach at UW and at the time I very much needed a change. (It is the American way to explore different places and students should do the same.)You can usually go back! My partner and I I left because we wanted a vibrant urban culture, Democratic politics, and better medical care as we aged. But recently we we revisited Wyoming and I was blown away by the peacefulness and beauty of the landscape, but still not wanting to be part of a culture that doesn’t like strangers and where truck flaps bear the message, “Welcome to Wyoming , we don’t give a ( expletive) how you do it back home”. I knew if I stayed in Wyoming until the day I died I would always be a stranger. And when Biden won the presidency and Denverites drove around in cars honking and waving flags for hours I knew I’d come to a better place for me.
This explains why the legislature is trying to defund the Wyoming Business Council. Freedom Caucus members are the type of fools who reject any data that does not reinforce their radical world view.
“The Wyoming Business Council, the state’s economic development arm, recently presented lawmakers with data showing steady economic decline, stagnant job growth and shrinking wages.”
You are spot on, Jessica!
It seems the Legislature wants Wyoming’s demographic to be ever older, whiter and poorer. For some reason, these citizens vote for the Freedom Caucus members. On the surface it appears the Legislature would rather attract moneyed newcomers who inhabit expensive ranchettes than keep its own children.
Brauer’s words are too kind. The Legislature does more than adhere to tired tradition.
The Legislature pulls back funding for medical and social services, education, infrastructure support and economic development. It ensures that Wyoming’s citizens will get more seriously sick than they need to, will feel despair at the lack of opportunity within the beauty of open spaces, and overall, share a ever lessening life expectancy.
More than adhering to tired tradition, the Legislature is actively destroying what makes Wyoming a desirable place for young people and families to live and thrive.
There’s a certain group of people that don’t want young people to stay. They like the hegemony they have over the people. They keep wages depressed and literally force people to move. Then there’s the rightwing fake christians that think they should be able to tell you how to live. We must vote these goofs out of office.