JARED oN THE ISSUES
I'm a Wyoming native, UW graduate, and small business owner right here in Cheyenne, committed to preserving our western way of life. Above everything I do, I'm a devoted husband and father. I have three beautiful children who attend school in House District 11. Currently I serve in Legislative Leadership as the House Majority Whip. I am also the Chairman of the Judiciary Committee, and Co-Chairman of the Select Committee on Blockchain, Financial Technology, and Digital Innovation Technology.
Wyoming's best days are ahead of us. My position in House Leadership has uniquely positioned me to represent the interests of Cheyenne and Laramie County in the Wyoming House of Representatives. With crushing inflation, soaring gas prices, and economic uncertainty, all caused by failing policies in Washington D.C., we need authentic and experienced leadership right here in Wyoming to see us through these troubling times. I am not just ready for the job, I've been doing it for the last 6 years, and I would love your support to keep working for you.
JOBS & ECONOMY
- MODERNIZE WYOMING'S ECONOMY
Coal fired power plants are closing all over America. World oil markets are in sharp decline. Washington D.C. policies are failing us. Inflation and gas prices are out of control. Families are struggling to make it all work. As a small business owner, I know the impact firsthand. As a Legislator, I have served your through two Special Sessions on COVID-19 and the economy. My leadership skills are tested and proven. Now is the time for tested and proven experience to lead us through rebuilding and strengthening our economy. Wyoming's tomorrow means a modern economy with a modernized workforce. My service on the Blockchain Task Force and as Chairman of the Select Committee on Blockchain, Financial Technology, and Digital Innovations is helping to shape the way for that new economy. I hope you will join me in continuing to dream big for Wyoming's future.
ENERGY & MINERAL INDUSTRIES
- DIVERSIFY AND DEFEND WYOMING'S WAY OF LIFE.
Wyoming's economy and the funding model for our schools is built upon three legs - coal, oil, and natural gas. The world is changing around us and market demands for coal and oil are never going to be the same. We must adapt to these changes if Wyoming is going to thrive. We must also continue the fight to improve our status as the leading energy state. We should work to further develop the exaction of coal and oil, while harnessing all forms of energy, including wind and solar. We can do this by supporting incentives for new industries, keeping coal markets open, and being mindful of taxation in these industries. Diversification in our energy sector will give Wyoming a robust and viable economy.
WYOMING'S BUDGET & FINANCIAL SECURITY
- KEEP TAXES & SPENDING LOW.
Wyoming’s tomorrow requires a 21st century economy and modern workforce. Since joining the Legislature in 2016, I have been deeply committed to making sure Wyoming's State Budget fits the budget of her people's pocketbook. As a prior member of the Joint Appropriations Committee, I understand the budget process, know that we must balance it each year, and fully appreciate the complexities of providing services in a rural state while maintaining a fiscally responsible and conservative budget.
EDUCATION
- INVEST IN OUR FUTURE!
Funding our children's education (K-12) is the most important issue we faced when I entered the Wyoming House in 2016, and it is no different today. Wyoming continues to face a growing deficit in our state's K-12 education. I have two years on the Joint Appropriations Committee where we dealt specifically with re-calibration and the funding model. I have voted for necessary reductions in education and I have also voted in support of external cost adjustments to the funding model - twice. We cannot leave our children behind and we cannot cut education to the determinant of our teachers and neighbors who work in education. Long term solutions require Wyoming to continue to make reductions where we can. But we must also look for revenue solutions to subsidize the loss of coal, oil, and gas revenues that once funded our education systems.
AGRICULTURE & PUBLIC LANDS
- DEFEND OUR FARMERS, RANCHERS, & PUBLIC LANDS
Agriculture is Wyoming's 3rd largest industry. As Wyoming looks to tomorrow and modernizes its economy, it must elevate our agricultural heritage. I serve as local counsel to the Farm-to-Consumer Legal Defense Fund, protecting, defending, and broadening the rights and viability of independent farmers, artisan food producers, and their consumers.
Farmers and ranchers here in Wyoming are a major tenant to the backbone of our economy. They also represent generations of rooted families in our communities. We must be mindful to invest in our agricultural future, especially when striving for greater diversification in our economy. It's also true that the land they steward provides our state with breathtaking views and family friendly recreation year-round.
The Sanctity of life
- PRESERVE LIFE
Life is our most basic and fundamental right. Life is given to us by God, not governments, and without it all other rights are meaningless. I have a proven and undeniable voting record defending the sanctity of human life, especially the unborn. I am proudly endorsed by Wyoming Right to Life (2018, 2020, & 2022).
pROTECT tHE sECOND aMENDMENT
- PRESERVING OUR WAY OF LIFE
I'm honored to have received an A rating and the endorsement of the NRA for 2016, 2018, 2020, and 2022. Our right to keep and bear arms is a fundamental right enshrined in the U.S. and Wyoming Constitutions. Here in Wyoming, it is also a way of life for gun owners, hunters, sportsmen, and everyday citizens. I am proud to be an avid sportsman. I want a Wyoming where I am free to teach my children the way of life their family has known for generations. As your Representative, I have a clear voting record and history of co-sponsoring legislation fighting to preserve our heritage and Constitutional rights.
VETERANS & MILITARY
- WYOMING'S VETERANS DESERVE BETTER
Here in Wyoming we are blessed to call so many of our nation’s veterans our family and friends. In exchange for their sacrifices, they deserve to see the care we promised and owe them. Over the last four years I have worked diligently with the Wyoming Military Department, USAF at Warren Base, and local communities to ensure we are doing or best for our Veterans and Military. In 2019 I fought hard to secure State funding to develop land south of F.E. Warren Air Force Base to provide additional housing for airmen - and we won! Right now more than ever, our Veterans need and deserve a break from crushing property taxes. I support relief/rebates for our Veterans on their property taxes.
CRIMINAL JUSTICE REFORM
- REINVESTMENT AND LOWERING RECIDIVISM
Four years ago I started down the path of advocating for criminal justice reform. Our prisons are overcrowded with nonviolent offenders. CJR makes both fiscal and social sense. As a member of the Judiciary Committee I helped push forward a "quick dip" program in Wyoming which is an expedited process to sanction those who violate probation and parole with up to 3 days in county jail where they receive quick treatment, as opposed to automatically sentencing our people to overcrowded prisons in Rawlins and Torrington. As a member of the Joint Appropriations Committee, in 2020 I authored an amendment that restored critical funding to this project to the tune of $3.5 million. In 2020, I also authored an amendment to the Budget that cut $4 million from the Department of Correction Budget which was being used to fund the housing of prisoners in a poorly ran private for-profit prison in Mississippi. Those prisoners are now on their way back to Wyoming/Colorado. In 2019 I introduced a bill to repeal the death penalty, which had bi-partisan support. HB45 nearly passed, falling short only in the Senate by 4 votes. We made history with a repeal bill making it further than ever before in Wyoming. I continue my efforts for repeal today as I feel the death penalty is immoral, ineffective, poorly administered, and far to costly to the tax payers.
TECHNOLOGY & DIGITAL INNOVATION
- DIVERSIFYING WYOMING'S ECONOMY AND WORKFORCE FOR TOMORROW.
When it comes to diversification of Wyoming's economy, I don't just issue political talking points, I walk the walk. Blockchain and technology are a major aspect of Wyoming's newly diversified economy that is being shaped daily. In 2020 I was appointed as the House Chairman of the Select Committee on Blockchain, Financial Technology, and Digital Innovation Technology. This Select Committee takes the place of the Wyoming Blockchain Task Force that was established in 2017. From 2017-2020 I served on the Blockchain Task Force. In its three years of operation, the Wyoming Blockchain Task Force was the driving force behind the enactment of 20 new laws, including pioneering the creation of a new asset class for utility tokens, adopting strong individual property rights for digital assets, developing a novel Special Purpose Depository Institution (SPDI) state bank charter that provides for digital asset custodianship, implementing a complete legal framework for digital asset custody and providing for the protection of digital speech. The new Select Committee aims to build upon the work of the task force, with a current focus on digital identity, digital property rights, and emerging financial technologies.