This town hall has got it all: Cities to the county, cows to contractors, and water to midwifery.

"I think it's important to hear where people are coming from," Sen. Kit Jennings, R-Casper, said Monday.

The town hall for the 2008 Legislature meets at Casper City Hall for about two hours beginning at 5 p.m. Friday, and reconvenes at 9 a.m. Saturday and will continue to about 3 p.m.

Unlike a casual politician-constituent mix-and-mingle event, Jennings has commitments from the 12 legislators in Natrona County - four senators and eight House members - to listen to focused presentations from representatives of governments and other agencies.

The 2008 Legislature is scheduled to convene at 10 a.m. Monday, Feb. 11, and will meet for 20 days to craft the budget for the next two years and consider other legislation.

To get a head start, Jennings wanted legislators to hear about local issues because non-budget bills must receive a two-thirds vote in each house to be introduced.

Lawmakers don't head to Cheyenne, write laws and vote on them, he said. "We work on these things for a long time before we get to the session."

Jennings intends to run a tight ship during the town hall, with one presenter speaking and another on deck, he said. When time's up, the next speaker begins, he said.

The legislators will take notes, and ask questions only to clarify speakers' points, he said.

He also wants to set aside some time for members of the public to ask questions or make short comments.

He originally invited representatives of the cities of Casper and Evansville, Casper College and the Natrona County Commission to speak between 15 minutes and an hour, he said.

But word spread about the town hall, and groups as disparate as the Wyoming Contractors Association, NOWCAP, the Farm Bureau and the American Cancer Society asked to make presentations, Jennings said.

Natrona County Public Library Director Bill Nelson said he heard about it, too, and will again voice his support for a proposed $25.3 million Wyoming Public Libraries Endowment.

Nelson has written to the legislators in Natrona County, but the town hall will give him the opportunity for them to ask questions, he said.

The proposed bill - sponsored by Sen. Hank Coe, R-Cody, and Rep. Rosie Berger R-Big Horn - would distribute interest from the endowment on a tier matching dollar system until each of the 23 county libraries has a $1.1 million account with the state treasurer's office. The library endowment is modeled after the Wyoming Community College Endowment Challenge.

"It would be a really good idea for libraries, forever," Nelson said.

Reach Tom Morton at (307) 266-0592, or at Tom.Morton@trib.com.