LARAMIE - Two candidates who are longtime residents of rural Albany County, and who have been unsuccessful in previous runs for public office, are vying in the Aug. 19 primary election for the Democratic nomination to represent south Laramie and south and west Albany County in the state House.

The House District 46 Democratic primary race is between Jan Alvaney, a resident of the North Fork subdivision near Centennial, and Jim Thompson, a former University of Wyoming lecturer and socio-economic consultant who lives on a small ranch four miles south of Laramie.

The winner will face Republican incumbent Rep. Jim Slater of Laramie in the general election.

Alvaney, 55, has run unsuccessfully against Slater for the House seat in the past two general elections. Thompson, 64, narrowly lost in a bid for the Albany County Commission four years ago. He served as county Democratic chairman from 2007 until earlier this year and is a member of the county planning and zoning commission.

Alvaney, a consultant in business training, is involved with the Laramie Economic Development Corp.'s Partners in Progress program.

The two candidates expressed similar views on most of the issues likely to be discussed in the upcoming legislative session. Both candidates favor legislation to relieve low- and middle-income citizens, particularly seniors on fixed incomes, from the burdens of increasing property taxes. Both favor increasing distribution of severance taxes to fund highways rather than raising the state gasoline tax.

As to charging big trucks a toll to use the state's highways, both candidates had some questions about the legality of such a move. "But if there's any way to do it, we should," Thompson said.

Both candidates support a statewide ban on smoking in public places, including bars and restaurants. Alvaney said, however, that the laws have to be enforced or they do little good. She said Laramie's ban on smoking in bars is widely ignored.

State surplus

Thompson said even talking about "surplus" revenues is problematic from the outset because "any surplus we have is due to having not adequately funded programs such as highways, roads and local governments."

Thompson's priority is for increased funding to cities and counties "so they can adequately plan to take care of their streets, sewer and water and so forth." He said half of Wyoming's local governments, including Albany County and Laramie, are "continually underfunded. We need to reach agreement on how to redirect revenues from the state level to create a permanent stream of revenue to the poorer cities and towns."

Alvaney said her first priority would be education, with funding for local governments and for the state's transportation agencies running closely behind. She said her emphasis on education includes not only the public schools and colleges but also general adult education.

"We need to educate them about conserving energy and leading a healthier life to reduce health care costs, for example," she said. "We are not empowering them as citizens to be a part of the solution."

Economy

Both candidates mentioned state support of small businesses to diversify the economy. Thompson pointed to programs such as UW's small business "incubator."

"This program is quite effective in helping to attract and create new businesses in the state, and we should support expansion of the center in Laramie and creation of similar centers and other economic development nodules in other cities and towns in Wyoming that have the capability of benefitting such as Casper, Gillette, Rock Springs and Sheridan," he said.

Alvaney and Thompson both mentioned state help to local governments as a way to attract new business. Alvaney said prospective employers "don't want a place with congested traffic, dirt roads, expensive housing and shortages of child care." She said the state should target the technology and renewable energy sectors to attract new businesses.

DUI penalties

Both candidates support stiffer penalties for drunken driving.

Thompson said a second conviction should bring an automatic jail offense, and a third should bring suspension of the license for five years at least.

Alvaney said she would like to see stronger penalties for even a first-time offense but wasn't sure she would support mandatory jail time. She also called for more law enforcement officers to enforce the laws.

Colleges

Increased funding for community colleges was mentioned by both candidates, in recognition of the schools' important role in the state.

Thompson said he favors establishment of a permanent fund to support the colleges and also supports leaving governance of the colleges to locally elected boards, with the Wyoming Community College Commission in an advisory and coordinating capacity only.

Alvaney said many students must go to the colleges to improve their skills before they can win admission to a university.

Regulating development

Both candidates favor the legislation passed in the last session giving counties some control over lands being subdivided into lots between 35 and 140 acres in size (previously, subdividers creating lots at least 35 acres in size did not have to obtain a subdivision permit). They agreed also that more work needs to be done in that area.

Alvaney said the dividing up of Wyoming's scenic areas into subdivisions "where people are parking all their junk along the highways and building McMansions that have to be heated and cooled" will hurt the state's tourism economy.

She also said some counties including Albany County lack the necessary resources to enforce the laws.

Housing

Thompson said the state should make funds available to local governments for adequate sewer and water and other infrastructure to facilitate residential development in towns facing housing shortages.

Alvaney said she is "a big proponent of affordable housing." She said some businesses had left Laramie partly because as the businesses grew, "it became increasingly difficult to attract workers because of housing costs." She advocated "more urban renewal-type of projects" to fix up neighborhoods and create affordable housing.

Health care

Thompson said he supports the appropriation of money to "make sure all people in Wyoming have adequate health care, beginning with making insurance coverage available and affordable for all citizens."

The state should also continue to subsidize health insurance payments for retired state employees and expand that to all employees in the Wyoming retirement system, he said.

Alvaney would support opening state health insurance plans to small businesses, seniors and retirees "in an effort to allow people to buy into that program. We've proven with the state liquor commission that we can buy things in bulk and provide them to the people in the state, and I'd like to see something like that with prescription drugs."

She said an important part of bringing jobs to Wyoming is to help small businesses insure their employees.