CASPER, Wyo. — Governor Mark Gordon unveiled a supplemental budget request on Wednesday, saying it was a response to an unprecedented fire season, with other monies earmarked for continued litigation against federal energy policies and support for property tax refund programs.
Gordon told the media on Wednesday that the proposed supplement includes $220 million in one-time requests, $140 million of which would replenish depleted firefighting funds and support recovery efforts on over 850,000 acres of land that burned this year.
Gordon said the supplementary budget request includes only $6.5 million recurring expenses, mostly due to inflation.
Gordon said the $3.8 billion, two-year budget passed by the legislature in March had prudently anticipated the end of the federal funds expended in the wake of COVID-19, but the supplement takes care of emerging and unanticipated issues.
“After being forced to adjust to a precipitous drop in revenue in 2020, the federal government flooded much of the country, including Wyoming… in copious amounts of dollars to rekindle and stimulate our economy,” Gordon told the media.
Gordon described that as a “serendipitous, but inflationary” windfall in his supplementary budget introduction. He emphasized that the state had prioritized spending on critical, lasting infrastructure projects like the future replacement of La Prele dam in Converse County, repairing water infrastructure in Wheatland and Rawlins, and upgrading hospitals and senior centers.
“Our kids, I feel very strongly, must see the benefits of these investments….” Gordon said at the conference.
Gordon is also requesting an additional $10.5 million to support four property tax relief programs that were created or expanded in the legislature this year. “The initial amounts of the total refunds to taxpayers were underestimated,” Gordon wrote.
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Fires
2024 was the most devastating year for fires since the Yellowstone fire of 1988, Gordon said. There were 1,900 fires that burned 850,000 acres, and states like Idaho and Texas had it even worse. Fighting these fires exhausted our biennial allocation for fire control in a few months instead of two years,” Gordon wrote in the budget’s introduction.
The fires cost the state over $56 million, consuming the two-year budget for the Emergency Fire Suppression Account and two contingency accounts.
Gordon said the $140 is needed to replenish the accounts, prepare for future fire seasons, and support the long term recovery included critical water resources and ranchers’ fences and rangeland. The burned areas will also be vulnerable to washout flooding and invasive weeds.
Attorney General
“The onslaught of federal legislation and land management decisions have necessitated the use of Coal Litigation Funds set aside by a prior legislature to hire additional legal resources…” Gordon wrote in the supplementary budget. Wyoming had already been fighting in federal court to export coal through west coast ports, and President Joe Biden’s administration began with a 15-month moratorium on new federal oil and gas leases.
Gordon recommends expanding the litigation fund to $7.5 million to continue fighting these and other issues like Clean Power Plan 2.0 and grizzly bear de-listing, Gordon said.
“I’m certain the return of the Trump administration bodes well for Wyoming, clearing an oppressive regulatory mess put on us by the Biden administration,” Gordon said on Thursday. “Nonetheless, we still face daunting legal challenges.”
Wyoming Innovation Partnership
Gordon said he was requesting a $5.2 million to support WIP. The program is a collaboration among community colleges, the University of Wyoming, the Wyoming Department of Education and the Department of Workforce Services to build a skilled workforce for the state’s core and emerging industries like energy, agriculture, manufacturing, software development and tourism.
Gordon added that the programs understand they are expected to be self-sustaining after this last round of funding.
Department of Health
Gordon said he had become “acutely aware” of a drain on qualified labor and delivery health professionals after learning that Evanston Regional Hospital lost its obstetrics department, and the same has happened in Kemmerer and Rawlins.
“One thing we can do today is increase Medicaid rates for our providers to ensure we can help retain the services in Wyoming, as Medicaid births account for approximately one-third of the deliveries in Wyoming,” Gordon wrote.
He is also requesting additional expenditures for behavioral health and in-home health providers, dollars that would be doubled by a federal matching funds.
Department of Corrections
Gordon wrote that a chronic staffing shortage in the state corrections department has finally begun to ease and should continue to improve over the next year. In the meantime, the state still has to pay to cover the cost of housing some prisoners outside of the state. He is requesting $9.3 million to cover those costs.
