Governor Mark Gordon announces supplementary budget Recommendations At a news conference in Laramie on Thursday, he laid out his demands, focusing on spending that is “important, necessary and of immediate value.”
Gordon’s demands include increasing various Medicaid reimbursement rates, adding funding to the state’s property tax rebate program, adding funding for lawsuits against federal regulations, and replenishing firefighting funds depleted by federal regulations. Included. A year of historic fires.
“As we move forward, we need to ensure that spending not only addresses immediate response and recovery needs, but also does not exceed revenue and provides long-term support to build resilience for the future, including disasters.” It is essential that we reflect on our efforts,” Gordon said in his book. budget book.
Mr. Gordon’s recommendations are simply such because ultimately it is the legislators who hold the purse strings. In even-numbered years, the Legislature creates a two-year budget for the state. In odd-numbered years, the budget is adjusted to account for changes, emergencies, or unforeseen needs.
The 2024 budget session was controversial, especially regarding the budget proposals. barely passed In the Senate. Gordon told lawmakers he was unimpressed by the chaos surrounding budget negotiations, but ultimately approved most of the bill. But his veto of the budget item prompted unsuccessful calls for Congress to reconvene a special session to override Gordon.
On Thursday, the governor again signaled his approval of the final product.
“This Budget, although there was some drama in getting to the finish line, is well-crafted and clearly adequate, as the amendments only envisage an additional $6.5 million in ongoing spending,” said Prime Minister Gordon. and many of those requirements are driven by inflation,” Gordon said. Press conference.
Gordon said there is a total of $220 million in one-time requests.
The budget honors Gordon’s funding requests for 988 suicide lifelines, building new schools, expanding property tax rebate programs, and increasing savings, and includes federal funding from the American Rescue Plan Act, infrastructure and more. The state was well prepared for the downsizing of the mechanism. Mr. Gordon then spoke about the Investment and Jobs Act and the Inflation Control Act.
“Over the past year, Wyoming has been returning to some semblance of a ‘normal’ economy,” Gordon wrote in the letter. “It’s a much smaller economy.”
The state may be returning to economic normalcy, but legislative politics is entering uncharted territory. A new group of Republicans will be in charge of Congress this year. The Freedom Caucus, a hard-line Republican group formed in 2020 to counter what is seen as the left wing of the Republican Party, won enough seats to control the House. The group has targeted Mr. Gordon before, so his budget proposal could suffer.
fire department funds
Wyoming’s 2024 wildfire season was second only to 1988, when the infamous Yellowstone fires burned 1.7 million acres. WyoFile previously reported.
It cost the state a lot of money.
“The sobering thought is that Wyoming experienced more than 1,900 wildfires that burned nearly 850,000 acres in 2024. ,” Gordon wrote. “Two of these fires rank as the second and third worst fires in Wyoming history, and the cost to extinguish them in 2024 is now more than $56 million. , all funds in the EFSA account have been used up, including those remaining from the previous year.”
The fire also depleted the Wyoming Department of Homeland Security reserve account and the governor’s reserve account, forcing the state to borrow $20 million from the Legislative Stability Reserve Account, better known as the state’s rainy day fund. It was done.
“Fighting these fires has caused the total biennial allocation for fire protection to be used up within months instead of two years,” Gordon wrote. “No one would have imagined that all of that capacity would be used up so quickly.”
Putting out a fire is one thing, Gordon wrote. Recovery is different.
The latter is difficult in Wyoming because Wyoming is one of only five Western states without a state-funded disaster recovery program to deal with disasters that do not meet the requirements for federal disaster assistance. be.
“This year’s wildfires have destroyed thousands of acres of pasture, forage, and habitat for livestock and wildlife,” Gordon wrote. “To be effective, a comprehensive remediation program must be implemented immediately.”
That’s why Gordon recommends setting aside $130 million for the Wyoming Wildlife and Natural Resources Trust for a comprehensive restoration program.
economic development and litigation
To “continue our fight against the federal government,” Gordon announced $2.2 million to the Coal Litigation Fund, along with $7.5 million to “ensure that Wyoming has the funding to protect all of its natural resources.” He wrote that he is seeking funding for senior, experienced lawyer positions. This is due to federal government overreach. ”
Gordon is also requesting $5.2 million for the final phase of the Wyoming Innovation Partnership, an initiative aimed at building workforce resiliency and revitalizing the state’s economy.
Just before Wednesday’s governor’s press conference, Freedom Caucus Chairman Honorable Rep. John Baer (R-Gillette) said the Wyoming Innovation Partnership is “on track to do just fine.” [the caucus’] Remarks at the Legislature Roundtable at the Wyoming Business Alliance Forum in Laramie.
Asked whether Baer’s comments made him more confident that the Freedom Caucus might help with funding, Gordon said: “I hope so.”
“It’s certainly heartening to hear him talk about how the Freedom Caucus aligns with WIP’s core motivation of ensuring our workforce is responsive to the needs of industry,” said Gordon. he said. “So I’m excited about it.”
health care
During the 2024 legislative interim period, the off-season when committees meet, the governor’s office and the Joint Committee on Labor, Health, and Social Services both prioritized maternity services.
WyoFile in 5 parts delivery desert As detailed in the series, Wyoming faces a significant shortage of obstetric services, forcing families to go to extraordinary lengths to deliver.
Another hospital this month announced Labor and delivery services will also be suspended.
“This is a complex issue that we continue to evaluate and develop recommendations to address,” Gordon said. “One of the things we can do today is that Medicaid makes up about one-third of all births in Wyoming, so Medicaid makes up about one-third of all births in Wyoming.” So we’re increasing Medicaid rates for health care providers to ensure they can maintain their services in Wyoming.”
To that end, Gordon requested about $2.4 million be added to the Department of Health’s budget. This will be split evenly between state and federal funds.
“In addition to increasing rates for OB services, I am also recommending increasing rates for behavioral health providers and home health providers based on recent rebasing research,” Gordon wrote. “The rebase investigation revealed that the provider was underfunded.”
Property tax relief was another area Gordon sought support from. Homeowners sought relief after lawmakers expanded the size and scope of the state’s property tax rebate program.
“The original amount of total refunds to taxpayers was an underestimate,” Gordon wrote, calling for $10.5 million to be added to the program.
The governor’s office is scheduled to submit a recommendation to the Consolidated Appropriations Committee on Dec. 9.
This article was first published wio file Republished here with permission. wio file is an independent, nonprofit news organization focused on Wyoming’s people, places and policies.
