Feb. 29—CHEYENNE — The Monday deadline to submit a final version of the budget for the 2025-56 biennium is fast approaching, but delayed negotiation talks have Wyoming lawmakers wondering if they can realistically meet that deadline.
The budget joint conference committee held its third meeting on Thursday, where five lawmakers from each chamber continued to discuss ways to reach agreement on a single budget. This spending plan has to be sent back to the floor of both the Wyoming Senate and House of Representatives for a final vote before it's submitted to Gov. Mark Gordon for his consideration.
JCC members spent the previous day going through more than 130 budget amendments submitted in both the Senate and House versions of the budget. During Thursday's meeting, House JCC members presented eight motions to the budget, most of which removed amendments made by the Senate.
Before the meeting started, co-Chair Sen. Dave Kinskey, R-Sheridan, said Senate members needed "time to consider" before voting on any motions.
"We need to see the whole package and then have time to consider," Kinskey said. "To start rolling through these things serially — it won't work unless we can understand what the whole offer is."
Co-Chair Rep. Bob Nicholas, R-Cheyenne, reassured Kinskey that there didn't have to be a vote on the eight amendments that day.
"We'll just go through all of our amendments as a combined offer ... and if we need to come back tomorrow, or however you want to do it, we'll just go from there," Nicholas said.
UW, K-12 on the table
Rep. Tom Walters, R-Casper, proposed removing the Senate's $110 million budget cut from school capital construction funds, bringing it back to what was originally proposed by the Joint Appropriations Committee.
Rep. Lloyd Larsen, R-Lander, also proposed deleting a Senate amendment that removed the $100 million backstop of the Legislative Stabilization Reserve Account (LSRA, the state's "rainy day fund") to the School Foundation Program Account (SFP).
Don Richards, the Legislature's budget and fiscal administrator, had told representatives on Monday that the impact of property tax bills — which are still on the table — could jeopardize money flowing into the SFP.
"Historically, in the last three months, we have indicated that there is no risk of the SFP going underwater — that is no longer the case," Richards said Monday. "For both the House and the Senate side, I think the risk is magnified. And that reason is the amount of property tax bills that remain alive."
Rep. Trey Sherwood, D-Laramie, moved to cut out a Senate amendment that would require the University of Wyoming to submit a biennial budget.
"The university's (budget) process is no different than our community colleges and our K-12 schools that are on the state aid block grant model," Sherwood said.
Sherwood said the UW president's budget, board of trustees approved final budget, budgetary procedures and annual reports are all published online on the university's website. Through a quick Google search Thursday morning, Sherwood assured lawmakers it was "quite easy to find."
"I don't think this amendment is necessary," Sherwood said.
The sole Democratic JCC member also moved to eliminate the Senate's amendment to defund UW's Office of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (ODEI), and gender studies-related programs and extracurricular activities.
"These are significant administrative decisions that require thoughtful understanding of their implications to our university," Sherwood said. "As it stands, the concepts are unvetted without opportunity for public testimony, so I do not believe they belong in the budget bill."
An additional sentence in the Senate's amendment to defund the ODEI included prohibiting funds "on any diversity, equity and inclusion activity or function." Richards told JCC members this put many of the university's federal funds at risk.
"Those federal research projects typically cast a wide net and require recipients to encourage participation from diverse populations," Richards said.
Richards estimated the total loss of federal research grants to the university was "in the neighborhood" of $110 million to $120 million per year. Sherwood added that even if this last sentence was removed, the loss of the ODEI would put the university "in danger" of losing its international students.
The purpose of this office, Sherwood said, was to help these students "feel welcome and comfortable on campus and in our communities."
Other motions on the table
Rep. Clark Stith, R-Rock Springs, moved to adopt the House position to fund state capital construction projects, including the "dilapidated" veterans home in Buffalo, for a total of $220.8 million.
Larsen added an amendment to Stith's motion that any federal funds received toward the $69 million cost of rebuilding the Buffalo veterans home revert back into the state's general fund.
Stith also moved to remove Senate amendments and reinstate funds recommended by the JAC for enterprise inflation, employee compensation and to keep 42 full-time equivalent (FTE) positions.
Larsen moved to delete a Senate amendment that prohibited an allocation of $200 million from LSRA to fund "large energy projects." These funds were intended to be used at the governor's discretion to pursue carbon-capture sequestration and other energy-related projects.
Stith had told the Wyoming Tribune Eagle last month that this money reflected "quite a bit of trust ... in the governor to use those funds in a prudent way." Because the governor kept his word to sign on energy projects that provide a good return on investment, members of the JAC trusted Gordon with funds to continue that work.
The Senate amendment Larsen wished to remove also prohibited an allocation of matching funds by the state to apply for federal grant money for water and sewer projects. Taking away the state's matching funds would prevent local communities from applying for federal grant money.
"You said you were going to come in with something big, and you did," Kinskey said. "There is certainly a lot for us to consider."
Kinskey said he couldn't guarantee the Senate side of the JCC would be ready to come back for negotiations on Friday. He told the Wyoming Tribune Eagle the Senate still had a number of bills to get through in the afternoon session, and he didn't rush into a negotiation.
"Ideally, (we would) have it done Monday and on the governor's desk," Kinskey said. "Maybe we'll get there, but if not, you know, that's the way it happens."
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Hannah Shields is the Wyoming Tribune Eagle's state government reporter. She can be reached at 307-633-3167 or hshields@wyomingnews.com. You can follow her on X @happyfeet004.
