Top Wyoming lawmakers have agreed to put off talks of budget cuts.
This year, state agencies cut an average of 6.5 percent from their budgets to meet a shortfall. Then lawmakers announced plans to require agencies to propose another round of 6-percent cuts during summer committee hearings.
But Governor Matt Mead said he would not encourage agencies to cooperate. He says with almost $800 million coming in from capital gains and interest on investments, cuts should be unnecessary.
House Speaker Tom Lubnau says the legislature will wait until the end of the fiscal year get a more complete look at the state’s financial portfolio.
“We wanna have good data to make good decisions and it doesn’t make sense to go through an exercise without having full knowledge of the situation. The agencies need the full knowledge of the situation as well.”
Lubnau says the legislature needs to be fiscally prudent. The fiscal year ends June 30.