The Wyoming House and Senate met for the last day of the 2026 budget session on Wednesday, where both chambers failed to muster the votes necessary to override three of the governor’s vetoes.
Overriding a veto requires a two-thirds majority vote in both the House and Senate.
After attempting to override the vetoes, Gov. Mark Gordon spoke to representatives and senators, separately thanking them for their work this session.
“It has been a little bit tough at times,” said Gordon on the House floor. “But we, at the end, have come to a finish where we understand that we may not always agree, but we are going to work together for the best of Wyoming.”
On the House side, representatives sought to usher through a measure that would bar public employees from voluntarily deducting their labor organization dues from their paychecks. In his veto letter, Gordon said the state should presume that workers know what they are doing when they opt in for automatic withdrawals.
In a House Education Committee meeting during the session, Rep. JD Williams (R-Lusk) spoke in favor of the bill, saying it would empower Wyomigites’ individual choice.
“[The bill] reduces government facilitation of union funding and promotes greater transparency in how union dues are collected and spent,” said Williams. “I believe that's a benefit to hardworking citizens of Wyoming.”
The override vote garnered 36 yays, 21 nays and 5 excused, missing the threshold.
In the Senate, two bills were up for reconsideration.
One would repeal the state’s Strategic Investments and Projects Account (SIPA). The governor makes recommendations for how to spend money in the account, which the Legislature can approve or nix. This bill would have dissolved SIPA and put its money in other state accounts.
In his veto letter, Gordon said repealing SIPA would limit his ability to make budget recommendations and vetoed it.
The Senate failed to override that veto with a vote of 20 yays, 10 nays and one excused.
The Senate also tried to override the governor’s veto of a bill that would’ve allowed anyone to sue a law enforcement agency that took any actions to take away someone’s guns, including federal enforcement actions. It carried a possible $50,000 penalty.
All 23 county sheriffs opposed this bill, as did Immigration and Customs Enforcement, saying it would hamstring the state’s ability to help federal agencies enforce immigration, drug smuggling and human trafficking. Gordon pointed to this opposition in his veto letter.
Senators again failed to gin up enough votes to override, with 12 yays, 18 nays and one excused.
Sine die
With the Legislature adjourned sine die, the Legislative Service Office (LSO) released a by-the-numbers recap.
The final budget for the next two years clocked in at $10.1 billion, using $3.46 billion from the state’s general fund.
“This is $33.8 million lower in all funds and $1.9 million lower in state general funds compared to the total requests by the Governor and the Judicial Branch for state government operations, not including capital construction,” LSO noted.
In addition to passing the budget, the Legislature also approved two major public education funding measures.
“The K-12 school finance recalibration bill includes a $275 million appropriation for Wyoming’s School Foundation Program. The Legislature further adopted a K-12 school facilities bill which includes $393.7 million in appropriations to build and maintain public school facilities across the state,” LSO said.
In total, lawmakers considered 335 bills and resolutions, ultimately passing 114.
What’s next?
The governor has a few more days to sign or veto the bills on his desk. He can also allow bills to become laws without signing them. A list of bills he’s signed and vetoed is available on the governor’s website.
Lawmakers will have a few weeks off, but interim work picks up soon.
Legislative committees and individual lawmakers have proposed dozens of topics in a 155-page packet to review before next year’s general session, ranging from the foster care system to how energy is taxed to artificial intelligence uses to how the state should spend federal Rural Health Transformation Fund dollars.
The Management Council is set to meet on April 1 to decide which topics each committee will pick up.
This reporting was made possible by a grant from the Corporation For Public Broadcasting, supporting state government coverage in the state. Wyoming Public Media and Jackson Hole Community Radio are partnering to cover state issues both on air and online.
