The Wyoming House of Representatives wrapped up week one of the 2018 Budget Session on Friday shortly before 3:30 p.m., which has some policymakers disappointed.
The last day to introduce bills, the early adjournment meant there were over 15 bills that got the ax without even being discussed. House Minority Leader Cathy Connolly said the House never got to discuss a tobacco tax, a sales and use tax rate and changes to a real estate tax, among others.
“The bottom of the list, the top of the list, the assumption was we were going to do that list today,” said Connolly. “And so what we didn’t do was all of the tax bills. We could have had a good discussion about our revenue streams and what to do about it and we chose not to.”
At a time when the state is facing shortfalls resulting from an over-reliance on energy industry revenues, Connolly said she’s disappointed Wyoming legislators will not be discussing revenue-raising bills this session.
“We’re here to do the people’s work. We tend to get done Fridays around dinner time so people can go home if they want,” said Connolly. “But this is the end of the first week. We should be doing the people’s work no matter what time it is. That’s what we are here.”
Looking up at the clock and realizing it was only 3:30 p.m., Connolly said they could have done all the bills on the introduction list by 6 p.m.