Joint Appropriations Committee

A University of Wyoming provost said dozens of full-time employees could be laid off if more funds aren’t added to the proposed budget. Each college, aside from two that lawmakers exempted, would be cut by about 15%.

In 1998, Wyoming lawmakers across the political spectrum, including “very conservative” Republicans, voted to create a state economic development agency amid a sluggish economy. Now, a new group of conservatives wants to eliminate the agency.

The Joint Appropriations Committee voted to cut the federal funding from the state’s Department of Health budget earlier this month, but the move was met with pushback and protest.

In opinion editorials, guest columns and social media posts, reactions to the first alterations made to Wyoming lawmakers’ budget bill poured in from across the political spectrum.

This week, appropriators on one lawmaking committee made significant cuts to the University of Wyoming, the state Department of Health and many other elements of state government. One Republican lawmaker said the state was at a “crossroads.”

State appropriators voted to slash the entirety of Wyoming Public Media’s state funds, axing about 17% of the station’s overall budget.

Wyoming’s energy resources were in full focus on the Legislature’s Joint Appropriations Committee’s 14th day of budget hearings.

On day 13 of Wyoming lawmakers’ budget hearings, agencies brought up issues with water infrastructure and rising costs for equipment and construction.

Lawmakers asked for more information relating to long-standing issues, like the explosion of off-track betting locations and which section books are placed in the state library.

Lawmakers heard from agency leadership at the Department of Transportation, the Game and Fish Department, and the Department of Workforce Services.