economy

After hours of sometimes-heated debate, the Wyoming House finished voting on amendments to its version of the state budget bill. Lawmakers restored some previously cut funding for state employee pay increases, the University of Wyoming and the Wyoming Business Council.

Lawmakers are racing to mark up the spending bill that funds state operations for the next two years. Once the House finishes its work, the two marked-up bills will go to a Joint Conference Committee that will try to arrive at a unified bill.

Week two of the budget session is when all lawmakers get their first chance to weigh in on how much, and on what, the state will spend over the next two years. Until this point, only a small group has shaped the budget. WyoFile's Maggie Mullen and Wyoming Public Radio's Chris Clements break down the process, from the Senate's Big Beautiful Amendment to the House's late nights and tense debates. They've got the latest on Checkgate, too.

Cheyenne is one step closer to becoming the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association's headquarters. A bill that would provide $15 million to help move the PRCA from Colorado Springs has passed its second reading in the Senate.

Kratom is often marketed as an herbal supplement. But it’s highly addictive, affecting the same parts of the brain as opioids. Coroners have found it in suicide victims’ bodies.

Bills are flying and dying in the Wyoming Legislature’s budget session. And lawmakers haven’t even touched the budget itself yet. WyoFile's Maggie Mullen and Wyoming Public Radio's Chris Clements highlight some of the biggest upsets – and an incident of checks on the House floor that’s launched investigations.

Among Mountain West states, rates vary drastically.

“The fact that they've had to cancel lease sales when this is such a pro-coal administration tells you that even the White House can't offset markets. Markets are really the final determinant of whether coal is going to be around in the power generation market,” UW economist Rob Godby told WPR.

It’s been about a year since Wyoming sold a square mile of land to Grand Teton National Park for $100 million. Now, one outfitter who helped persuade state lawmakers to choose conservation is feeling pushed out.

The price of gasoline varies across the Mountain West—some states paying more than the national average