economy

Wyoming has a budget for the next two years! After weeks of divisive lead up, how did we get here? Plus, the House issues its report on an activist handing out campaign checks on the House floor. WyoFile's Maggie Mullen and Wyoming Public Radio's Chris Clements break down the penultimate week of the budget session.

They're urging the industry to adapt to a more diverse workforce.

Wyoming lawmakers are working to agree on the state's budget for the next two years. And they’re still plowing through a lot of other bills – and the continuing reverberations of “Checkgate.” WyoFile's Maggie Mullen and Wyoming Public Radio's Chris Clements break down week three of the budget session.

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.