On Friday Jan 22, 2020 -
House Appropriations Committee member Representative Clark Stith reported that the Joint Appropriations Committee unanimously approved both the supplemental budget bill (21LSO 401) and the state building (not schools) capital construction bill (21LSO 400). The resulting budget is the leanest in decades, with most state agencies taking a 15 percent cut in funding. Accounting for inflation, the general fund budget, at a little over $2.5 billion for the biennium ending June 30, 2022, is about 25 percent smaller in real terms than it was in 2010. As for capital construction, Western Wyoming Community College’s request for $11.4 million to fix the HVAC pipes and valves at the Rock Springs campus was fully approved. K-12 funding remains thus far untouched, although a proposed Recalibration bill in the Education committee contemplates some funding reduction(suggested $100 million, or about 8 percent). These bills will continue through the legislative process this session. Thank you to all of the members of the hardest working committee in the Wyoming Legislature.
