Wyoming Lawmakers To Tackle Budget Bill Starting Monday

The Wyoming House and Senate are scheduled to begin looking at identical supplemental budget bills on Monday.

House Bill 0001 and Senate File 0001 are mirror bills with the same provisions, and have been approved by the legislature's Joint Appropriations Committee. The proposal calls for reductions to the state's General Fund (GF) and Budget Reserve Account (BRA) totaling $29.8 million.

Those cuts would be in addition to recommended cuts from Governor Matt Mead and the Judicial Branch of $245.2 million.

If all of those cuts are approved it would mean a total cut of $275 million to the 2017-2018 biennial budget.

That would translate into the cutting of 135 full-time state jobs and ten part-time positions. The governor would also have to find 75 other positions to cut by the end of the 2017-2018 biennium, adding up to the saving of about another $10 million going forward.

Following the first reading of the budget bills on Monday, the bills are slated for second reading on Wednesday and third and final reading in each chamber on Feb. 13.

Wyoming continues to face major revenue challenges caused by low energy prices and a generally stagnant economy.