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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Governor Gordon Highlights State Employee Compensation Priorities in Budget Message
“Our state employees are a treasured resource who see the essential functions of state government are carried out every day.”
CHEYENNE, Wyo. Jan. 8, 2026 - Governor Mark Gordon (R-WY) underscored the importance of competitive compensation for Wyoming’s state workforce in his biennial budget, The Essentials, emphasizing that maintaining essential government services depends on retaining skilled, experienced employees.
“Our state employees are a treasured resource who see the essential functions of state government are carried out every day,” Governor Gordon said in his budget message. He noted that during past downturns, “we often stayed and deferred state wages,” creating long-term impacts on recruitment and retention that adversely affected the delivery of services across the state.
Keeping professional experienced employees saves the state money. Work is done, and no lost time while attempting to fill vacancies. Today, Wyoming’s state government remains leaner than it was just a few years ago.
“The current number of authorized, full-time positions in state government is smaller by 274 positions than in 2018,” Governor Gordon said.
Despite this reduced workforce, agencies have continued to meet rising service demands across the state while receiving less pay than their counterparts in other states.
To address market competitiveness and reduce vacancy challenges, the Governor has proposed a compensation adjustment for current employees. The Governor’s proposed budget aims to “bring the salaries of state employees from market value in 2022 to market value in 2024. An improvement that still leaves our employees two years behind their colleagues in other states.”
Governor Gordon emphasized the rationale for this budget request clearly: “Our state employees work hard and deserve fair compensation for their skill, dedication, and effort. Wyoming’s employees are a shining example of those on the frontlines watching that taxpayers dollars are not squandered or wasted. For example, Wyoming's low SNAP error rate can add millions in state general funds but depends on the dedication and diligence of the DFS staff. In other words, Wyoming cannot afford to lose these committed staff to other jobs because of low compensation.”
Governor Gordon warned that failure to act now would reverse recent progress in stabilizing the workforce, saying: “We cannot afford to return to the large vacancy rates as competent, experienced, and skilled workers leave for better paying jobs when wages lag by three or more years. ”
About the Governor’s Budget
The Governor’s full budget message outlines a framework focused on The Essentials: protecting families, supporting core industries, strengthening communities, supporting local control and ensuring effective, efficient state government. Employee compensation is presented as a key component of maintaining effective state government.
Background for Reporters:
- The Governor’s proposal adjusts existing salaries to reflect updated market conditions.
- This adjustment aligns with third-party compensation studies that show Wyoming falling behind market averages with surrounding and comparable states in numerous job categories.
- Competitive pay is directly tied to public safety and service continuity, especially in agencies like Corrections, Health, Family Services, and Transportation. For example:
- The Wyoming Department of Health continues to pay two to three times its state salaries for contract nurses in order to keep beds available to the courts, law enforcement and emergency departments. This increase would allow the department to hire more Wyoming-grown nurses and eliminate expensive, out-of-state contract labor.
- Wyoming continues to struggle to hire correctional officers, which impacts the entire WDOC budget. Corrections, Wyoming Department of Transportation (WYDOT) and A&I struggle to find electricians at current pay scales. WYDOT also finds hiring essential positions like troopers, public safety dispatchers and engineers challenging.
- The need to hire additional competent and skilled attorneys echoes Governor Gordon’s concerns around key areas like water and natural resources where high-level expertise is required to address complex federal regulation and intricate inter-state compacts and collaboration.
- Wyoming's starting wage of $15.50 remains below what many fast-food and retail employers pay for entry-level positions. When the state cannot even compete with those jobs requiring no prior experience, and we are requiring experience and/or degrees, our ability to maintain essential services becomes compromised.
- Wyoming’s experience across state agencies underscores why competitive compensation is essential to public safety and service continuity, from competent equipment operators and engineers to nurses and tradesmen.
- Competitive pay is a baseline requirement for keeping essential services running.
For more information:
Amy Edmonds, Communications Director, [email protected]
Janelle Collins, Strategic Communications Director, [email protected]
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