Plus, our first update on the Wyoming legislative session. 

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** Join Our Potluck + Trivia Night This Thursday
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Thursday, Feb. 17, 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m.
Old Wilson Schoolhouse Community Center

Let's reconnect with an eventful night of homemade food, themed trivia with prizes hosted by Kate Driscoll, and a food drive for Jackson Cupboard.

If your last name begins with...

A-J: Bring a Main Dish

K-R: Bring a Beverage (Alcoholic or Nonalcoholic)

S-Z: Bring a Dessert

We're also collecting nonperishable food items for the Jackson Cupboard (suggested items listed in the event RSVP ([link removed]) ).

Our Democratic state officeholders Mike Yin, Andy Schwartz and Mike Gireau plan to give us a Zoom update from the first week of the 2022 Wyoming Legislative Budget Session – provided that day's deliberations don't carry over into the evening. You can read our first update on the session, which starts today, below.

If you plan to attend the potluck, it's expected that you be vaccinated like the overwhelming majority of our county.

Mask wearing is encouraged when not eating or drinking. (It's also proven to prevent lip-reading by opposing trivia teams!)
RSVP for Our Potluck ([link removed])


** 2022 Wyoming Legislative Budget Session
Update No. 1
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Monday, Feb. 14 to Friday, March 11, 2022

You can read bills, view proceedings and find the legislative schedule here: [link removed] ([link removed])

You can contact Teton Country legislative members by email:

Senator Mike Gierau, Senate District 17 - [email protected] (mailto:[email protected])

Representative Andy Schwartz, House District 23 - [email protected] (mailto:[email protected])

Representative Mike Yin, House District 16 - [email protected] (mailto:[email protected])

Representative Jim Roscoe, House District 22 - [email protected] (mailto:[email protected])


** What Is a Budget Session?
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Budget sessions are short, four-week sessions that take place every other year and are dedicated to passing a state budget. All bills that aren’t related to the two-year budget have to survive a two-thirds vote to be considered. This year, lawmakers must also settle on a once-in-a-decade redistricting plan.


** Redistricting at the Forefront
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The Legislature’s Joint Corporations, Elections, and Political Subdivisions Committee has struggled for months to find a redistricting plan that accommodates population increases in the urban areas of Cheyenne and Gillette while reflecting population loss in rural areas such as Big Horn County.

Some legislators believe maps need to be redrawn to reflect growth in populous areas and declines in smaller, more rural communities, and others favor sticking closer to current lines.

The committee recently threw out a map that favored rural legislators and replaced it with a new map that adds two House seats and one Senate seat, giving the House 62 members and the Senate 31.

The new map’s legislative district lines stick closer to county lines and other logical boundaries. They also better represent some important community interests such as the Latino population of South Side Cheyenne.

The new map also puts 16 sitting legislators in the same districts, forcing primary runoffs to determine who gets the seat. It was agreed upon by the committee on Friday.

While the map will likely be amended as it moves through the legislative process, the changes in Teton County are relatively minor as of now.

We recommend this enlightening update on redistricting from Better Wyoming ([link removed]) .


** Will Medicaid Expansion Be in Play?
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Support for Medicaid expansion in Wyoming is at a high, but lawmakers might not be willing to debate it during the budget session. According to a poll by the American Cancer Society, ([link removed]) nearly two-thirds of Wyoming voters across party lines support Medicaid expansion.

House Bill 20, the Medical Treatment Opportunity Act, will require a two-thirds "yes" vote to be considered this budget session. Better Wyoming has created a great form ([link removed]) to contact 12 House members who are on the fence about voting for the bill.

Consider writing them now as the session begins to ask them to support greater healthcare access in Wyoming.
Contact Legislators Today ([link removed])


** Using American Rescue Plan Funds
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The Wyoming Legislature’s Joint Appropriations Committee will debate how to use this one-time infusion of cash. Upcoming choices will likely center around savings and investments in programs intended to buoy the state’s long-term economic prospects.

The $1 billion-plus windfall coming to Wyoming through the Biden administration's American Rescue Plan, ARPA, will provide two $523-million stimulus payments, which together equal more than 40% of the $2.3 billion 2023-24 budget.

Nearly half those funds qualify as “revenue replacement,” which means they can be saved, invested or used with minimal restrictions.

The suggested spending is tailored to Governor Mark Gordon’s “Survive, Drive and Thrive” plan, aimed at helping Wyoming pull out of the pandemic with a focus on healthcare, social services, education, the workforce, and economic diversification and development.

The largest slice of Gordon’s recommendations would go straight into savings: $150 million of the more-flexible “revenue replacement” dollars Wyoming was awarded would be socked away.

The next-largest specific proposal is for more than $100 million to be set aside as a potential match for further funds for continued energy development such as a commercial-scale carbon capture and utilization project. In the meantime, the nine-figure sum would sit in the Legislative Stabilization Reserve Account — commonly called the rainy-day fund.

Rep. Andy Schwartz has advocated for directing some of the ARPA funds toward the $4 billion Common School Permanent Lands Fund, which generates investment income for K-12 education. The stimulus dollars can’t be invested directly, but can be spent on government functions that allow an equivalent amount of general budget money to put into permanent funds.

Investment income from a hypothetical $200 million contribution to the school fund could cover about 10% of the $200 million annual shortfall in funding for K-12 education across Wyoming.


** Considering the Real Estate Tax
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House Bill 35 – County optional real estate tax – sponsored by the Revenue Committee – would allow counties to levy a one percent tax on the sale of properties valued over $1.5 million.

Our local representatives in the House have been longtime advocates of the measure, which Rep. Mike Yin estimates could generate $20 million annually for subsidized, deed-restricted housing or other community needs in Teton County.

County voters would approve the tax, which would be levied for specific purposes, much like the current SPET tax. The bill allows for many exemption such as transfers to family members and agricultural lands.


** Addressing the WYDOT Deficit
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The Legislature will consider two bills to close a budget deficit at the Wyoming Department of Transportation (WYDOT). One is a fuel tax and the other is a severance tax diversion.

Either of the measures would close the budget gap, though the tax increase would take longer to do so. The severance tax diversion may have the best chance to succeed, because it’s not a tax increase.

House Bill 14 – Fuel tax – sponsored by the Joint Transportation, Highways and Military Affairs Interim Committee – provides for a 15-cent fuel tax increase. The tax would be levied in three 5-cent increments over the next three years.

The current state tax of 24 cents per gallon would increase to 39 cents per gallon in fiscal year 2025. HB 14 would raise $22.5 million in FY 2023, $44.9 million in FY 2024 and $67.4 million in FY 2025.

House Bill 36 – Severance Tax distribution revision – sponsored by the Joint Revenue Interim Committee – provides an alternative proposal. Instead of a tax increase, it involves a diversion of mineral severance tax monies that now automatically flow into the Permanent Mineral Trust Fund.

The bill would earmark an estimated $60.9 million to highways and $26.1 million to the state’s eight community colleges. The Senate will consider Senate File 44, a similar bill.

Proponents of the funding measures aim to boost WYDOT’s funds for highway construction and repairs. The entire department, which includes the Wyoming Highway Patrol and the Aeronautics Division, has an estimated shortfall of $354 million per year.

The federal Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act will add $113 million annually to WYDOT’s coffers over the next five years, including about $93 million per year for roads and bridges. That will still leave WYDOT needing about $20 million per year to keep up with its highway construction and maintenance costs.

Additionally, the state will need to raise an additional $30 million or so annually to fully leverage federal grants that require some matching money.

It would take a great deal of public education in the state to dispel the notion that raising the tax by 15 cents per gallon means consumers will automatically pay that much more at the pumps. Wyomingites pay gas costs that reflect taxes collected in surrounding states, but only receive revenue based on the Wyoming tax rate.

A study done by the American Road & Transportation Builders Association reflected that a dime-per-gallon tax increase in 2013 didn’t result in corresponding price hikes.
Stay tuned for more updates as the legislative session develops!
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