By Hannah Shields
Wyoming Tribune Eagle
Via- Wyoming News Exchange

CHEYENNE — Gov. Mark Gordon’s $130 million request for wildfire funding was reduced to $100 million by Wyoming lawmakers Tuesday, and it was changed from a grant to a loan program with 2% interest.

Sen. Dan Laursen, R-Powell, first offered the proposal during the Wyoming Legislature’s Joint Appropriations Committee meeting, which included reducing the funding to $60 million and turning it into a loan program run through the Wyoming Business Council, instead of through the Wyoming Wildlife and Natural Resource Trust, with a 2% interest rate.

However, Laursen’s motion failed on a 6-6 vote.

Later, Rep. Abby Angelos, R-Gillette, made the same motion but raised the funding allocation to $100 million. Angelos’ motion passed on a vote of 10-2, with “no” votes from Reps. Scott Smith, R-Lingle, and Trey Sherwood, D-Laramie.

Sen. Ogden Driskill, R-Devils Tower, offered an amendment to have the loan program run through the Natural Resource Trust, instead of the Business Council. However, he later withdrew this motion after a Natural Resource Trust representative told him the department lacked the bandwidth to operate a loan program.

The new JAC changed dramatically in the makeup of its membership in the new 68th Legislature, including new chairmen, one of whom is chairman emeritus of the Wyoming Freedom Caucus, a group of hardline Republicans. Nearly all the House members, except for its sole Democratic member, were endorsed by the Wyoming Freedom Caucus, and a few are open Freedom Caucus members.

Gordon prioritized wildfire funding in his supplemental budget request after Wyoming experienced a historic wildfire season last summer. More than 2,000 fires burned over 850,000 acres in Wyoming last year, according to the Wyoming State Forestry Division. The agency said 84% of the damage occurred on state and private land.

Rep. Ken Pendergraft, R-Sheridan, made a motion to exclude private fencing reparations as a use of these funds, but it quickly died for lack of a second.

In his State of the State address, Gordon said the wildfire funds should be used “to assist our citizens in restoring fire-ravaged lands as soon as possible.” 

The $130 million request is meant to provide a backstop, should federal, state and insurance programs fail to provide adequate coverage to those impacted by the fires, Gordon said.

 

Cutting funding for local governments

During a Senate Revenue Committee meeting Monday, lawmakers removed the state backfill from a property tax relief measure, despite public testimony arguing this would negatively impact local government services.

Senate File 69, “Homeowner property tax exemption,” would establish a homeowner property tax exemption for a single-family residential structure and the associated improved land at 25% of the fair market value, up to $2 million of the value of the property. 

The legislation originally included general fund and Legislative Stabilization Reserve Account (LSRA, the state’s “rainy-day fund”) allocations totaling $225 million. However, this backfill from the state was still estimated to be $60.2 million less than the total revenue decreases anticipated in tax years 2025 and 2026.

With the backfill, the anticipated revenue reduction would be an annual $89.5 million to the School Foundation Fund, and an annual $53.1 million in ad valorem taxes for local taxing entities.

Sen. Bob Ide, R-Casper, made a successful motion to remove the backfill. 

Stakeholders stressed this lack of state backfill would hurt services such as K-12 school funding, law enforcement, trash pickup, etc.

Ashley Harpstreith, executive director of the Wyoming Association of Municipalities, said the lack of this backfill would force Casper City Council members to decide which city services to cut.

“We are here to be a partner to solve this, but when we look at backfill and how that impacts cities and towns and local governments, this is going to impact our general funds,” Harpstreith said.

Last week, House Appropriations Committee members also voted to remove funding for a new high school in Campbell County. A recent most cost-effective remedy study suggested demolishing the old building and constructing a new school. The MCER study finished sooner than anticipated, adding a last-minute $158 million to the supplemental budget request.

The old Campbell County High School building, which was constructed in the 1970s, currently has issues with its sewage system, elevators and AC units, according to public testimony. The school was shut down more than once because of raw sewage coming up through the classroom floors. It also poses a security risk for its students, with around 60 doors located around the school due to multiple expansions, according to Suzanne Norton with the State Construction Department.

House Appropriations Chairman Rep. John Bear, R-Gillette, who also is chairman emeritus of the Wyoming Freedom Caucus, voted against the cut, saying the high school was located in his district. A bill was drafted by the Legislative Service Office over the weekend that excluded the Campbell County High School project.

However, LSO staff member Don Richards confirmed an amendment could be brought to the bill to reinsert this project. 

Bear and Rep. Abby Angelos, R-Gillette, were the only Freedom Caucus-endorsed lawmakers to vote for the project, and they were joined by Democrat Rep. Trey Sherwood of Laramie.

Reps. Jeremy Haroldson, R-Wheatland; Bill Allemand, R-Midwest; Ken Pendergraft, R-Sheridan; and Scott Smith, R-Lingle, voted against the project. 

Haroldson told the Wyoming Tribune Eagle he would be interested in seeing the project come back next year, once everything is fully proposed, since Norton indicated there is an additional funding need for asbestos testing in the building.

“I believe that this is something that they don’t even have their asbestos reports in yet. They haven’t gone far enough ahead,” Haroldson said. “Have your ducks in a row, come and ask us for the amount that you know you need, and we’ll fund it.”