Gordon Rolls Out ‘Essentials’ Budget, Urges Wyoming to Plan for Tomorrow, Not Yesterday

With input from Sheridan Media and the Sheridan Press.

Gov. Mark Gordon has put his cards on the table for the next two years — and he’s calling his 2027–2028 spending plan simply “The Essentials.”

Released Monday, the proposed $11.13 billion biennial budget leans hard on familiar Gordon themes: conservative spending, long-term savings, and a warning against “cashing in” just because the state’s finances look relatively strong right now.

“This is not the time to look backwards,” Gordon told lawmakers in his budget message. “Some suggest this is the time to cash in, take care of ourselves, and stop worrying about Wyoming’s future or our children. These are the actions that seemingly guided our nation for the last couple of decades as Washington, D.C., piled up debt without regard to consequence.”

Instead, he said, Wyoming should stick to the careful approach that helped the state ride out years of wild swings in energy revenue.

Gordon frames the entire plan around four core principles:

• Protect Wyoming citizens and their future;
• Support core industries and grow new ones;
• Maintain and improve effective, efficient government;
• Keep government as close to the people as possible.

The governor says the budget reflects what he hears consistently from residents across the state:

Strong families, strong communities, strong opportunity and a strong future for the next generation.

He also repeats a point he’s made often: state government, in his view, should focus on what communities can’t do alone — not try to do everything.

Gordon is pitching the plan as fiscally conservative and tightly focused on core services rather than big new programs.

Since 2019, he notes, Wyoming’s standard budget has grown by only about 3.5% per biennium, roughly in line with inflation. The new proposal, he says, sticks with that pattern – “modest, essential growth” aimed at maintaining the services people already expect, not building a much bigger state government.

“Despite all that will be said, this budget – like those before it – is fiscally responsible,” Gordon wrote. “Nostalgia is sweet, but it is not a recipe for the future. We cannot budget in the past to prepare for our future.”

Some items in the plan are routine; others are carry-overs or reworked ideas after lawmakers failed to pass his supplemental budget in 2025, leaving some one-time projects and priorities hanging.

Even as he recommends billions in spending, Gordon wants to keep Wyoming’s decades-old habit of socking money away when revenues are strong.

Key pieces of the plan include:

• $250 million in permanent savings, aimed at cushioning future generations from the state’s trademark boom-and-bust economy.
• A reminder that investment income is expected to generate more than $913 million, directly easing the tax burden on Wyoming families by helping fund government without higher taxes.

That long-term mindset is central to his pitch. While some in the Capitol — and plenty of residents — see flush years as a chance to expand services or cut more taxes, Gordon is pushing the idea that discipline now means stability later.

Throughout his message, Gordon repeatedly ties his proposal to what he calls Wyoming values: family, community, self-reliance and small but effective government.

He argues the state has already proven that approach works, especially after “years of extraordinary budget volatility.”

“After years of extraordinary budget volatility, this budget is an heir to our conservative philosophy,” he wrote.

Governor added that it’s meant to keep Wyoming prepared “for whatever comes next,” whether that’s an economic dip, energy price shock or another round of federal uncertainty.

Gordon isn’t just talking to the Legislature — he’s very clearly talking to the public, too.

“This budget is a roadmap,” he wrote, saying it’s designed to:

• Promote a solid economy;
• Support strong communities;
• Maintain educational excellence;
• Develop natural resources responsibly;
• Care for people in need.

He urged lawmakers and residents alike to back what he calls an “essential budget” that keeps Wyoming stable now and strong down the road.

“I urge the Legislature and the people of Wyoming to support this essential budget,” Gordon said, “ensuring a brighter tomorrow for all who call the Cowboy State home.”

The full “Essentials” budget document is now in lawmakers’ hands, setting the stage for months of debate over how closely the Legislature will follow the governor’s roadmap — or try to redraw it.