Wyoming Lawmakers Move to Shut Down Business Council, Sparking ‘Closed for Business’ Fears

Cowboy State Daily and WyoFile contributed to this report.

A powerful group of Wyoming lawmakers voted Tuesday to all but shut down the Wyoming Business Council, advancing a plan critics say sends a chilling message to businesses while supporters argue it’s time for government to stop meddling in the free market.

On a 9–3 vote, the Legislature’s Joint Appropriations Committee moved to slash the agency’s two-year budget from about $94 million to just $2 million — barely enough to close up shop. Several committee members confirmed that a separate bill is also in the works to remove the Business Council entirely from state law, making the move harder to undo.

If the full Legislature signs off, the council — Wyoming’s main state-funded economic development agency — would effectively be dismantled.

Opponents of the move didn’t mince words.

“This is a total decapitation of this outfit,” said Sen. Mike Gierau, D-Jackson, calling the decision rushed and driven by what he described as “bloodlust of cutting budgets for cutting’s sake.”

Sen. Ogden Driskill, R-Devils Tower, agreed, warning lawmakers they’re undermining Wyoming’s own tax base.

“You want a tax base in Wyoming? You get it by saying you’re open for business,” Driskill said. “We’re doing just the opposite.”

Rep. Trey Sherwood, D-Laramie, cast one of the three votes against the cut and joked darkly about offering $200,000 to put up signs across the state reading, “Wyoming is closed for business.”

Supporters of the cuts say the Business Council represents exactly the kind of government overreach they were elected to stop.

House Appropriations Chair John Bear, R-Gillette, said he doesn’t believe government-led economic development works.

“I’m for free markets. Capitalism,” Bear said. “I don’t believe this agency has been effective.”

Others echoed the sentiment, arguing the council distorts competition by handing out grants and loans.

“It’s flat-out interference,” said Rep. Ken Pendergraft, R-Sheridan, who argued the agency picks winners and losers in the marketplace.

Sen. Dan Laursen, R-Powell, who proposed the cut, brushed off criticism and rejected Sherwood’s joking amendment outright.

Gov. Mark Gordon, a longtime supporter of state-backed economic development, reacted sharply.

“I’m searching for a coherent line of reasoning for the cuts executed today,” Gordon said in an email, calling the move “shallow and shortsighted.”

He warned that gutting the Business Council would hurt Wyoming’s ability to compete nationally — especially as other states aggressively invest in business recruitment.

“Defunding the state economic development agency is a flashing neon sign that Wyoming is ‘closed,'” Gordon wrote.

The governor had already cut the council’s request nearly in half, recommending about $54.6 million instead of the $112 million the agency sought. Tuesday’s vote went much further.

Business Council CEO Josh Dorrell has argued the agency has already tightened its rules and shifted away from easy handouts, focusing instead on self-sustaining projects and infrastructure for small towns.

“We’re not propping businesses up,” Dorrell told lawmakers. “What we’re doing is actually about self-reliance.”

The council says its current investments generate about $30 million a year in economic impact and help address Wyoming’s ongoing problem of young people leaving the state.

Dorrell also acknowledged the debate over whether economic development belongs in government — but said opting out entirely puts Wyoming at a disadvantage.

“You have to be able to compete,” he said. “And every other state does.”

Tuesday’s vote isn’t the final word. When the full Legislature convenes in Cheyenne on Feb. 9, all 93 lawmakers will have a chance to restore, revise or reject the cuts.

For now, the Business Council’s future — and Wyoming’s broader approach to economic development — is very much up in the air.