Gov. Gordon Signs Wyoming’s Next Two-Year Budget, Vetoing Two Dozen Items

Gov. Mark Gordon signed Wyoming’s $11 billion biennial budget late Thursday, striking roughly two dozen items and footnotes with his veto pen while praising the Legislature for delivering a spending plan that largely aligned with his recommendations.

The final budget came in about $53 million shy of Gordon’s proposal—a relatively slim gap after a session that began with the House Freedom Caucus promising deep cuts to the University of Wyoming and the defunding of the Wyoming Business Council.

“Delivering a sound budget was the essential objective of this session, and to have the Senate, the House, and the Chief Executive all sharing the credit is, in itself, a remarkable achievement all things considered,” Gordon wrote in his budget message.

Gordon applauded lawmakers for approving state employee salary raises and funding for developmental preschools, but expressed disappointment over cuts including the elimination of SUN Bucks, a summer food program for children. “As I asked in my state of the state, ‘what kind of people are we if we don’t feed our kids?'” he wrote.

The governor’s line-item vetoes focused heavily on separation of powers, striking sections he said attempted to dictate executive branch management. He removed a footnote requiring the Business Council to split its $15 million appropriation across two years, saying the change “lengthens the time to expend those funds for necessary projects while working to revamp the agency.”

On the University of Wyoming, Gordon vetoed a footnote requiring the school to submit a $5 million cost-savings plan by December or risk losing $10 million. “The legislature, in requiring a predetermined outcome, lessens the value of a study potentially stepping over dollars to pick up nickels and dimes,” he wrote.

The House and Senate now have the opportunity to override any vetoes with two-thirds support in both chambers. As of Friday, the Senate had not yet considered any overrides.

The budget’s passage capped a marathon session: the House considered a record 247 amendments while the Senate worked through 70. Both chambers adopted 37 changes before a conference committee swiftly reached a compromise.