CHEYENNE –– Gov. Mark Gordon expressed his support for the contents of Senate File 152 – Wildfire management- amendments Tuesday while using his line-item veto power on provisions found within the bill.
“I want to thank the legislature for their forethought and persistence in bringing this bill forward. It is unfortunate that like many other bills this session, Senate File 152 fell into the vortex of political posturing and maneuvering on the backs of Wyoming citizens who were severely impacted by last summer’s fires,” Gordon wrote in a letter explaining his vetoes.
As requested in his supplemental budget, SF 152 includes $20 million to replenish the emergency fire suppression account; repays $20 million borrowed from the Legislative Stabilization and Reserve Account in 2024 for fire-related activities; appropriates $1.2 million for disaster contingencies within the Office of Homeland Security and replenishes $1 million in Gordon’s contingency funds.
Gordon specifically line-item vetoed funding for a loan program narrower than one funded through Senate File 195 – Small business emergency bridge loan program. He noted the loan program added to SF 152 robbed funding from the energy matching funds intended to support Wyoming’s core energy industries.
“Energy Matching Funds have proven valuable in supporting investment in transformative Wyoming energy projects, 88 percent of which have benefitted our fossil fuel and mining industries,” Gordon wrote. “They remind private industries that our state is committed to energy production and innovation. With an energy-friendly federal administration now in office, it is baffling that we have legislators – some of whom are from coal, oil and gas country – taking the same approach as “Green New Deal” members of Congress by not supporting our fossil fuel industries.”
