ROCK SPRINGS — Budget concerns, American Rescue Plan Act funding, capital constructions and redistricting will be the main order of business when the Wyoming Legislature convenes for the 2022 budget session on Monday morning.
The Rock Springs Chamber of Commerce hosted a legislative panel and social at the Broadway Theater recently where local lawmakers outlined their agendas for the abbreviated, four-week long session.
The Wyoming Legislature by law is required to review redistricting every 10 years, and that will likely be a contentious debate this year. Proposals have been made to take one House seat out of Carbon County and add it to Laramie County. Another idea proposes to expand the House by two seats in a preported attempt to make representation more equitable across the state.
But Senator John Kolb (S12) said that proposal is really just an effort to try and tip the balance of power to Wyoming’s two largest municipalities, Casper and Cheyenne.
Scott Heiner (H18) agreed saying that southeast Wyoming “has 10 districts right now and the numbers say they have enough population for 10.45 (districts). That doesn’t mean 11, and that’s what they’re striving to do.”
We’re trying to keep rural representation and keep that balance of power the best we can. That’s been a hard fight over the past number of months and I suspect next month in session it will be a hard fight as well.
Representative Scott Heiner – House District 18
ARPA
Wyoming is scheduled to receive $1.06 billion in federal funding this year. But most of the panel shared cautionary tales about spending the money in the right way.
Senator Fred Baldwin (R-S14) said COVID-19 relief funds and ARPA have temporarily helped put off talks about impending budget issues, but eventually the money is going to run out.
“If we plan to build new things, how are we going to sustain those things?” Baldwin asked the audience. “I think we all need to think about those things.”
Kolb said he would like to see the state invest the money and be able to use the interest from those investments to fund projects.
Representative Clark Stith (H48) serves on the Joint Appropriations Committee and he said the goal is dividing about a billion dollars of the federal fund into three parts.
“The theme that committee adopted was to have a third for long term savings, a third for short term use, and a third of the money spent for medium-term use,” Stith said. “A lot of money is going to be spend on broadband communications.”
He added that immediate benefits to the county include a $5.6 million appropriation to the Western Wyoming Community College nursing program as well as funds for water projects like the wastewater treatment plant in Green River.
Budget Bill Count
Currently the State Legislature has 99 House bills and 73 Senate files to consider on the docket. The Chambers will also debate several joint House resolutions including one proposing a Convention of States.
That bill calls for the Wyoming Legislature to take part in a convention with other states in an effort to limit proposing amendments to the federal Constitution that impose fiscal restraints on the federal government, limits the power and jurisdiction of the federal government while limiting the terms of office for federal officials and members of Congress.
Several other non-budget related bills have been introduced in the session as well. However, those bills must receive a 2/3 majority vote in both Chambers to be considered during a budget session.
