Budget reaches concurrency, session closed

The Wyoming Legislature’s 2024 Budget Session came to a close after 20 days in session on March 8.

Although some were skeptical that the budget would be finalized by that day, both House and Senate were able to come to an agreement and passed a budget on time.

District 20 Senator Ed Cooper (R-Ten Sleep) said, “The budget got done, and it’s not a perfect budget but I think it’s a pretty darn good budget. I would have liked to see a few more cuts in some places, but it’s very equitable and we met just about halfway between the Senate’s position and the House’s position, and it was about a 3% cut off of last year’s spending. So, there are some good things we put back in there, and some things that I think could have probably come out.”

According to a press release, “The Legislature adopted the State’s biennial budget on Friday, and the bill has been sent to the Governor for his consideration. He will have 15 days to consider line-item vetoes and sign the bill. The appropriations and transfers in the bill for the 2025-2026 fiscal biennium total $11 billion. Of this, $3.4 billion is from the General Fund, net of de-appropriations and including $170 million of discretionary transfers to savings.”

The press release stated that in addition to the budget, the Legislature also passed 107 pieces of legislation during the session.

On the whole, Cooper said this about the outcome of the budget session, “It turned out — in my opinion — very positive. The little bit of infighting we had earlier was gone, and people worked together really well. We had a couple of strange moments but for the most part we settled in and did good work.”

HOUSE BILL 0125

Among the legislation passed during the session was House Bill 0125, which repeals previous legislation allowing for gun free zones to exist in Wyoming. Currently, many public places across the state of Wyoming such as schools and government buildings are protected from the presence of firearms. Local governments would lose the ability to designate such places.

The bill was hotly debated in committee on Monday, March 4, but Cooper is of the opinion that laws around the issue make his stance an obvious choice. He said, “That’s a tough bill, only because of the issues we have heard from bigger cities that benefit from having gun free zone; but, the center of the whole bill is the Second Amendment rights, and the Wyoming Constitution article 1 Section 24 pretty much reiterates what those are — ‘The right of citizens to bear arms in defense of themselves and of the state shall not be denied.’ That’s pretty straightforward.”

Cooper was among the majority vote that passed the bill during the final week, although it may not be home-free just yet. There is speculation that Governor Mark Gordon might take action to veto the bill when it crosses his desk for signing.

PROPERTY TAX

RELIEF

Cooper named four pieces of legislation that passed during the session which are crucial to property tax relief.

Senate File 0054 will provide a 25% property tax exemption on all properties, up to a property value of $2 million. Cooper said, “That’s a major deal for everyone in the state of Wyoming. The State is going to backfill the counties and municipalities and special districts so they stay whole; it’s very expensive, about $600 million over two years, but it’s sure what the people of the state were asking us for so that’s what we did.”

House Bill 0045 will provide a 4% cap, amended down from 5%, on the rate that property tax may increase over the course of a year. Cooper said, “If we’ve done all this good work to get all these people tax relief, now we have to make sure we don’t run into a year with a 15 or 20% increase. That’s important for protecting us from inflation on our property values.”

Cooper sponsored a bill that will provide additional exemptions to certain demographics. Senate File 0089 will provide veterans with $6,000 in property tax exemptions yearly, amended from a previous value of $3,000. Cooper commented, “Don’t ever think that one person can’t make a difference. One person was the impetus for this veterans exemption. He brought the question to me and we drew up the bill. One voice fixed an issue that many didn’t know existed.”

Lastly, House Bill 0003 will provide benefits to long-term homeowners in Wyoming, defined as people age 65 years or older or their spouse who has paid property taxes in Wyoming for at least 25 years. Those who qualify are eligible for a property tax exemption of 50% of their property’s assessed value.

Cooper said, “I’m very satisfied with what we did with tax relief; it’s equitable, it’s constitutional, and it’s significant to everybody in the state.”

Energy

Senator Cooper had good news for Wyoming energy regarding the budget. He said, “A portion of the governor’s matching funds towards energy projects went back into the budget,” adding that $30 million of that had already been committed to energy research projects across the state.

Cooper said, “One of the major ones is the coal-to-hydrogen technology being researched by Black Hills Energy. This technology combusts coal in the absence of oxygen, and the byproducts of that reaction are carbon dioxide and hydrogen gas. When they generate electricity using coal combustion, they’re also capturing 100% of the carbon dioxide they generate as well as the hydrogen.”

During a period of infighting over energy policy during the session, Governor Gordon temporarily pulled matching funds through a line item veto for the Energy Council in order to make a statement. Cooper said, “He was asking for a response from legislators: do you support Wyoming’s energy sector or not?”

Prior to adjournment, the House and Senate voted to override the governor’s veto.

“We had to fight for energy this year. I didn’t think we as legislators in Wyoming should have to fight with each other to support energy policies, but we did, and it all worked out fine,” Cooper said.

Cooper felt legislators did rally in support of Wyoming’s energy in the end, and were able to pass some crucial forward-thinking legislation because of it.

He named Senate File 0042, which amends Wyoming’s definitions for ‘low-carbon coal’ to meet national requirements prescribed by the Environmental Protection Agency.

Also passed was House Bill 0024, which provides guidelines and protections for landowners conducting carbon sequestration.

Cooper added, “What you need to keep in mind is that without carbon capture and sequestration in Wyoming, we lose our coal, and our oil and gas. In the world we live in, the demand is for low-carbon energy, and the only way to get low-carbon energy is using capture technology. We have to adapt our product to meet the market.”