• Skip to main content
  • Skip to secondary menu
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
  • Subscribe
  • Donate

WyoFile

Indepth News about Wyoming People, Places & Policy. Wyoming news.

  • Latest News
    • Education
    • Energy
    • Legislature
    • Native America
    • Natural Resources
    • People
    • Photo Friday
    • Places
    • Policy
  • Voices
    • Drake’s Take
    • Madden’s Measure
    • Guest Column
    • Studio Wyoming Review
  • Supporters
    • Membership
    • Underwriting
    • Foundations
  • COVID-19
  • Latest News
    • Education
    • Energy
    • Legislature
    • Native America
    • Natural Resources
    • People
    • Photo Friday
    • Places
    • Policy
  • Voices
    • Drake’s Take
    • Madden’s Measure
    • Guest Column
    • Studio Wyoming Review
  • Supporters
    • Membership
    • Underwriting
    • Foundations
  • COVID-19

Mead vetoes cuts to four agency budgets

Mead vetoes cuts to four agency budgets

March 3, 2017 by Andrew Graham Leave a Comment

Tweet
Share
Pin
Email
0 Shares
Print Friendly, PDF & Email

Gov. Matt Mead vetoed the budgets crafted by the Legislature for four agencies on Friday, exercising his authority to veto either the entire budget bill or specific line items.

The Legislature overrode many of the vetoes Friday night.

In addition to the agency budget vetoes, Mead vetoed a prohibition on filling vacant positions in state agencies and a requirement that he cut 90 state jobs, according to a letter sent to Speaker of the House Steve Harshman. The Legislature overrode the veto Friday evening.

In his veto letter, Mead reiterated that he did not believe deep cuts the Joint Appropriations Committee made were necessary. The budget is a supplementary one, and the Legislature will convene to draw up a new budget next spring.

“Perhaps unprecedented, the supplemental budget is the third cut to the standard budget in twelve months,” Mead’s letter began. He was referring to cuts the Legislature made during the last session, a number the governor’s office estimates at $67.7 million. Mead himself slashed $249 million from agency budgets in June.

“Wyoming came into this session in much better fiscal shape,” he wrote. He said additional reductions could be necessary for the 2019-2020 biennium budget, but the letter implied the Legislature had gone overboard, as Mead has said previously.

“In some areas, in my view, cuts run too deep,” he said.

Cuts to the Pipeline Authority, the Water Development Commission, the Department of Corrections and the Wyoming Business Council were all vetoed in the Governor’s letter.

The Legislature voted to override the vetoes to each agency, with the exception of the Water Development Commission and the Wyoming Business Council. Those overrides failed in the Senate. 

The vetoes would have restored $4 million to the the budget bill. Before the vetoes the bill cut a total of $30 million from the budget, Rep. Tom Walters (R, HD-38, Casper) said. Walters is a member of the House Appropriations Committee.

He said the budget bill could also generate up to $17 million in savings by prohibiting state agencies from filling any vacant positions and eliminating 90 jobs, which were not identified. The amount saved by eliminating positions is less clear before the cuts are made, as it depends on the salary of the positions eliminated.

After the Legislature’s veto overrides, $3.6 million was restored to the budget, Sen. Bruce Burns (R, SD-21, Sheridan) said.

The governor said he vetoed the reduction of 90 positions “because of the uncertainty that creates for state employees and whether or not their job will be one of the 90 eliminated.” The Legislature voted to override the veto of the hiring freeze and elimination of 90 positions.

This story was edited Saturday morning to note override votes of of the governor’s vetoes.  — Ed.

 



Popular Articles:


Lawmakers defied mask orders at session kick-off in Capitol


Lawmakers derail trapping regulations against Wyo’s best interest


Oil and gas industry doesn’t need another handout


Filed Under: Capitol Beat, Legislature, Policy

Andrew Graham

About Andrew Graham

Andrew Graham reports for WyoFile from Laramie. He covers state government, criminal justice and the economy. Reach him at 443-848-8756 or at [email protected]; follow him @AndrewGraham88.

Reader Interactions

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Want to join the discussion? Fantastic, here are the ground rules:
- Identify yourself with full name and city. WyoFile stands behind everything we publish and expects commenters to do the same.
- No personal attacks, profanity, discriminatory language or threats. Keep it clean, civil and on topic.

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Primary Sidebar

  • Email
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Twitter

Tweets by @WyoFile

Search WyoFile

Become an Underwriter
Sign Up for Free Weekly Newsletters

Recent Comments

  • Dan Neal on Dire outlook for bees raises possibility of listing
  • Robert Nickens on Dire outlook for bees raises possibility of listing
  • Beau Hill on Cheney’s ‘vote of conscience’ deserves respect
  • Harvey Reading on Lawmakers defied mask orders at session kick-off in Capitol
  • Travis Samulski on Lawmakers defied mask orders at session kick-off in Capitol

Footer

Recent Posts By Date

January 2021
M T W T F S S
 123
45678910
11121314151617
18192021222324
25262728293031
« Dec    

From The Archives

  • About Us
  • People
  • Careers
  • Freelancing
  • Underwriting
  • How to Republish
  • Subscribe
  • Contact Us

Copyright © 2021 by WyoFile