State of the State: Wyo Governor urges caution in legislative spending

By Phil Noble, Cowboy State Free Press Bureau Chief

CHEYENNE—In what could be his last State of the State address, Gov. Dave Freudenthal restated his desire that legislators not dip into the $700 million budget reserve account to go above his and the Joint Appropriations Committee’s recommended $3 billion budget.

Freudenthal joked that if the legislators wished, they could just vote on the JAC’s budget and go home. “That would be fine with me,” he chided. “but, that doesn’t mean there aren’t some disagreements,” he continued.

Among those disagreements is a JAC recommendation to, in the Governor’s words, “significantly reduce” the school capitol construction budget, which they accomplished “by dropping four projects off the list” and delaying construction for a year, Freudenthal said.

That was a mistake, he said, because that construction creates jobs and saves money in the long run. “We’re getting some of the most remarkable bids we’ve ever had (for constructing new schools),” Freudenthal said.

He said he’s also “nervous about the actions on retirement.” The JAC’s decisions, he said, “have severe implications for state employees and others.” Among other things, the JAC voted to have state employees start paying part of their own retirement, something they haven’t done for several years.

Freudenthal said he didn’t quarrel with that, just the fact that, in his opinion, the JAC had no long range plan for making the Wyoming Retirement System sound.

Turning to energy, Freudenthal told legislators that carbon sequestration research at the University of Wyoming is “vital to the future of Wyoming.” He asked that they support, as did the JAC, his budget recommendation of using $45 million in Abandoned Mine Lands funds to run the UW School of Energy Resources over the next two years.

Freudenthal restated his position that Wyoming is in an enviable financial situation compared to other states, which he attributed to the work of the legislature over the last few years. “It’s not as much luck as it is hard work,” he said.

“But we have the highest unemployment rate we’ve had in 26 years,” Freudenthal said, and therefore the legislature should not “be prepared to bet on our financial future.” He asked that the full legislature “follow the lead of the JAC.”

He asked for their support for two bills dealing with the juvenile justice issue and a property tax bill he supports. Freudenthal said a bill calling for a sales tax incentive for data centers deserves the legislature’s support as well. “The main beneficiaries are going to primarily be Casper and Cheyenne, but it’s a way for us to diversify the economy and encourage in-state use of electrical power,” he said.

He urged support for a bill making capital available for small businesses which he said would be introduced in the House as well as bills on workplace safety which grew out of a task force he assembled to look into the problem of Wyoming having the highest number of workplace deaths in the nation.

There are separate bills for Driving Under the Influence of alcohol in the House and Senate and he asked for the increased penalties in either one or both. “We should not tolerate driving under the influence,” he said.

And a bill which calls for a health insurance reform demonstration project which failed to pass last year because of what Freudenthal said were concerns that it was “creeping socialism” actually is not. “It’s only socialism if you think that taking personal responsibility is (socialism),” he said.

Freudenthal finished with a detailed explanation of what he thinks the legislature should do with “the greatest source of change in the state,” wind energy. He characterized as controversial several proposals dealing with wind energy he supports, including a proposal to impose a tax on its generation.

Freudenthal did, though, open the door for a compromise by saying he was not opposed to the idea that such a tax could have its proceeds go to the counties at first and perhaps later to the state, indicating a gradual imposition of the tax.