- Associated Press - Monday, December 9, 2019

CHEYENNE, Wyo. (AP) - Wyoming faces more tough times ahead but isn’t headed off a fiscal cliff, offering time for a thoughtful approach to delivering government services to citizens without running up deficits, Gov. Mark Gordon told lawmakers in outlining his first state budget Monday.

Gordon cautioned, however, that an upcoming revenue forecast in January may be less optimistic than one in October, shortly before he released his $3.1 billion biennial budget proposal for 2021-2022.

“Navigating for these challenging times will require sacrifice, care and thought,” Gordon, who took office in January, told the Legislature’s Joint Appropriations Committee.

The powerful committee met in its traditional conference room on the third floor of the Capitol for the first time after four years of renovations to the over 130-year-old sandstone structure. The project required lawmakers to meet in a glass-sided office building on in Cheyenne’s east side throughout that time.

Wyoming began saving for the over $300 million renovation project in 2003, at the outset of a decade-long natural gas boom that produced huge state budget surpluses.

Now, Wyoming faces a steady decline in coal production - down 35 percent over the past decade - and low natural gas prices that for several years running have taken a big bite out of state revenue.

While a January economic report from the nonpartisan state Consensus Revenue Estimating Group may be somewhat less optimistic than the last revenue forecast in October, Gordon said, forecasts show no impending “cliffs” for state revenue for the next few years at least.

“This gives us time to think about how we address the future, where I believe there are going to be some fundamental changes. We cannot stand on the sidelines and await the next boom to save us,” Gordon said.

“We need to take a close look at the services citizens expect and demand. When cuts are called for, they need to be programmatic and not across the board.”

Gordon’s budget proposal keeps ongoing spending level, calls for significant reductions in construction spending and uses a $266 million of a state “rainy day” fund for education and funding for local governments, leaving the fund with $1.3 billion, he told lawmakers.

It’s a starting point as the committee refines spending priorities. In February and March, the Legislature will meet for a four-week session devoted primarily to a budget that will then go back to Gordon for final approval.

Surrounded by refurbished woodwork and intricate, decorative paint details matching those on the walls and ceiling over a century ago, the Appropriations Committee quizzed Gordon about his budget proposal.

The Republican had a mostly friendly audience in the committee made up of 10 Republicans, and just two Democrats, from both the state House and Senate.

Sen. Eli Bebout, a Republican from Riverton who co-chairs the committee, asked how Gordon planned to curb government growth when spending tends to increase, especially when the Legislature approves supplemental budgets in odd-numbered years.

“Spending is probably not at the level we’d like to see it,” Bebout said, suggesting it could be lower.

The budget proposal is designed to slow spending, especially on state building projects, while pursuing greater efficiency in state government, Gordon said.

Asked about state employees’ rising health insurance costs by Republican Rep. Phil Nicholas, a committee co-chairman from Laramie, Gordon said rate increases will likely be necessary over the next several years.

Nicholas asked Gordon to weigh in on those increases while lawmakers discuss them.

“At the end of the day, it’s going to be awful expensive,” Nicholas said. “Because those are going to be considered, we would like your input.”

Neither Gordon nor lawmakers discussed raising taxes or finding other new revenue sources to boost Wyoming’s finances until Rep. Andy Schwartz, a Democrat from Jackson, asked if they were on the table.

“I think I’ve been pretty consistent and clear in suggesting that the people of Wyoming don’t want to see new taxes until they’re confident we’ve done all that can be done on the expenditure side,” Gordon said.

The committee is scheduled to continue discussing the state budget in Cheyenne in meetings through Dec. 20.

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Follow Mead Gruver at https://twitter.com/meadgruver

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