What to do with a windfall? That question loomed large in Wyoming’s 2023 general legislative session, after a 2022 budget session focused on revenue shortfalls and budget reductions.  As such, Wyoming’s rich history of “boom-and-bust” economics continues, albeit with increasing skepticism among the state’s elected officials.  The 2023 legislative session saw notable new spending in areas such as property tax relief and public employee wages but also produced significant financial investment in many of Wyoming’s “rainy day” funds.

The 67^th Wyoming Legislature’s 20-day budget session was convened Thursday, February 8, 2024, for the beginning of its work in Cheyenne. This year, outside of its typical budget work, over 360 bills were brought forward by both legislative committees and individual legislators. These bills ranged from property tax relief to health care. In the end, on Friday March 8^th, the final biennial General Fund budget was close to $3.8 billion – up approximately $100 million from the previous biennium. Deep ideological divides within the state’s dominant Republican Party drove much debate and show no signs of abating before next year’s general session.