Wyoming’s general legislative session concluded March 6, 2015 with the passage of 185 bills and nearly $285 million in new spending.[1] Because this was a general session rather than a budget session, very few budget issues were addressed. However, key budgetary matters this year included: (1) addressing a $222 million shortfall brought about by falling oil prices and (2) several new capital construction projects spread across the state and at the University of Wyoming. Wyoming democrats in the legislature were profoundly disappointed by one financial measure, the failure to pass a Medicaid expansion plan. According to Mary Throne, House Minority Floor Leader, “We had the ability to insure 17,000 people and save the state money. We had the support of business, local governments—certainly the support of my community, the largest city in the state—and yet for completely illogical reasons it was rejected."

[1] This legislative session was a “regular” session rather than a “budget” session, meaning that only supplementary budget issues could be considered. Even-numbered years are reserved for budget sessions, while odd-numbered years are reserved for the general session.

Despite $430 million in spending reductions and the loss of 324 state positions, Wyoming’s 2021 supplemental budget reflected an improved pandemic-driven economic climate.  Recent budgetary optimism was attributed to increased performance in energy production and pricing, pent up demand for tourism and travel, and higher than expected sales tax revenues.  Continued reliance on Wyoming’s Permanent Mineral Trust Fund, and the state’s attachment to the remainder of its boom-and-bust revenue structure, left surprisingly little appetite for discussions of revenue diversificatioan. Instead, “right-sizing” state government to fit the current revenue stream seems more consistent with the spirit of the times.

The 2013 Wyoming General Legislative Session was a non-budget year.  As a result, few budget bills were passed.  A small supplemental budget bill was passed that added an additional $78 million to the $3.2 billion budget approved during the regular 2012 budget session.  At this time, Wyoming's economic outlook is strong and state revenue projections are higher than expected.

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 Wyoming Legislature concluded its 2018 twenty-day budget session on March 15^th, a few days beyond its normally allotted time. The Legislature was able to meet longer than four weeks this year without holding a special session because it had three days left over from last year.  In large part, the extended session was the result of the House and Senate’s inability to agree over education and construction spending.  The nearly $3 billion general fund biennial budget includes small increases for local governments ($105 million), strengthening cybersecurity ($2.2 million), senior centers ($200 thousand), an allotment to pay off the Capitol Square construction project, and additional funding for community colleges.  According to Jim Magagna, executive vice president of the Wyoming Stock Growers Association, collegiality, something that has long been a hallmark of Wyoming’s Legislature, has significantly diminished this year with important divisiveness within the majority party (Rogers 3/23/18).  A major sticking point, the state’s $850 million structural budget deficit, was never fully resolved.  Here, the deficit is going to be paid mostly out of savings and unrealized capital gains from the state’s investments in the stock market. The state’s final budget keeps funding levels for most of state government generally stable, with increases in spending on social services that former Govenor Matt Mead argued were hit too hard by cuts passed during the previous legislative session (Rosenfeld 3/10/18). Cuts were felt in many agencies, with some program elimination, but seemingly little disruption to most state services.