Wyoming State Legislature convenes Monday

The Wyoming State Legislature is slated to convene on Monday, Feb. 12 at 10 a.m. in Cheyenne.

House District 28 Legislator, Nathan Winters, said in an interview on Tuesday that after three years, the revenue for the state has stabilized.

“The decline started in 2014,” Winters said, “but things are at about the $94 million mark again. That doesn’t make up for the $750 million loss over the last three years, but it has at least stabilized. We still need to be very wise with our spending.”

With all of the cuts to education seen last year, that, of course, is on everyone’s mind going into the 2018 budget session.

Winters said education funding is paramount this time around.

“Wyoming spends more on education, based on our cost of living, than anyone else,” he said. “We believe our students deserve the best education and we want to provide the highest levels of academic excellence while being wise with our spending.”

There are several different spending bills relating to education that will be coming this session.

One, Winters said, allows schools to make the decisions on where those cuts will be made rather than being told by the legislature where they need to cut back.

Another bill, which Winters is part author of, will let the people vote on whether or not a part of the State Lands Royalties should be diverted to stabilize school funding.

“It could be for a short term, say six years,” he said. “It gives us time to be careful and considerate in our spending.”

The Pioneer Home is another issue that is sure to come up during this budget session and we need to ensure the message that it benefits Wyoming and all its residents is heard loud and clear.

The costs of maintaining the Pioneer Home and its residents is far less than it would cost for the state to supplement residents in a private facility, so in actuality, the Pioneer Home is saving the state money in the long run.

Another bill Winters has been a part of is a bill that would provide state funding for continuing education for police officers and sheriff’s deputies. The state mandates continuing education for law enforcement officers, and this bill could help smaller communities meet those mandates.

Winters will be heading to Cheyenne late this week in order to attend some meetings on Sunday before the session gets underway Monday morning.

Efforts were made to contact Senate District 20 representative Wyatt Agar, though due to scheduling conflicts he was unavailable for comment.