Proposed legislation foreshadows budget problems

Proposed legislation foreshadows budget problems
 
By Tom Coulter
Wyoming Tribune Eagle
Via Wyoming News Exchange
 
CHEYENNE — State lawmakers advanced a slew of bills for further consideration during the remainder of the Legislature’s eight-day virtual session this week, with some legislation foreshadowing “painful decisions” that lawmakers will face in the coming months, according to one leading senator.
The bills advanced in the House and the Senate covered a wide range of topics, from the establishment of a short-time compensation program that would assist employers in avoiding long-term layoffs to the authorization of millions of dollars for water-related construction projects across the state.
With the state facing a long-term revenue decline and severe budget cuts that will be considered later this spring, lawmakers also advanced some bills aiming to reduce certain requirements for state agencies. For example, House Bill 48 would ease a requirement for the Wyoming Department of Family Services to provide a comprehensive program for juvenile shelter services, changing it to only be administered “subject to the availability of funds.”
“We’re not eliminating the program, but we’re saying when funds are available, we can provide those block grants,” Rep. Lloyd Larsen, R-Lander, said Wednesday while explaining the bill to the House.
“When funding is limited, as it has been, it may be adjusted. When there are no funds, that may not be provided at all.”
The proposal drew pushback from Minority Floor Leader Cathy Connolly, D-Laramie, who described the program as incredibly important in her community and others across the state.
“It has worked incredibly well in terms of dealing with juveniles and juvenile offenders in ways that are less punitive and far more able to have those kids interact in our communities,” Connolly said Wednesday. “We’ll see it later on with some of these other bills that come up, that there is a cut to those programs that our communities are using, so I will vote no on this because I truly believe that these are the kinds of programs that we should be keeping and that we should be funding.”
Rep. Bob Nicholas, R-Cheyenne, who chairs the House Appropriations Committee, responded that such proposals were necessary, given the massive revenue shortfall projected last year for Wyoming. Without these steps, the state would have to raise anywhere from $300 million to $600 million in new tax revenue to cover the wide-ranging cuts, Nicholas said.
“I would just suggest that some services will be cut,” Nicholas said. “We have to tighten our belts, we have to live within our means, and this is just one small step of multiple that you’ll see where we are basically trying to live within our means.”
Other lawmakers agreed that similar proposals would be coming soon, barring any changes to the state’s overall fiscal structure.
“All of these cuts that we’re starting to see ultimately are going to be the cuts that none of us want to see,” Rep. Landon Brown, R-Cheyenne, said. “These are the services and the programs that actually affect people’s lives on a daily basis. ... Unless we want to have discussions about revenue or something like that, these are the types of cuts we’re going to have.”
The bill, which advanced by a 54-5 vote in the House on Friday, will be discussed and weighed by members of the state Senate next week.
In the Senate, talks of the long-term questions facing the state came Friday during consideration of a proposal to cut roughly $10 million from the state-level appropriations for Wyoming cities, towns and counties. Senate Minority Leader Chris Rothfuss, D-Laramie, noted the proposal impacts each community differently due to the state’s complex distribution formula for local governments.
“This is a 6% effective cut to the entire budget of Laramie, and that hurts,” Rothfuss said. “These cuts mean firemen to protect folks, the university. They mean policemen, they mean services that are important and roads. So as we contemplate the cuts and the importance of those cuts, and I expect this is going to go forward, I just once again say that I certainly can’t support it. But what I could support would be substantially more flexibility to the locals.”
Sen. Drew Perkins, R-Casper, who chairs the Senate Appropriations Committee, largely agreed, describing the disproportionate local impacts of the reductions as “an imperfection with the formula.” He said the proposal, which would include a roughly $450,000 initial cut to the city of Cheyenne, would be the first of many tough calls facing state leaders.
“We have a lot of hard decisions to make, and one of those is going to be somehow, some way, we have to diversify our tax base,” said Perkins, who served as Senate president last session. “Our tax base of minerals is going to continue to shrink, and we’ve got to find a way to diversify, not even to necessarily have more revenue, but just to have revenue to sustain vital government functions. We’ll have lots of arguments and lots of time to talk about those.”
Other lawmakers expressed interest in possibly expanding local taxation options, as well as changing the distribution formula. Sen. Cale Case, R-Lander, described the cuts as “brutal,” but he said he would support reductions until there is more momentum to raise revenue in the state.
“This is the consequence of not raising revenue, or not even having a plan for revenue that’s really effective, is that we’ve got to make these tough choices,” said Case, who chairs the Senate Revenue Committee. “I am going to vote for this, and I hate doing it, but I will support revising this format to even more purely look at local tax and capability, both what’s implemented and what’s potential for taxes that haven’t been implemented.”
Others argued the cuts were a necessary part of the conversation. Sen. Anthony Bouchard, R-Cheyenne, said state government needs to face similar trials as those of local residents.
“We’ve got business owners that may not make it. They’re having to cut. We have families that are not making it. They’re having to cut. How can we not have this same conversation about our government?” Bouchard said. “So, I think we have to move it forward. I certainly do feel for people that are going to be affected by this, but I also know that citizens are having much of the same problems.”
Ultimately, the Senate moved forward with the proposal on its second reading, setting it up for likely consideration in the House sometime early next week. But, as Perkins reminded his colleagues during debate, the proposal “is just the beginning.”
“There are lots and lots of painful decisions to be made, not only this year, but even more painful ones in the future,” Perkins said. “It’s going to take not just us, but a much broader discussion of taxpayers across the state, for us to understand and determine what level of government services we want in this state. … We’ve got to decide this going forward, because as you can see, the cliff is looming.”
In addition to discussions of the state’s long-term challenges, lawmakers advanced or delayed a wide variety of bills during the first three days of their eight-day session. The status of some high-profile bills includes:
House Bill 55, a proposal to increase the state’s tobacco tax by 24 cents per cigarette pack, was not considered by the Legislature during the first week of its virtual session, meaning it will not be considered until lawmakers reconvene in person later this spring.
Senate File 16, which would authorize state regulators to set reimbursement rates for residential solar power customers while preventing any supposed “subsidization” for those installations, narrowly advanced out of the Senate by a 16-13 vote Friday. Members of the public wishing to testify on the proposal can do so during the House Corporations, Elections and Political Subdivisions Committee meeting, which is scheduled for Monday upon noon recess.
Senate File 56, a bill aiming to make skill-based games permanently legal in the state, received two votes of approval from the Senate and could be sent to the House with a third approval Monday.
Senate File 11, which would allow Wyoming law enforcement officials to pull drivers over solely for not wearing their seat belts, was not considered for an introductory vote in the session’s first week. The proposal will remain on general file in the Senate and likely be considered by the Legislature during its in-person session, tentatively set to begin March 1.