A Record of Failure Working for Wyoming...
Wyoming Taxpayers fund the work of the Legislature. Has the Freedom Caucus worked efficiently and effectively to serve the needs of the state? No. The most glaring example of this was our state's budget – probably the most important job of governance for our state Legisature.
Step 1 – Setting the Stage...
The 2026 month-long Budget Session focuses on developing and passing a budget to fund state government and related programs. Our Wyoming constitution requires a balanced budget.
The Governor submitted his proposed budget to the Legislature last December. That budget was balanced and also included 1/4 billion dollars in excess revenue for savings.
Step 2 - Freedom Caucus takes over
The Joint Appropriations Committee (JAC) is dominated by Freedom Caucus House members and FC-aligned Senators. They met for 4 weeks and produced a budget radically different from the Governor's.
Their budget gutted core funding for the University of Wyoming, dismantled our state's economic development efforts, defunded maternal and child health programs, denied funds for wildfire response and invasive weed control, hurt funding for our community colleges, killed WY public radio and TV funding, denied state and federal dollars to feed needy kids, refused to fund state worker pay inflation adjustments, and more. They also refused federal dollars for Tribal Health, in violation of sovereign treaties.
The budget cuts were unnecessary. The Governor provided a balanced budget with $250 million in surplus. The Freedom Caucus hyped up a lot of false budget-cutting outrage.
Step 3 - House Freedom Caucus chaos, Senate sanity
The Freedom-Caucus controlled House and the independent Senate worked separately on their budget versions. The Senate swiftly returned their budget version to something close to the Governor's and worked efficiently through 72 proposed amendments.
The House, however, was a trainwreck. They met over the course of 4 days late into the night and on a Saturday to address 247 proposed amendments – many an effort to return funding to vital programs in Wyoming. The Freedom Caucus majority continued to vote in a block and opposed most of these amendments.
Step 4 - Total Freedom Caucus Failure
THE PUBLIC SPOKE UP – THE FREEDOM CAUCUS CAVED
Thousands of emails, calls and communications from the Wyoming public overwhelmed legislators...residents spoke up for programs and funding that invested in Wyoming's youth, families, communities and future.
In 15 minutes of floor debate the FC-controlled House caved to the Senate, restoring funding back to a budget close to the Governor's.
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THEIR FAILURES & WASTE
4 weeks of pre-session budget work including agency, LSO staff salaries and their own expenses
4 days and late nights of legislator time, with LSO staff in attendance overtime
Countless hours of public testimony and engagement efforts to course-correct their disastrous budget
$millions in taxpayer funds to support these failed efforts
and they harmed the reputation of Wyoming's signature institutions, such as the University of Wyoming, our business investments, and quality of our schools.
