Appropriations panel trims agency requests, funds $3.6M for natural‑resources litigation and shifts $70M from reserve

The Committee of the Whole reviewed House Bill 1 on supplemental and one‑time funding on Feb. 3 as the Joint Appropriations Committee (JAC) stood by several denials and made targeted additions to the budget.

JAC denied multiple staffing requests that agencies had submitted with their supplemental asks. Chairman Mark Bair told the chamber the committee denied three full‑time positions and $322,600 in general funds for business‑filing work in the Secretary of State’s office, two attorneys and $526,577 for the Attorney General, three positions and $401,504 drawn from water‑development funds for the State Engineer’s office, $488,127 from tourism accounts for compensation increases at the Wyoming Board of Tourism, and $279,401 in general funds for an administrative office specialist and a petroleum engineer/geologist at the Enhanced Oil Recovery Commission.

"If JAC denied the governor's request, it's simply...not being either an emergency or an unforeseen contingency request," Chairman Bair told members, describing the committee's standard for denying supplemental requests.

At the same time, the committee approved $3,600,000 in one‑time funds to expand an existing legal defense account for natural‑resources litigation. The governor had requested $7,500,000; JAC narrowed the authorizing amount and widened the account’s purpose to cover “natural resources” litigation generally rather than only coal matters. Chairman Bair and other supporters said the funds are intended for outside counsel on specialized cases and to send a signal to other states and federal actors that Wyoming will defend its resource interests.

Representative Mike Larson and others asked whether the attorney general and state engineer offices have the in‑house capacity to manage outside counsel and to assemble the necessary technical case materials absent the denied positions; Bair and other members said the committee judged the existing staff sufficient for at least 12 months while the outside‑litigation account is used.

The committee also acted on state cash‑management and one‑time funding: it voted to decrease the governor’s profile and directed the state auditor to transfer $70,000,000 from the legislative stabilization reserve account to the general fund, a move JAC described as a balancer to ensure cash flow in the current budget. Bair said the change was intended to keep the budget within statutory constraints and to make cash available for the supplemental year.

JAC additionally brought back $100,000,000 that had been set aside for energy and infrastructure matching grants to the general fund, while leaving roughly $83,000,000 in other matching funds available for projects; the committee added a requirement for management‑council review and recommendation on proposed expenditures from those funds.

Other items explained and acted on during the Committee of the Whole included: - Increasing the chief executive’s short‑term disaster borrowing authority from $20,000,000 to $30,000,000 (Section 301); - Creating a natural‑disaster mitigation loans program with $100,000,000 in other funds, loans at 2% interest and 20‑year terms to be administered by the Office of State Lands and Investments and approved by the State Loan and Investment Board (Section 346); - Restoring so‑called "superflex" and several "mini‑flex" authorities for specified agencies to move funds between personnel and contract categories when needed; and - Clarifying that $947,000 held as carryover appropriation could only be used by the Chancery Court (Section 303(g)).

The Committee of the Whole adopted the committee’s recommendation that House Bill 1 pass and reported the bill to the House for further action.

Why it matters: The JAC decisions narrow the governor’s supplemental requests, prioritize outside litigation funding for natural‑resource defense, and move a sizable short‑term transfer from the stabilization reserve into general fund cash. Several denials — particularly requests tied to water‑modeling and attorney staffing — drew repeated questions from members concerned about downstream effects on litigation readiness and interstate water negotiations.

What’s next: The House will consider the Committee of the Whole report and second‑reading amendments. JAC members said they expect further amendments and reassessment as the legislature proceeds through the supplemental budget process.