CHEYENNE — The Legislature’s Transportation, Highways & Military Affairs Committee on Feb. 27 advanced a bill to commission an independent efficiency study of the Wyoming Department of Transportation and amended the draft to increase the potential appropriation and link funding to other highway revenue measures.

Talise Hanson, staff attorney for the Legislative Service Office, presented bill draft 25LSO0294, which originally proposed a $250,000 appropriation from the general fund for a third‑party study to review YDOT rules, staffing, resource distribution and project delivery and to recommend potential efficiencies. Hanson said the bill required a preliminary report by Oct. 1, 2025 and a final report by Dec. 1, 2025 in the original draft.

Darren Westby, YDOT director, told the committee the department welcomes an outside review but cautioned the draft’s funding and timeline were likely insufficient. Westby said a prior YDOT study done in 2019 cost on the order of several hundred thousand dollars and took roughly 18 months; his later testimony estimated that a study of the depth planned would likely be “north of $500,000” and comparable projects had been in the $680,000–$860,000 range. “We want to do it right,” Westby said, adding that rushing the work would undermine usefulness.

Committee members said the draft should allow a longer timeline and more money to produce a usable product. Representative Wiley proposed an amendment to make the study contingent on the passage of one of two funding bills considered earlier in the session, to shift the appropriation from the general fund to the highway fund, and to raise the appropriation cap to not exceed $750,000. That amendment was adopted.

The committee also added a requirement that the contractor conduct an anonymous survey of YDOT employees to collect suggestions about internal inefficiencies and guidance on where to focus the study. Members further voted to delete the preliminary report provision and set a single final report deadline of July 1, 2026 to allow time for a thorough review and to permit the Legislature to consider any recommended statutory changes in a general session.

Dennis Burn, YDOT chief financial officer, said that if the study runs under the approved cap the remainder would remain in the highway fund available for roads, and that YDOT expects to begin procurement activity as soon as a bill takes effect.

The committee struck reversion language in the appropriation section after YDOT staff noted highway fund appropriations do not revert in the same way general fund appropriations do. After amendments and floor direction to staff to refine statutory language, the committee carried the bill in a roll call vote.

What happens next: The bill moves forward as amended; staff will finalize conforming language and rulemaking deadlines so YDOT can, if funded, begin an RFP and procurement process. The committee said it expects the final product to help guide possible legislative or budgetary action to improve project delivery and resource allocation at YDOT.

Representative quotes:
“Once we start feeling the comfort level of this bill, we will probably run some RFIs and start getting RFP draft it and getting it ready just in case the bill passes,” Darren Westby said, noting the agency’s intent to move swiftly if the bill becomes law.

“We want to make sure it’s something a product that we can all be proud of and use going into the future,” Westby added.

Ending: The committee approved 25LSO0294 as amended and directed staff to revise statutory language and effective dates to reflect the committee’s changes.