Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Budget Report Highlights topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Joint Conference Committee report moves funds and footnotes, including $9M for natural resources, $4M for 'stable coin' and an $800K trails match
Summary
The Joint Conference Committee approved a conference report with multiple adjustments: a $9 million compromise for the Wyoming Natural Resource Trust Fund, a $4 million appropriation described as for 'stable coin,' an $800,000 outdoor trails matching program using tourism dollars, and a proposed LSRA transfer that would leave only about $2.2 million in the general fund under current assumptions.
The Joint Conference Committee reviewed a multi‑page conference committee report that restores some of the governor's proposed reductions and reallocates funds across several programs. Don Richards, Budget and Fiscal Administrator, guided the committee through the changes and footnotes and highlighted several high‑profile items.
Among the report's notable elements, Richards identified a $9 million compromise for the Wyoming Natural Resource Trust Fund that can be used for invasive grass control, wildfire restoration or prevention; a $4 million general fund appropriation labeled for "stable coin"; and an $800,000 outdoor trails matching program financed with tourism dollars that requires a dollar‑for‑dollar match and is open to applicants statewide. Richards also described a $607,000 lab services appropriation, $3.1 million for IT modernization, $607,000 for lab services, and authorization for $12.5 million in matching funds.
Richards noted language making a $10 million University of Wyoming operational review appropriation effective only if $5 million in cost savings are identified by Dec. 1, 2026; if the savings are not identified the $10 million will not take effect until after the 2027 general session. He also told members the report removes two FTE at the state budget department because activities are not being shifted to that office, and it authorizes up to a $325 million transfer from the LSRA into the general fund as a budget balancer. After contingent transfers, Richards said the report would leave roughly $2.2 million in the general fund under the committee's assumptions, though he added that the statutory reserve—$192,765,000—remains available and was not being counted on by the committee in its mental math.
The committee reviewed these items for floor presentation and asked members to coordinate with Richards ahead of planned floor presentations to each chamber that morning. The committee adjourned after completing the review.
