Wyoming Freedom Caucus Suports Senate Budget
March 3, 2024
In late 2023, Governor Gordon submitted his state budget.
We pushed back on the Governor’s
description of his budget as ‘disciplined,’ ‘business like,’
‘forward-thinking,’ and ‘fiscally conservative,’ calling it unaffordable
and unsustainable.
After the Wyoming House of Representatives
got its hands on what was the largest budget in state history, Uniparty
lawmakers (republicans and their spend-happy democrat friends)
recklessly added over $300 million to it, which constitutes
a bloat of 30% above the standard budget. The Wyoming Freedom Caucus
attempted to pump the brakes by offering $500 million in common sense
cuts– all but $700K of which (an offensive appropriation for a float in
the Rose Bowl Parade) was rejected.
The Wyoming Senate, on the other hand, has
practiced more restraint than demonstrated by our colleagues in the
House. Their version of the budget – which still constitutes a 10%
increase in spending– has been lambasted by legislative
leadership as “far-right.”
Wyoming Senate President Ogden Driskill
told Cowboy State Daily that he “believes a shift of focus has happened,
powered by the far-right members of the state Senate, to put a higher
priority on returning money to taxpayers.”
The Wyoming Freedom Caucus and our allies
in the House are supportive of the Senate position of limiting the
growth of government just 10% in this biennial budget. We are strongly
opposed to the Uniparty's position in the House
of growing government by 30% over the next two years– after all, will
your income grow that much over the next two years?
We conservatives are routinely accused of
engaging in “D.C.-style politics.” As usual, these critics are mere
projections. Delivering an exorbitant, omnibus-style budget that
resembles a swampy continuing resolution is not a Wyoming
solution toWyoming problems.
The Wyoming Freedom Caucus pledges to limit the growth of government– which should never outgrow your paycheck.
For Wyoming,
Representative John Bear (HD31)
Representative Scott Heiner (HD18)
Representative Ben Hornok (HD412
Representative Tony Locke (HD35)