Gov Weighs In During Press Conference
-
Feb 16, 2010
Today in a morning press conference Gov. Dave Freudenthal discussed some of the pieces of legislation passing through the Wyoming Legislature.
The Governor's proposed excise tax on wind energy was one of the most discussed proposals since lawmakers amended the legislation to $1 per megawatt hour versus the proposed $3, but did not change the 60-40% split between state and local governments. The Governor stressed that he does not need this tax revenue in order to balance the budget and since it was slashed he would prefer the counties recieve 100% of the revenues.
Gov. Freudenthal also commented on the lobbying push against the excise tax and noted that it is the most robust effort since the severance tax was enacted. "If your business plan is so fragile that a few bucks is going to throw you off track them maybe you should produce wind in a different state," said Freudenthal. He noted that many of these wind companies have local names, but none (with the exception of Wold Companies) have local roots. "They seem to know what to do in Wyoming, but they don't live here," he stated. If you are interested in Wold Companies you can learn more in this Wyoming Livestock Roundup article.
Otherwise the governor said he is keeping an eye on the proposed health care pilot, data center proposal, DUI bills, school recalibration, and school facilities construction.