2006 Legislature launches budget session
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Feb 14, 2006 Posted by Bill Luckett
And we're off!
The 58th Legislature's 2006 budget session kicked off at 10 a.m. yesterday, highlighted by Gov. Freudenthal's State of the State address. Speeches by the governor and legislative leaders were the main events of the day, sprinkled with some choral entertainment. By the day's end, legislators had begun the laborious process of bill introduction, a topic that deserves its own paragraph.
During budget sessions (even-numbered years), every bill except for the budget bill needs to survive a two-thirds vote in either the Senate or House to even be introduced into the session. The idea is that our lawmakers should spend this session only on the budget bill and other issues that are of immediate importance. The reality is that hundreds of bills are drafted, and each one comes up for an introductory vote. This means that a bill sponsor or supporter speaks in favor of the bill for a minute or so, and then there is a short time allowed for one legislator to offer a rebuttal, and then the chamber will do a roll call vote on whether to introduce the bill. To say this is time-consuming is an understatement. On the other hand, this process severely limits the number of bills that get introduced, which allows legislators to spend ample time on the budget bill. I suppose the long and the short of it is that Day One is not a terribly interesting day for most people other than to hear the speeches by the governor and legislative leaders.
In the State of the State address, Gov. Freudenthal laid out many of his priorities for the session. In addition, he made touching tributes to our men and women in uniform, and he introduced and acknowledged the accomplishments of several of them who were in the gallery.
I took notes of many, but not all, of the priorities that Gov. Freudenthal listed. I'll list them later on in this blog, but anyone interested in seeing the text of the governor's speech can find it on the governor's Website at:
http://wyoming.gov/governor/governor_home.asp
One general theme, aside from the policy issues, from the first day (and the parties' caucuses on Sunday) was a consensus among those on both sides of the aisle that the people of Wyoming are served best when our legislators and governor act in a respectful, harmonious and bipartisan manner. The governor noted near the beginning of his speech how Wyoming has a proud history of avoiding the kind of partisanship and regional clashes that dominate national politics today.
Based on my experience observing the Legislature closely for the past six years, I think we have reason to be optimistic that partisan conflicts will be kept to a minimum. The fact that state revenues are plentiful this year seems to help. Of course, there are honest differences between the parties on some issues, but even when those issues come up, lawmakers and the governor always seem to do a pretty good job of keeping the dialogue focused on how to best serve the people of the state instead of serving their own party.
Our party's leaders in both the House and Senate addressed their colleagues, and both offered a message that focused on investing in people and making their lives better. We issued a press release summarizing House Minority Leader Wayne Reese's and Senate Minority Leader Rae Lynn Job's remarks late in the afternoon, and I'm including it here at the end of this incredibly lengthy blog.
As the session unfolds, I plan to write a blog entry each day to let you know how it's going. Some days, I will focus on the events of the day, and on others I might share with you some of the behind-the-scenes business that takes place. The budget bill can be particularly interesting, but lawmakers don't plan to begin their work on that until Monday, Feb. 27, a date that marks the beginning of the second half of the four-week session. I hope you find this blog informative, interesting, educational, entertaining, or in some other way of redeeming value. I would welcome your feedback, which you can provide by either offering a comment on this Web page or else by e-mailing me at:
I'll warn you that e-mail is not always the most reliable way to comunicate with me, but I will check the blogs frequently to read your comments.
Here is a sample of the priorities Gov. Freudenthal listed in his State of the State address:
- Full funding of the Hathaway scholarship program and the endowed chairs program for higher education.
- Increased funding to local governments, especially including those that are struggling to manage increased mineral development.
- Tax relief, specifically including lowering the state's 4-percent sales tax by one-half of a percent. The original plan when the sales tax rate was boosted to 4 cents was that it would go down to 3.5 cents when the state's revenue picture recovered. Well, the state's revenue picture has never been healthier than it is today, so the governor contends that it's time to drop the sales tax rate.
- Bolstering our support for the families of deployed military members.
- Investing in the Wildlife and Natural Resources Trust Fund that was created last year.
- Investing in the new water development account that was created last year.
- Investing in improving the availability and quality of child care across the state.
- Working to battle alcohol and drug abuse, especially youth alcohol use, as alcohol is the quintessential gateway drug for young people.
Frankly, I'm leaving a lot of stuff out. If you haven't heard or read it yet, I would recommend taking a look at the entire speech on the governor's Website.
And finally, here's the press release we put out to highlight Sen. Job's and Rep. Reese's remarks:
Democratic legislative leaders urge peers to focus on, invest in, people
CHEYENNE - Members of the 58th Wyoming Legislature should take action during this year's budget session that will improve the lives of Wyoming's people, both today and in the future, Democratic leaders told their colleagues Monday.
House Minority Leader Wayne Reese, D-Cheyenne, and Senate Minority Leader Rae Lynn Job, D-Rock Springs, both offered opening remarks to their peers during the session's opening day.
Reese said that, despite the dominant topics of legislative conversation, this year's session is not about the budget, school buildings, teacher shortages, state agencies or the surplus.
"What this session is really about is the 500,000 people who live in the state of Wyoming," he said.
For example, Reese said, discussion about the Department of Health is really discussion of the health and welfare of Wyoming's people; conversations about the Departments of Employment and Workforce Services are really conversations about people finding jobs and providing for their families.
"When we talk about a surplus, we are really talking about an incredible opportunity to make some investments in the people of Wyoming that will be enjoyed long after we are gone," he said.
And while he acnowledged that there is merit to saving some money, Reese warned that failing to make proper investments in people today will render the savings meaningless.
"If we continue to save, instead of investing in people, in water development, in education, in improving health care, in attractable livable comunities, and in economic development, well, the savings won't matter, because our children will leave and go to the states that are making those kinds of investments," Reese said.
Meanwhile, Job offered her fellow senators a separate people-centered message.
The state government has immense resources at its disposal today, she said, but at the same time, "we also recognize that underneath that wealth we have a lot of struggling, hard-working families," people who are struggling to pay their utility bills this winter and obtain affordable health care.
Job encouraged legislators to gear their collective efforts toward a single goal: improving people's lives and enhancing the communities in which they live.
"On March 10, when the gavel goes down for the final time, I hope we can say collectively that we've done the right thing for the great state of Wyoming and all her people," Job said.