Wyoming House Rejects Attempt To Restore $40 Million For UW

As the Wyoming Legislature works to finalize a biennial state budget, the Wyoming House on Wednesday turned back an attempt to restore $40 million in block grant money for the University of Wyoming

The $40 million cut in block funding for the university was just one of a number of cuts totaling over $300 million the legislature's Joint Appropriations Committee made from Governor Mark Gordon's proposed biennial budget.

House, Senate At Odds Over UW Budget Cuts

The Wyoming Senate this week voted to restore the governor's proposed budget, including the $40 million for UW. It's important to note, however, that the Senate could still change it's proposed budget before it's finalized.

The Senate has now completed two readings of it's version of the budget, while House members continued to slog through a long list of budget amendments. The House went late into the night on Tuesday on second of the budget bill and House leaders on Wednesday warned members to expect another late night on Wednesday.

Both Houses will need to finalize a budget after three readings. The two bodies will then have to agree on a final version to send to Governor Mark Gordon.

Rep. Ken Chestek [D-Albany County] on Wednesday put forward an amendment to restore the money for the university that was cut by the Joint Appropriations Committee.

Speaking in favor of the Amendment, Minority Floor LeaderRep Mike Yin [D-Teton County] argued that the cuts were punitive and arbitrary. He said the argument in favor of the cuts was basically "They aren't doing what we think they should be doing, so let's give them a $40 million cut.''

Yin said there was no real reason why the cut was $40 million. "All we want to do is tell them 'we don't like what you're doing, so let's pick a number and say it's the right number.

But House Speaker Chip Neiman [R-Crook, Weston counties] denied the cuts are punitive and argued there is good reason to trim the university's budget. ''The truth is, we're top heavy" he told House members in floor debate. 'I don't think throwing more money at this is a good idea. He went on to say that a few years ago "We were at 13,000 to 14,000 students, were at a little over 10 (000) now. He said the difference was ''thousands of students, not a few hundred. Thousands. Big difference."

Here is how they voted, with ''Aye" being a vote in favor of restoring the $40 million in UW Funding:

Ayes: Andrew, Brown, L, Byron, Campbell, E, Clouston, Chestek, Connolly, Davis, Erickson, Filer, Fornstrom, Harshman, Jarvis, Larsen, L, Larson, JT, Lawley, Nicholas, Posey, Provenza, Sherwood, Storer, Thayer, Washut, Williams, Wylie, Yin
Nays: Allemand, Angelos, Bear, Brady, Bratten, Brown, G, Campbell, K, Geringer, Guggenmos, Haroldson, Heiner, Hoeft, Johnson, Knapp, Lien, Locke, McCann, Lucas, Pendergraft, Ottman, Riggins, Rodriguez-Williams, Schmid, Singh, Smith, Styvar, Strock, Tarver, Wasserburger, Webb, Webber, Wharff, Winter, Neiman
Excused: Banks, Kelly