Governor Gordon Explains Upcoming Budget Cuts

According to Governor Mark Gordon, he saw a big slowdown in state revenue coming back when he was the state treasurer. That's why he worked so hard to invest the rainy day fund as carefully as he did.

When he became governor of the state of Wyoming, he began work on efficiency and savings, plus more budget cuts.

But no one saw the pandemic coming.

A state financial report released Monday showed a General Fund shortfall of $451.1 million and a school funding shortfall of $300 million, according to a news release from Gov. Mark Gordon. 

These are massive cuts that are needed. But where are they supposed to come from and how do we find the political will to make these tough decisions?

Governor Gordon was good enough to join me on the Wake Up Wyoming morning show where he looked deep into the problems and offered his strategy for the next legislative session.

I asked him why we have not already had a special session over this issue. I've been surprised that we have not. So was the Governor. But he's pleased with how well elected officials have been working with him, making a special session unnecessary.

Does the state need to raise taxes? How to we balance such a deep hole in school funding? How many Wyoming government employees will lose their jobs?

The governor struggles to answer those questions in this interview.