SPEND OR CUT – Wyoming Old Guard Fights New Conservatives

Wyoming's 2026 legislative session is a budget session. Our state constitution sets up a process where every other year is dedicated to tackling the state's biannual budget, and every other year is set aside for passing laws.

This year, the House and Senate are split between the more fiscally conservative Wyoming Freedom Caucus, which controls most of the House, and the Senate, and is run by mostly big-spending old-guard Republicans.

The Wyoming Freedom Caucus is trying to make big cuts to Wyoming's budget. The old guard Senate is trying to spend more. These are two different philosophies. Invest taxpayer's money to grow Wyoming VS. government needs to spend less and stay out of the private sector.

The Senate wants to spend $15M For PRCA Headquarters to Move to Cheyenne. The Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association is thinking about moving its headquarters from Colorado to Wyoming, along with building a rodeo museum. While the Freedom Caucus liked the idea of the PRCA locating in the state capital, they want them to do it with their own money, not the taxpayers.

The Senate also passed a bill giving $16 Million To Jump Start what they hope will be a Wyoming rare earth boom. Again, the Freedom Caucus understands the potential but cannot agree to spending taxpayer dollars on private industry. Let them spend their own money.

Senate Passes $105 Million 'Energy Dominance Fund.' But just as the Freedom Caucus does not want to subsidize wind and solar energy, they don't want to subsidize coal, gas, and oil.

It was the Freedom Caucus that defunded the Wyoming Business Council, which provides government loans and grants to private businesses. That move was a shock to the old guard in the Senate who believe that the Business Council's activities is necessary to grow and diversify Wyoming's economy.

The Freedom Caucus is trying to cut $40 million in state funding from the University of Wyoming while also cutting state funds to Wyoming Public Media. The Senate is trying to restore some, if not all, of that money.

By the end of the session, if the Freedom Caucus has its way, the state budget will be smaller as well as the size of the state government, which is their stated goal on their website.

If the Senate and Governor Gordon have their way, Wyoming's budget will grow.

The way this is shaping up, it looks like the Caucus will get some cuts, but not everything they want. Will Wyoming's budget be bigger or smaller when the session wraps up? We will just have to wait and see.