GOVERNOR ENCOURAGES LAWMAKERS TO BE DISCIPLINED WITH ONGOING APPROPRIATIONS

CHEYENNE, Wyo. - In his 2008 State of the State message to the Joint Session of the Wyoming Legislature today, Gov. Dave Freudenthal described a state in good financial condition, but called for restraint in adding ongoing expenses to state government.

“There is more than enough funding to build on what we have done in the past,” Freudenthal said. The gross state product has doubled in the past 10 years, Wyoming is enjoying low unemployment and has not been seriously impacted by the subprime mortgage crisis. The projected General Fund and Budget Reserve Account balances for fiscal year 2009 are nearly double the revenues of 2003, he said.

“We have more than enough funding to build upon what we have done in the past, but we lack the funding and we lack a real purpose in expanding on it a great deal,” Freudenthal said.

The Governor praised the work of the Joint Appropriations Committee in producing a budget that he called responsible. He said the differences between his budget and the JAC’s approved budget are relatively minor.  

“I want to commend the Joint Appropriations Committee, and particularly the chairmen," he said. "They listened for many weeks to the same presentations that I had heard for months. They heard the same information, and had looked at the analysis of the budgets. While there are some differences between the budget I recommended and the budget adopted by the committee, it is by and large, differences that reflect changes in degrees of the points of a compass and not vast changes in the direction of the state.”

The Governor said now is the time for state leaders, himself included, to exercise discipline that they haven’t in past years.

“We have to have the discipline to reduce the increases in the standard budget. When you go to add things to the budget, please do it on the basis that it is not a continuing appropriation. Give us a chance to review next year whether it was the right thing to put into the budget," he said.

Freudenthal encouraged the state’s lawmakers to change the way they talk about the future.

“People are beginning to wonder not about the decisions we made, but the way we made them,” he said. “At a recent conference in Casper to talk about the future of Wyoming, we were surprised that more than 500 people came. There was great energy there, and a demand that we think about the future.”

Freudenthal said there was an uneasy sense among citizens that the state’s leaders aren’t concerned about the same things the people are - housing, jobs and the cost of living. Talking about planning for growth in Wyoming will require all state residents to set aside their traditional values and stereotypes, and to talk honestly about what Wyoming can be in the future.

The Governor emphasized that state government must recognize that the marketplace for energy is changing, and should become more energy efficient in government buildings. He also asked the Legislature to consider allowing the State Loan and Investment Board to use a portion of local government money to encourage energy efficiency, and to authorize $500,000 in funding for energy audits for local governments.

With the great abundance that Wyoming has experienced in recent years, the state has increased its savings rate to 40 cents of every severance tax dollar collected, and has made investments in local governments and infrastructure. But Freudenthal emphasized that the state cannot and should not fund every request for funding. Instead, state leaders should exercise discipline and keep continuing appropriations to a minimum.


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