House Report: Lawmakers near finish line on budget

Alkali Reservoir project still included in Omnibus Water Bills

Rep. Martha Lawley (R-Worland) is holding out hope that her Big Horn Basin constituents will get what they have asked for as the Wyoming House and Senate move to reconcile their budgets. 

“Based on assurances from the House Appropriations Conference Committee report to House members, most of the things important to the people of House District 27 who contacted me will be restored in the budget compromise,” Lawley reported. She relayed that this included full funding for the University of Wyoming, rate increases for developmental disability providers, funding for Department of Family Services IT funds, state employee compensation, Wyoming Business Council funding for one year while the legislature works on reform, and most of Wyoming PBS and Wyoming Public Media’s funding. 

Funding for SUN Bucks or Snap Education and partial funding for Child Development Centers’ external cost adjustment were still up for debate as of deadline. Last week, the House Education Committee voted 6-2 in favor of the Senate’s education recalibration bill, with Lawley a part of the ayes. The current version of the bill would increase education funding by $250 million over two years while also reaching a compromise on health insurance, teacher salaries and enrollment calculations. The Wyoming Education Association supported the recalibration bill as it stood. 

ALKALI CREEK RESERVOIR FUNDING

Hyattville’s controversial Alkali Creek Reservoir project has managed to stay in both the House and Senate’s Omnibus Water Bills thus far. The project, which will now be nine years in the works and has over doubled in cost since its proposal, received support from Lawley, who chairs the Select Water Committee. 

Lawmakers debated whether the project -- which has already required over $8 million in state funding for a reservoir to supply roughly 33 irrigators and has not been able to start construction since 2017 --was worth the hassle. In the Senate, they attempted to establish a July 1 deadline to acquire necessary easements and, separately, prevent the state from using the power of eminent domain to obtain those easements, both of which failed. 

“I agreed we need to have finality in what has been a very long process,” Lawley said. “I do value water storage projects. They play an important role in Wyoming’s water conservation efforts.”

Holdout landowners, unwilling to provide the necessary easements for the reservoir, have halted progress. Thirteen acres of permanent easements and 34 acres of temporary easements are reportedly still needed to begin construction. As a result, Senate File 70, the construction bill, would push the project’s reversion date to July 1, 2027 while negotiations continue. House Bill 87, the planning bill, would allow a one-year extension of and funding for the project’s engineering contract, amounting to $1.5 million. 

“It would be wise to store that water for use by Wyoming in the future. Without the necessary landowner approval, the project can’t move forward,” Lawley said. 

“CHECKGATE”

Lawley reported that the House committee investigating the distribution of campaign checks on the chamber floor last month will work on a written report this week, which is due by March 4 after press time. A member of the investigating committee, Lawley was a part of public hearing on Feb. 26 that included witness accounts and exhibits. Both the House and Senate have recently instated rules banning the practice of distributing or accepting campaign contributions on their respective floors, with Governor Mark Gordan signing an executive order outlawing the practice in state buildings. 

With the budget session on a 21-day schedule set to end March 11, lawmakers have a limited timeframe to come to an agreement before their budget is sent to the governor’s desk. 

“I appreciate all the engagement I have received from the people of HD 27 during this session. It has helped me better represent you,” Lawley said.