January 12, 2026
I’ve been watching Joint Appropriations Committee (JAC) meetings. The committee is reviewing Governor Gordon’s proposed budget and will make changes to it which will be voted on by the full legislature this upcoming session.
Each Wednesday of the JAC meetings, select members wear red coats to symbolize the cuts they need to make to the budget to stay out of the red.
Let’s be clear, there has not been a year when the legislature didn’t approve a balanced budget. It’s constitutionally mandated. And this year Wyoming has a surplus of funds.
Wyoming is already lean. Cuts have been made year after year. According to Senator Driskill, a Republican out of Hulette, this is the lowest proposed budget in 15 years and the state has 700 fewer employees than it did 15 years ago. “We have the ability to cut our way into a budget crisis,” he noted.
I think he’s right.
And I think, like Paul Revere’s warning of the red coats, we need to sound the alarm about the damage Wyoming’s “red coats” could do to the state budget. Thank you to Henry Wadsworth Longfellow for his original poem which inspired the following. I hope we can look back at these words fondly in March. Please scroll down to see how you can take action!
It was February by Wyoming’s clock,
When they descended on Chey town.
We heard the bleating of the flock,
And the wind among the trees,
Feeling the familiar bite of the state’s chilly morning breeze.
And many were safe and asleep in bed
When discussions lively arose,
Who that day would be hurt by what was said,
or worse by poor decisions led.
You know the rest. In the history you’ve read,
How the budget busters voted and fled, —
How the advocates gave them ball for ball,
Beside each other standing tall,
Moving the red-coats down the lane,
Then crossing communities to emerge again
Under the stop lights at the turn of the road,
And only pausing to gain and grow.
So through the night cried Wyoming’s strong;
And so through the night went their hopeful song,
To every Wyoming city and town, —
A cry of hope and not of fear,
A voice in the darkness, a knock at the door,
And a word that shall echo forevermore!
For, borne on the night-wind of the recent past,
Through all our shared history, to the last,
In the hour of darkness and peril and need,
The people will waken and listen to hear
The beautiful message of citizens dear,
And the powerful voices of Wyomingites near.
How can you be Paul Revere-esque?
Read about budget requests below and choose one or all to reach out to the Joint Appropriations Committee about
Senators: Tim.Salazar@wyoleg.gov, Ogden.Driskill@wyoleg.gov, Tim.French@wyoleg.gov, mike.gierau@wyoleg.gov, dan.laursen@wyoleg.gov
Reps: John.Bear@wyoleg.gov, bill.allemand@wyoleg.gov, abby.angelos@wyoleg.gov, ken.pendergraft@wyoleg.gov, trey.sherwood@wyoleg.gov, scott.smith@wyoleg.gov, jeremy.haroldson@wyoleg.gov
- SNAP (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program) is incredibly important to ensuring hardworking families can put food on the table (38% of SNAP users are single moms) Ask the Joint Appropriations Committee to cover the new, increased budget amount.
- Ask them to support the inpatient rate increase to 100% of cost for Critical Access Hospitals (CAH) that maintain labor and delivery services!
- Let them know Sun Bucks are important for kids who receive free and reduced lunches during the school year. These dollars help kids, including those who don’t qualify for SNAP, have food in their tummies and stay fueled in the summer. They also allow busy parents more flexibility.
- Tell them how important prenatal, delivery and postpartum care is to Wyoming families and ask that they increase maternity and delivery physician services to 105% of Medicare.
