Gordon: The 2026-27 Budget Will Conservative and Strategic

Becky Farrell/AARP Wyoming

Some folks in the Legislature have been talking about rewinding the clock and running today’s Wyoming on pre-Covid prices. I call that “nostalgia budgeting.” Believe me, I would love it if groceries, building materials, and car repairs all still cost what they did a decade ago. But no amount of nostalgia will pay today’s bills or keep tomorrow’s promises.

Since 2019, the general-fund portion of the state’s standard budget, the part that covers the everyday operations of government, has grown by an average of 3.5% a year. That is almost exactly in line with national inflation over the same period. In other words, Wyoming did not go on a spending binge. We kept it tight, we kept it responsible, and we kept it tied to the real-world costs every Wyoming family understands.

The Essentials budget follows the same approach. It is steady. It is conservative. And it focuses squarely on what Wyomingites value most: strong families, strong communities, and strong opportunities for our kids and grandkids.

Wyoming must think more strategically about our healthcare. Cost, delivery, quality, and access are all factors that significantly impact our aging population and young and growing families. Families, seniors, and communities are stronger when they are healthy and have reasonable access to healthcare.

The Essentials budget recommends increases to continue providing labor and delivery to growing families and community based resources that allow seniors and those with disabilities to stay in their homes longer.

Wyoming has always known how to prepare for a hard winter. The proof is in our savings. Because past leaders had the good sense to put money away, the earnings from our state’s investments are saving taxpayers over $913 million this biennium. That’s $913 million you do not have to cover through taxes. That’s exactly what long-term planning is supposed to do.

The Essentials Budget continues that legacy. We save for the next storm while making sure the services people rely on, public safety, education, healthcare support, roads, and the systems that help our seniors stay at home for longer, remain dependable. We keep government lean, but effective. The Essentials.

And we are doing this after Wyoming weathered two enormous blows: a global pandemic and years of federal policies that targeted the very industries that built this state. Through all that, Wyoming stayed on its feet because we practiced fiscal discipline, not nostalgia.

My responsibility is to leave this state stronger for the next generation. We do that by keeping our focus on four core principles:

• Protect Wyoming citizens and secure their future.
  
• Support our legacy industries while encouraging new ones to grow and thrive.
  
• Maintain efficient, effective government that delivers real value.
  
• Honor local control, because decisions are best made closest to the people.

Wyoming’s future is promising, but it requires clear eyes and steady leadership.

We cannot build tomorrow by pretending it is still 2019. We build it by focusing on the essentials. That is exactly what this budget does.

Mark Gordon is the Governor of Wyoming. Views expressed in this newsletter by non-AARP employees belong solely to the author.