Budget sessions are never easy. They force hard choices about what we value most and what kind of future we want to build. This year’s budget session in Cheyenne was no exception. At times it was tense and deeply contested. But in the end, something important happened: The people of Wyoming spoke.
You spoke up about “cutting just to cut” changes made to Wyoming’s biennial budget. You came out loud and clear, making your voices heard to legislators taking votes on your future. You reminded your lawmakers that budgets are not abstract things — they affect real people.
At my town halls in February and March, during phone calls, in conversations across our communities, and in messages directly to legislators, you made it clear what matters most. You reminded all of us that Wyoming works best when we stay focused on the essentials, the practical things that support our families, strengthen our communities and prepare our state for the future. And your voice changed the trajectory of proposals that would have halted key investments in our future.
In my State of the State address to the Legislature just a few short weeks ago, I reminded members of the body to see each other as allies, using the words of President Abraham Lincoln: “We are not enemies, but friends. We must not be enemies. Though passion may have strained, it must not break our bonds of affection.”
Even as national politics attempts to polarize us as a state, we must not let go of the Wyoming value of neighbor helping neighbor. My reminder to the Legislature was and is heartfelt — we must not let the divisiveness of national issues drive us to hate our neighbor. Wyoming is Wyoming because of our kindness, friendliness and can-do attitude. Let us never break the bonds of affection for one another. I was heartened that despite the temptation of locking horns, pitting us against them, (whomever “them” are) Wyoming said something more significant mattered — our shared future.
“This year’s budget session in Cheyenne was no exception. At times it was tense and deeply contested. But in the end, something important happened: The people of Wyoming spoke.”
Gov. Mark Gordon
I also asked our legislators to work together to build something strong for Wyoming’s future. And I reminded them this session would be remembered for either what we built together or what you chose to tear down. I am grateful a majority of them chose to build. Our children will remember that.
In funding essential services like education, the University of Wyoming, health care for our young and old, a strong workforce, economic development, protecting Wyoming’s interests wherever they are challenged, and advancing our key industries, we strengthened Wyoming’s future.
The budget we passed together reflects much of that spirit of building for the future. True, none of us got everything we wanted, but all of us have taken pride in what we accomplished. That is what Madison, Hamilton, Jay, Adams, Jefferson and the rest envisioned. What an achievement for our 250th anniversary.
There were acts of courage, too, that must be recognized as legislators stood up against out-of-state interests who prosper from conflict. While many of these invasive efforts were defeated, thanks to your citizen voice, know too that these merchants of fear will be back this summer to try and influence your vote just as they will be here next session to try and earn their keep from their national overseers.
Wyoming stands strong today, and we are built to lead. Nothing could be more obvious from our character. Our economy is resilient, our opportunities are growing, and our people remain the most capable, hardy and determined of anywhere in this country. The future we want for Wyoming will not happen by accident. Eternal vigilance is the price of liberty.
Liberty is not a gift. It is an achievement that requires us to continue embracing the enduring values that have always carried this state forward: a commitment to freedom, to local control, to responsible government, and to an economy that welcomes growth, innovation and opportunity without changing the character or values of our state. We are beset by so many from outside our borders who see Wyoming as an easy political prize, but it takes independence and grit to live here. We do not surrender.
The men and women who built Wyoming understood something we should never forget. They knew their responsibility was not simply to manage the present, but to build a foundation strong enough for those who would come after them.
We are but stewards of this remarkable state for the next generation. When we focus on what truly matters — the essentials — and if we remember to leave things better than we found them, then I have no doubt that Wyoming’s best days are still ahead of her.
Because Wyoming was built to lead.