The primary budgeting arm of the Legislature voted Tuesday to defund the Wyoming Business Council, the state’s top economic development shop since 1998.
Following a motion by Powell Republican Sen. Dan Laursen, the Joint Appropriations Committee agreed to zero out the council’s budget, leaving $2 million to administer existing loans. Though the recommendation must go to the full Legislature during the budget session that begins in February, the committee’s direction carries significant weight.
Committee members also indicated there’s another bill in the works to more fully close out the Business Council, “statutorily.” A majority of members indicated they were willing to sponsor such a bill as a committee.
Closed for business?
Before the vote, committee member Rep. Trey Sherwood, a Laramie Democrat, offered a “friendly amendment” to Laursen’s motion.
“My thought would be to leave, I don’t know, approximately $200,000 to provide to the Department of Transportation to create signs that could hang on the ‘Welcome to Wyoming’ signs that say ‘We’re closed for business.'”
The motion died.
Devils Tower Republican Sen. Ogden Driskill said he had doubts about the Business Council’s effectiveness as well. But he warned that defunding the organization without contemplating Wyoming’s future role in economic development will have broad, lasting negative impacts for the state’s economy.
“We probably ought to just go ahead and open up the anti-business council, because that’s really what we’re doing,” Driskill said. “That sounds a little harsh, a little bitter today. Guess what? The decisions you folks are making, should they become law, dramatically affects my grandkids and great-grandkids.”
Gillette Republican and Appropriations Co-chair Rep. John Bear said the state will be better off without the council.
Colleagues “to my left just said, ‘You know what? What are you for?'” Bear said. “I am for free markets, for capitalism, and my [colleagues who] said we need to problem solve, I agree. We need to problem solve.
“But I’m here to tell you,” Bear continued, “I don’t believe that government is the solution to most of our problems. So with that, I don’t think this agency has been effective, and I don’t think they’re going to be effective. We’re going to reset. I think we need to determine something that will work.”
Business Council’s role
Sensing an appetite among Joint Appropriations Committee members to take such an action, Gov. Mark Gordon last week sent a letter to the legislative body imploring members to examine, but not defund, the council.
“I understand, it may be time for the Business Council to benefit from more careful scrutiny from the Legislature in how it goes about the tasks assigned to it,” Gordon wrote in a Jan. 7 letter to the committee. “A course correction may be warranted, but a wholesale defunding of the [Business Council] would be counterproductive.”
Reached for comment Tuesday, Gordon said those opposed to state economic development efforts have “zero knowledge of our budget and zero regard for the future of Wyoming.
“If this shallow and shortsighted move today by JAC stands,” Gordon continued, “it leaves Wyoming with a ‘closed for business’ sign out. Thankfully this action is preliminary and can be reversed during the full legislative session.”
WyoFile reached out to the Wyoming Business Council on Tuesday, but the organization declined to comment.
The Business Council had requested a budget of $112 million for the next biennium, or two-year budget cycle. Gordon, in his recommendation to lawmakers, trimmed the request to $54.6 million, mostly by removing $50 million for an ongoing broadband buildout effort.
The committee last week called on Business Council Chief Executive Officer Josh Dorrell to answer questions about ongoing concerns that the organization wasn’t aligned with Wyoming businesses and communities.
Dorrell noted that the council has been asking lawmakers to engage in a longer discussion about how to realign the organization with a changing economic and political environment.
“We are very willing to not defend our programs, or to defend the efforts that we’ve taken so far, but rather to seek out the problem and address it with the right statutes and the right investment mechanisms. That’s what you have in front of you,” Dorrell said.
Aside from existing and potential Wyoming businesses, municipalities throughout the state often rely on the council for direction on how to expand their economies, as well as loans to update aging, critical infrastructure such as water and sewer.
I do kinda like the “closed for business” idea. Sorry to say I have no clue as to the WBC effectiveness. Perhaps someone could enlighten me to it’s track performance. To have several politicians state that maybe it’s time for a closer scrutiny suggests that it’s been kinda operating without too much oversite except for the big bucks CEO. One comment here, it was noted that also part of the WBC work was to grant loans to cities to “update aging, critical infrastructure such as water and sewer” I’ve always been under the impression that there should be sinking funds for city infrastructure. Maybe a better solution would have been to teach city administration how to effectively manage these accounts instead of granting low interest loans or grants, which just prolongs the inevitable.
I think reviewing what we are getting for are tax dollars is a great idea. Let’s start by reviewing what we are failing to collect because of the hundreds of exemptions given to agriculture and the minerals industry. By cutting all those exemptions we could do two things, first we could reduce the number of state employees in the Department of Revenue; second we could let capitalism flourish if you can’t make without help from the state you shouldn’t be in business. Too many predators, remember government isn’t the solution to all your problems. Those low lease rates you get from the state, unfair competition with the private landowners trying to lease land, they have to go too. I’m sure you’ll have a great time visiting you children and grandchildren in the surrounding states.
Most of these cuts are not justified and/or are shortsighted – especially the cuts to Wyoming Public Media. However, the defunding of the Wyoming Business Council is warranted. The WBC was originally created as an end run around the anti-corruption provision of the Wyoming Constitution which prohibited appropriation of funds to non-government entities. So, the WBC was created. Instead of appropriating the funds directly to those entities, the Legislature would appropriate funds to the WBC, which would in turn issue grants to the private entities. But the WBC, as expected, abused its power – picking winners and losers among businesses and often giving money to out-of-state companies which competed with native Wyoming businesses. It also funded ill-advised local projects, such as the “Cirrus Sky” business park in Laramie (a business park which currently has only one tenant and one POSSIBLE future tenant due to its inconvenient location). Several years after the WBC was founded, legislators pushed through a constitutional amendment allowing it to appropriate funds to private entities for the purpose of economic development. (Many citizens opposed this amendment, noting that one could brand just about any giveaway to a private party as fostering economic development, but it passed nonetheless.) The amendment made the WBC unnecessary for the purpose for which it was originally created. Might as well just eliminate it, since it now only serves to direct money to politically favored and well connected entities.
Nice insight Brett, thanks.
Unlike Chump’s semi anonymous masked ice-storm troopers, we know exactly who all of the UnFreeDumb Caucus and MAGA wing nuts are. When the dust settles and the sensible ones regain control, these fascist miscreants need to reseach history to see what the Dutch did to their sellout nazi sympathizers. In the mood for a hair raising parade, Chump fans?
WY’s new economic plan is hoping (and praying, of course) that more of CO’s front range workers move into the SE corner of our state. Go cowboys!
It could be more transparent and accountable for tax dollars spent .
Well done John economic development is in abysmal failure wherever it’s in existence. Lower taxes, lower regulation welcomes business. Try that as a policy.
we have some of the lowest taxes and lowest regulations already, and have forever. Shouldnt we have been an economic powerhouse 30 years ago?
Exactly. Where are all of these tens of thousands of workers to build the never ending stream of new never built projects everywhere? Most small towns are dying off, still. Hospitals closing. Exporting more youth than ever. Sooo…instead of solutions, more of the same? Go read the past people.
Bureaucracy breeds bureaucracy.
Bureaucracy is a system of administration in large organizations (government, corporations, etc.) that uses specialized officials, a clear hierarchy, formal rules, and impersonal procedures to implement policy and manage operations, aiming for efficiency but often criticized for “red tape,” slowness, or rigidity, as famously analyzed by sociologist Max Weber. It involves distinct roles, a chain of command, standardized processes, and consistent application of rules, ensuring fairness but potentially hindering flexibility and adaptation.
As of 2026, Josh Dorrell’s compensation as CEO of the Wyoming Business Council (WBC) remains one of the highest for public servants in the state, with public records and legislative testimony detailing the following figures:
Annual Pay and Hourly Rate
Base Pay Rate: Dorrell is a “Special Classified” employee with a reported rate of $134.62 per hour.
Actual Annual Pay: In the most recent full reporting year (2023), his total actual pay reached $289,715.72.
Monthly Rate: His standard monthly pay rate is documented at approximately $23,333.33.
Benefits and Total Compensation
While a specific itemized dollar value for Dorrell’s personal benefits package (health insurance, retirement, etc.) is not always listed separately in public payroll summaries, the following organizational data provides context:
Average Total Compensation: For the 37 full-time employees at the WBC, the average total compensation—including salary, benefits, and retiree insurance—is approximately $152,349 per year. Given Dorrell’s base pay is significantly higher than the average, his total compensation package is substantially above this mean.
Agency Personnel Budget: For the most recent biennium, the WBC was budgeted $11.79 million specifically for personnel costs, which include all benefits and retirement contributions.
Recent Legislative Action: In late 2025 and early 2026, the Governor recommended denying a $345,447 request for pay increases for WBC personnel, including leadership, amidst legislative moves to restructure or defund the council.
For further details on state employee pay, you may consult the State of Wyoming’s transparency records or the Wyoming Business Council’s annual reports.
In summary Wyoming residents need not fund business welfare.
Open the books also shows a Josh Dorrell collecting over 12,000 a year from the University of Wyoming as a temporary lecturer. This state sure has been good to him . I’m guessing this is one case where Gordon doesn’t think state employees are paid below average !
The UnFreeDumb Carcass wants to rear job the entire State to their level: back to the stone age. What a bunch of morons and how stupid for us to have voted these incompetent stooges into power
I think it is time for a review if we are getting the return for the buck needed, and perhaps implement changes. Just a demolition seems a little rash, how much time has the Freedom Caucus spent looking into the Wyoming Business Council ? From what I can gather from third party website the CEO made 289k in 2023. It would be nice if Wyoming actually had an employee salary database for transparency. Lots of states do. That seems really high for an obscure state agency. I’m not one of these people that advocate against fair pay for government employees. I fully understand that employees that say manage the states investments in the Treasurers office need compensation to keep them here and reward them for the money they bring back to the state . Do we get a fair return for this office? Or is it a bunch of high paid people going out on boondoggles? Looking at their website, which is mostly pictures without a lot of names, they definitely dont look underpaid! Think we need some more information on this office.
Stupid is as stupid does. If they don’t like how it works than change it. Don’t destroy it.