As the first week of the Wyoming Legislature’s 2024 budget session wound down, word began circulating of a possible big budget battle awaiting lawmakers when they returned to the Capitol on Monday.
First readings of the mirrored budget bills continued Friday. That’s when members of the Joint Appropriations Committee explain the budget section-by-section to their respective chambers.
The first round of amendments to the budget will come Monday — and in droves.
The exact number remains unknown, according to the Legislative Service Office, since the deadline for amendments had not yet passed as of press time, but early submissions suggest an unusually high volume. Lawmakers had until 5 p.m. Friday to file amendments.
The Senate is shaping up to see at least twice as many amendments as last budget session, LSO’s Legislative Information Officer Ryan Frost told WyoFile.
And that’s just second reading — the first opportunity for lawmakers to suggest changes. The third and final reading of the budget bill is scheduled for Wednesday in both chambers, which will give lawmakers another opportunity to take a stab at amending the state’s next two-year financial plan.
Amendments are an inevitable part of the process, but they can come in many forms. Some are good faith efforts to tweak the spending plan. Others can be designed to instigate debate, attack other lawmakers’ priorities or torpedo the entire effort.
A high volume of amendments can spell trouble for passage.
The Senate and House each start with an identical form of the bill that was laboriously drafted by the Joint Appropriations Committee in the months between sessions. Through the three readings, and the amendment process, the chambers’ versions can diverge widely from one another.
Once each chamber passes its version, leadership appoints a Joint Conference Committee to negotiate a mutually agreeable form that each chamber must then approve or reject.
The budget bill is the one piece of legislation lawmakers are constitutionally required to pass this session. And deadlines along the way are designed to keep both chambers on track.
As early as Monday — amid a leadership shakeup on the Senate Appropriations Committee — there was already talk that some lawmakers would rather not fulfill that constitutional obligation. This session has been marked by the growing rift between the two main factions of Wyoming Republicans, leading to regular disagreements. The budget’s first reading, typically a simple question-and-answer process, proceeded slowly in the House while the Senate handled its business more efficiently.
The whole process happens under a strict time limit. The Wyoming Constitution prohibits lawmakers from meeting more than 60 days each two-year House term. This is the second of the current cycle.
That said, lawmakers have a little more wiggle room than what the capitol-hall rumors would let on.
Last year, lawmakers met for just 37 days of the normal 40-day general session, according to Frost. For that reason, lawmakers have an additional three days they could tack onto this year’s 20-day budget session.
As currently scheduled, lawmakers have until Mar. 8 to agree on how to fund Wyoming’s state government. The three leftover days give them until Mar. 13, if they stick to weekdays. (Sundays are excluded by the Wyoming Constitution.) If they can’t meet their constitutional obligation by then, they’ll need to reconvene for a “special session,” later to get it done.
In other words, the posturing and clashes are a reflection of what’s occurring on the national level. MTG and Jordan would be proud.
This is a very solid story and analysis. Reserving the 3 days was a good move. But it’s often said (correctly) that work expands to fill the time allotted, so there’s that. Kudos to Speaker Sommers for pushing the House through the budget’s first reading and staying late on Friday for 2nd and 3rd readings of bills as well. And kudos also to Senate President Driskill for the senate’s efficiency. A special session would be costly both in terms of dollars and effort. Perhaps those three extra days will be Saturdays?!