CHEYENNE — The Wyoming Legislature kicked off Tuesday with legislative leaders expressing confidence in the state’s future despite significant challenges and the lowest budget surplus in several years.
Rep. Colin Simpson, R-Cody, was sworn in as House speaker as his father, former U.S. Sen. Alan Simpson, and other family members looked on.
In his address to the House, Colin Simpson said he wants to see the Legislature take action to cut property taxes this term.
Several competing property-tax relief measures are pending in the session.
“These next two years will be quite different than the last six or eight,” Simpson said.
State revenue forecasters last week projected that Wyoming will have just $260 million in extra revenue to spend in the fiscal year that starts in July. That’s down from the more than $900 million surplus they projected in October. State analysts blame the decline on soft energy prices and the national economic downturn.
“This year, compared to the last six years, we’re faced with a relatively modest surplus,” Simpson said.
Despite the decline, Simpson said, “I still firmly believe that Wyoming is able and should provide property-tax relief for 2009.” Simpson also said he wants to organize a public-private partnership to develop a Western states energy conference this summer. He said the conference would be aimed at protecting the minerals industry so it can continue to generate the revenues that support the state.
Simpson said he believes the conference should analyze the costs and benefits of various sources of energy and report back to the legislatures and governors of all Western states by this fall.
In an interview after his opening remarks, Simpson said he also wants to focus on legislation to improve Wyoming’s prescription-drug database. The system allows state officials to make sure that people aren’t approaching more than one doctor at a time to try to get pain medications.
