With the Wyoming Legislature convening in Cheyenne to debate the state’s upcoming budget, we hope the legislators put Wyoming’s residents first and avoid cutting programs that benefit the 580,000 residents.
Most importantly, the legislature should avoid using the Abandon Mine Lands funding coming to the state for uses outside of their intended purpose in mitigating and reclaiming former mines. When the funding was announced, $242 million immediately and up to $350 million in the next few years, the governor and a few legislators acted like funds were free money, with early suggested uses included matching donations to the University of Wyoming’s athletics department.
This is the wrong use for AML funding. The money should be used to mitigate the continued effects some communities continue see from past mining activities. Fix and reclaim the areas those funds were meant to address before spending them elsewhere.
The legislature should draft and implement rules to use the Legislative Stabilization Reserve Account, the state’s $1.8 billion “rainy day” fund. Our fear is the state’s newfound AML funding will allow the legislature to ignore the need to open up the LSRA and provide an excuse as to why the LSRA doesn’t need to be used. We can’t fault the legislature for wanting to save money, but without a plan or criteria dictating the use of those funds, they serve no use to anyone.
With these large sums of money, we are dismayed that some would prefer to cut funding to literacy programs, the state’s senior centers and funding to the state’s municipal and county governments. We don’t see why the people who would benefit the most are the first in line to see their programs and funding cut. In the case for local governments, those are the places where the state’s residents see their dollars spent. Infrastructure, community needs, local improvements; they’re better uses of funding than the UW’s athletics department.
Wyoming’s Legislature should think more about the people living in the state before committing to cuts that impact services. This is especially true considering the amount of money available in the LSRA. We don’t see anything wrong with spending even a couple hundred million over the next few years to help stabilize the state’s programs during this economic downturn we face.
Using those funds to stabilize the state is such a good idea, it’s probably why it’s called the Legislative Stabilization Reserve Account.
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