WYOMING BUSINESS COUNCIL STILL ALIVE

On February 9, only 10 senators voted to completely dismantle the Business Council, resulting in a 21-10 loss. Two weeks later, on a Tuesday morning, 15 senators supported Steinmetz’s amendment to Senate File 125, which required the council to document the public purpose and state benefit of every grant it awards — just one vote short of passing.

Five senators who had previously voted to preserve the agency on February 9 switched to back the amendment: Sen. Cale Case, R-Lander; Crum; Sen. Larry Hicks, R-Baggs; Sen. John Kolb, R-Rock Springs; and Sen. Taft Love, R-Cheyenne.

Designed as a comprehensive reform measure targeting the Wyoming Business Council, SF 125 essentially stalled on the floor when the bill’s sponsor, Sen. Gary Crum, R-Laramie, requested to postpone the bill by one legislative day. This could effectively kill it since Tuesday was the deadline for bills to pass third reading in their house of origin. However, lawmakers can bypass that rule and revive it with a two-thirds vote.

SF 125 aims to halt the business council from initiating any new programs or expanding existing ones for a year, then completely cease all new grant, loan, and bond activity by April 2027. It also initially proposed creating a 13-member task force to evaluate every function of the agency and recommend to the 2027 Legislature which should be retained, reformed, privatized, transferred, or eliminated.

Despite the bill’s challenges, the business council itself remains intact in both chambers’ draft budgets.

The House's proposed budget plans to allocate $9.8 million to the agency for one year while legislators evaluate it. Meanwhile, the Senate's proposal would provide $55 million for the two-year period — half of what the agency requested but in line with the governor's recommendation.

Meanwhile, the discussion about the Business Council’s future will persist regardless. An amendment by Sen. Chris Rothfuss, D-Laramie, which was successfully advanced earlier this month, would direct the review to the Joint Minerals, Business and Economic Development Committee instead of the initially proposed standalone task force.

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