By Jasmine Hall
Jackson Hole News&Guide
Via- Wyoming News Exchange

JACKSON — While many Wyoming politicians are turning their attention to the 2026 election, Gov. Mark Gordon said his focus is on the state budget.

At the Wyoming Press Association’s winter convention in Casper, the Jackson Hole Daily asked Gordon on Friday about his plans to run for public office this year. He dodged the question.

“You’ll be the first to know,” Gordon said. “While everybody else is thinking about running for election and how to do that, we have a budget.”

He said his job this winter is getting through the Wyoming Legislature’s upcoming budget session. 

The governor spent about 45 minutes answering questions from Wyoming journalists and was critical of the Joint Appropriations Committee’s votes this week to axe state spending, including for the University of Wyoming.

“You can lead your Legislature to water,” he said, quoting former Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour. “But you can’t make them think.”

Lawmakers are set to return to Cheyenne on Feb. 9 to plan out the state’s finances for the next two years.

But the Joint Appropriations Committee already made headlines this week over its finalized draft budget, which proposes significant cuts to agencies like the Wyoming Department of Health, the Wyoming Business Council and the University of Wyoming. Gordon said the committee has “weighed in on one vision of Wyoming” — and suggested it’s not one he agrees with.

Many newer members of the Joint Appropriations Committee are part of the far-right Wyoming Freedom Caucus in the House of Representatives. They have argued that state government has gotten too big. This week, they said it’s time to cut back on spending and be more responsible with taxpayer dollars, as well as to prepare for hard times in the future.

But Sen. Ogden Driskill, R-Devils Tower, who has been in the Legislature for more than a decade, has been a dissenting voice on the committee. He said the state isn’t facing hard times right now. He said the preemptive cuts aren’t needed because the budget is balanced and revenue is on track. The two Democrats on the committee, including Sen. Mike Gierau, D-Jackson, are also fighting efforts to slash spending.

In contrast to the Freedom Caucus, the moderate group has even argued that because the state is so well off, millions should be put away into permanent savings accounts with a higher interest yield that can’t be touched by lawmakers. Freedom Caucus members, however, want the money more available to the Wyoming Legislature in case revenue falters.

Gordon said he recognizes how the state’s financial portfolio has tanked in the past with the boom and bust of Wyoming’s extractive industries.

But he said state officials have made a concerted effort to address volatility by budgeting conservatively and saving for the future during good times. The state is also reaping the benefits of the Wyoming Treasurer’s Office having created a stable source of revenue from investments that have produced $913 million this year, Gordon said.

While saying he didn’t want to speak ill of anyone, the governor said he was concerned about lawmakers saying that a “fiscal cliff” is arriving.

“That can be a dream come true if you decide you’re going to make it happen that way,” he said.

The budget is not close to set in stone.

Throughout February and March, the rest of the Legislature will have the opportunity to change the Joint Appropriation Committee’s budget bill.

Gordon said some of the cuts the Legislature is considering “are going to be hard to address.” He does have veto power, but the Senate and House can override his objections with two-thirds majorities. Some organizations, like the University of Wyoming, may need to step up their fundraising efforts, he added.

The governor also said he is paying close attention to what is described as a “cut” and what isn’t. 

The Legislature may move spending out of the budget bill and put it into a separate bill, as it did with more than $300 million in federal funding from the Rural Health Transformation Program. That doesn’t pencil to an actual cut, Gordon said. It’s just moving money.

“That’s sort of the gamesmanship that I think people in Wyoming aren’t going to accept,” he said. “It’s far more important to do what you say you’re going to do.”

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