CHEYENNE, Wyo.– Governor Gordon will put his personal stamp on the budget process and take a new approach as he builds his first budget in the coming months. The budget letter released by the Governor yesterday directs state agencies to make their plans for a two-year cycle, and any supplemental requests made a year from now will have to meet an urgent demand or be in response to an emergency.

“I have asked each agency to look broadly and deeply when considering what they require to better serve the people of Wyoming,” Governor Gordon said. “With a tight revenue stream, not all needs will be funded. I have also asked agency heads to look for efficiencies to minimize the impact should cuts need to be taken, but my aim is to truly make this a two-year budget as our constitution calls for.”

The Governor emphasized that each agency should budget for the full two years of the biennium, beginning July 1, 2020 and ending June 30, 2022. Supplemental budgets should only be for items which are emergency in nature, and requests to bring back funding for past cuts will be rejected.

Gov. Gordon also instructed agencies to add a “State of the Agency” narrative that makes each budget easier for the public to understand and demonstrates the services that each agency provides to Wyoming. He requested that each budget narrative contain a department overview, as well as additional explanations and less jargon.

“I want to make sure all citizens can easily access and track our state’s spending and revenues. Governor Gordon said. “This is a step towards that, as is a new website that we will roll out in November with my budget. We want to make it easy for the public to find information about my proposal and follow along as the Legislature reviews the budget in 2020 and ultimately votes on it.

The Governor will meet with agency heads to review their budget requests in early fall. The Legislature’s 2020 Budget Session begins on February 10.