EVANSTON — On Thursday, March 28, the Evanston Chamber of Commerce hosted a brunch and open forum at the Roundhouse. The opportunity provided local legislators — Sen. Wendy Schuler and Reps. Jon Conrad, Ryan Berger and Scott Heiner — to debrief the recent state legislative budget session with their constituents.

Schuler opened the event explaining that the state budget barely passed by three votes. Had it not passed, “it would have been devastating, everyone would have been affected,” Schuler said. “We can’t act like the federal government and not pass a budget.”

A frustrated Schuler elaborated that much time and energy was squandered during the session because other members were trying to legislate personal, localized interests rather than focusing on the state budget, invoking “pork barrel” politics. Schuler reported that the budget that was agreed upon was 3% less than the last session, which was two years ago.

“I feel like the Senate failed miserably,” she said. “They took four days to meet with the House, and people aren’t willing to compromise on anything. You gotta give a little to get a little.”

While Schuler insinuated that the legislature was inundated with a nearly-unprecedented number of introduced bills, she was pleased that certain bills were passed, such as the property tax 4% cap bill and the homeowner’s property tax bill geared toward relieving tax burdens on the 65 and older demographic.

Heiner spent his allotted five-minute speaking time expressing frustration with Gov. Mark Gordon’s vetoing of Senate File (SF) 54, which would have exempted up to 25% of assessed property value up to $2 million dollars. Heiner suggested the bill — and “four or five others” — be revisited via special session. “We could go through three readings, then a Zoom meeting. One [legislative meeting] day costs $35,000, then legislators could agree not to accept a salary ... then $50,000, ending with a Zoom meeting. It would cost everyone in the state nine cents to give $220 million dollars back to the tax payers. [Otherwise] there’s no relief coming this year.”

The majority of both the house and senate and/or the Governor can call for a special legislative session to address issues left unresolved from the budget session.  Schuler and Berger were against holding a special session, while Conrad said, “I voted yes per my constituency and their feedback, emails and conversations.”

Heiner was particularly hopeful for the opportunity of a special session to revisit property tax relief. That, however, will not happen because the legislature voted on March 31 not to hold a special session.

“It was a very interesting budget session,” said Berger.  “I don’t agree with the governor’s veto; I’m disappointed with that.”

Like Schuler, Berger said he was pleased that the 4% property tax cap passed, as well as the homestead exemption. “I really like what we did for our veterans,” he said, highlighting SF 89, which raised the long-standing veterans tax exemption from $3,000 per year to $6,000 per year.

Berger noted other “really good bills,” such as ensuring transparency with prior authorization, and health insurance reimbursement acts. “I was excited to see those go through,” he said

“We worked really hard to get a budget together. I feel like the budget is fiscally responsible,” Berger concluded.

Conrad was pleased that four of the five property tax relief bills were passed, though he noted SF 54 was “contentious.” He further delighted in the passing of SF 9, which guarantees parental rights within education.

Conrad implored attendees to look into the Kelly Parcel, prime land bordering Grand Teton National Park that the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) is currently pursuing. According to House Bill (HB) 1 enrolled act 50 section 324, “They have to strike the alternative resource plan in Rock Springs to finalize the sale,” Conrad said.

“The most disappointing thing for me,” Conrad continued, “I fought bitterly for $40 million for suicide prevention, and to keep our [988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline] service centers [in Greybull and Casper] open — for calls and texts — it was chipped away to $10 million. Fifteen thousand people have called and only 2% of those calls required de-escalation. It’s working. But suicide is killing our youth, veterans and seniors.”

Event moderator Uinta County Commissioner Brent Hatch took an opportunity to thank the legislators for their efforts before opening the floor for questions.

Cris Hopkin, who identified himself as a member of the Uinta Conservative Accountability Movement, acknowledged, “all the hard work you’ve done, but there’s no tax reform — 4% raise every year for eternity.  I’m here to change things at the local level. You can’t do it from the top down.”

Conrad replied using the example of SF 89, which raised the veterans tax exemption amount after a decade at the same rate. He further cited that for every $1 paid into taxes, citizens receive $13 dollars in services.

“We’re trying,” he said. “We worked our tails off, and it’s disappointing that you can criticize us from your pulpit of misinformation.”

Uinta County Sheriff Andy Kopp asked the legislators why they voted against the increase in death benefits to the family of Sheridan police Sgt. Nevada Krinkee, who was killed in the line of duty on Feb. 13 this year. 

Heiner fielded the question by explaining that had the increase — from $62,000 to $90,000 — been addressed in February, it would have been a temporary solution.

“It should be a separate bill, not during the budget session,” he said. “I was willing to do it, personally, but it was on a budget bill, so it would have only been good for two years.”

One attendee mentioned previous experience with squatters in her home and openly inquired about what the legislature has planned to address such an issue, “to protect us and our rights from someone invading our space,” she said.

Both Schuler and Berger responded by saying the it’s something they’re aware of and that needs to be addressed at the state level.

Jeanne Zappia thanked everyone for their “attempts,” but said, “None of these bills help me at all, as a senior. I’m not a veteran. I haven’t been in my home for 25 years.”

She said that rising property taxes affect everyone, young and old.

Hopkin interjected that “fake news” has put out that the 50% off property tax ballot initiative is dead. “It’s not dead,” he said. “We’re still collecting signatures.”

Schuler said she hopes voters will take note of a ballot initiative this fall that will differentiate taxes between residential and agricultural properties.

“We have $28 billion dollars in our state savings. At what point do we give some of that back to the taxpayers?” asked Heiner.

“Taxes are complicated,” Berger said. “They have to be three things: they have to be fair; they have to be equitable; and they have to be sustainable. We have to make those tax goals long term, and we still have a lot of work to do with property taxes. And we have to be careful so that we don’t lose services,” he said, citing education, construction and emergency services that are funded through taxes.

“Our savings account is for our future,” Berger said. He shared that he witnessed his parents’ financial struggles with inflation in the 1980s before pointing out that property tax, “doesn’t go up 4% every year, but it’s capped at 4%. At least it’s not 10% or 20%.”

Dan Wheeler, a member of the Evanston school board, asked if Uinta County is suffering “blowback” from its participation in an ongoing 2022 lawsuit brought by the Wyoming Education Association against the state for allegedly underfunding education in several school districts.

“I don’t think we’re funding education properly,” replied Berger, expressing the importance of and hope in a recalibration model. He also surmised that the pushback was more against Wyoming Education Association and not Uinta County School District No. 1 in particular.

Heiner highlighted the differential treatment between counties and education allowances, citing Berger’s denied request for $340,000 for the Evanston High School’s athletic dome project compared to the vast, spendy construction projects allocated to Natrona County High School in Casper.

“If it isn’t equitable, we do have some issues,” Heiner said.

“Public funds have been used to prop up private schools, and it’s unconstitutional and it will be challenged,” Schuler said. “In the senate, if we can get eight or 10 votes for education, we’re lucky. A lot of people don’t support education.”

Wheeler mentioned that with teacher recruitment, it has been difficult to be competitive because incentivization is non-existent.

He said, “UCSD is the third lowest funded county in the state,” at which point Berger corrected him, “the second lowest.”

“The school district contributes $26 million to this community, there’s no money for capital construction for schools. We’re going to bond for them, and people don’t want that,” Wheeler said.

Berger said, “I see teachers that don’t want to teach anymore, they want out — like police officers. I’m seeing a lot of state and federal testing used against teachers. We need to do better as a community.”

“Folks don’t want to vote for incentives,” added Schuler, explaining that there was a bill initiative to incentivize teachers which failed to gain traction.

An attendee introduced herself as an educator in Basin. Having grown up in Evanston, she said she would like to return, but would incur an $11,000 annual pay cut to do so.

“I would like to come back, but it’s a financial choice,” she said. 

Local rancher Vance Broadbent inquired about session takeaways and benefits for the agriculture industry. Conrad answered by explaining new grazing lease extensions to thirty days; and a bill monitoring water exchange, “not selling them downstream,” he said.

Conrad also highlighted HB 168 which bans foreign ownership of agricultural lands.

Uinta County Sheriff Andy Kopp said law enforcement is overwhelmed from dealing with mental health issues.

“When will the state start working together?” he asked. “It’s argument after argument — you’re there for the people, not yourselves,” expressing further frustration with the Wyoming Department of Health. “They refuse to help.”

Berger recognized the difficulty of differentiating between a mental health crisis and breaking the law.

Heiner said, “Spending on mental health rose from $170 million to $230 million, but we have not solved the problem,” he said before indicating that discussions of gender identity are “creating problems.”

Schuler said, “Our schools will be able to hire more counselors. It [the budget session] wasn’t all bad; we did some good things.”