EVANSTON — The Evanston Chamber of Commerce held its annual legislative breakfast on Thursday, March 27, at 7:30 a.m. in the Portland Rose Room in the Roundhouse. Sixty-four people came to enjoy a continental breakfast and to ask questions of Reps. Joe Webb (HD-19), Robert Wharff (HD-49) and Scott Heiner (HD-18) and Sens. Wendy Schuler (SD-15) and Laura Pearson (SD-14).

Uinta County Commissioner Brent Hatch acted as moderator and timekeeper.

After each legislator gave a brief introductory statement, Hatch asked the audience if they had questions.

A woman in the audience said she was new to the area, and she wondered if the state was doing a similar effort as Elon Musk is doing at the federal level to curb spending.

Heiner said Wyoming does not have a revenue problem, and the state does not have a DOGE, but it is something they should look at doing. He said citizens should be looking closely at how they are spending personally.

The next question had to do with the 25% reduction in property taxes and the impact it might have on city and county services.

“People don’t understand,” Wharff said. “They believe that 70% of that money goes to education; regardless, we are required to fully fund education. We hear about money that comes from oil and gas tax going into a rainy-day account. That is an issue we are taking a good look at. That money is reserved for future development of oil, gas and coal.”

Heiner agreed that the schools will not see any impact from the property tax cut. Property tax has gone up 70% in the last three to four years, he said, and with this tax reduction, cities and counties will have less revenue, but they will need to decide what is most important and prioritize.

“The bill the House passed had a 100% back-up for cities and counties, but the Senate and the governor told the House they would not support the back-up and the governor would veto it. Why would he do that?” Heiner said. “Why? I think they didn’t want us to control the revenue. How dare you? My opinion is they want you to feel the hurt so you won’t vote for the 50% property tax cut, which will be on the ballot in 2026.”

Heiner explained that the House had a $17 million back-up in the bill but, after negotiations with the Senate over the 50% reduction in property tax, they agreed to a 25% property tax reduction if they took the back-up monies out of the bill. He said the House then added the back-up in the budget bill, but that bill was killed.

Pearson agreed with Heiner and said she felt the property tax issue should be on the ballot so the people can decide. She said she felt that some of the legislators had no say in the matter and there needs to be more transparency on everything.

“I found out about the supplemental budget being canceled the same way the public did,” Pearson said, “from reading it in Cowboy State Daily. That is very disturbing to me.”

Schuler said the Senate leadership could not agree on that, and she was concerned for special districts that the state sends relief to. She emphasized that the supplemental budget is for emergencies and also funds 100 different agencies in the state. She said she’s most concerned for disability and senior citizen programs.

Allen Jaggi, a Bridger Valley resident who was in the audience, said, “When I was in the legislature, I never voted for a supplemental budget, ever. We funded those 100 different agencies in the general budget for a period of two years. Why do you allow agencies to come and ask for additional funds? The supplemental budget is for emergencies only. What are your thoughts on that?”

Webb, Wharff and Heiner all said they agree with Jaggi 100%. Comments from all included the federal government’s spending problem. Heiner expressed concern that the state will not be able to meet expenses due to the budget not being passed, which will require a special session to approve moving funds from the state’s savings to the general budget.

“How do we rein in a federal government that has gotten too big? I think the economy will go through rough times before it gets better,” Wharff said. “The government will make it as painful as they can; that’s how the government maintains the monstrosity it is, and you are going to hurt and we will have to determine what are essential services.”

Hatch reminded people that the county commission will be working on its budget in the coming months and it is important that people come to them and let them know the needs in the county.

A new resident, Mark Kelly, asked the final question.

“Is there something each of you are especially proud of accomplishing this session and something you think is unfinished business?” he asked.

“That’s a good question,” Schuler said. “I wish the bill on banning cellphone use in schools had passed. There are some schools that have already implemented a ban, but I think it should be consistent throughout the state. I was pleased the three bills I sponsored passed: the bill on protecting women’s sports, the bill to allow child sexual violence victims to testify remotely, and the bill to allow termination of parental rights in cases where grandparents or another family member are raising the children for over 24 months, due to the parents being abusive, in jail, or on drugs.”

Pearson said she was happy that a bill passed allowing doctors to prescribe off-label drugs. She is going to pursue working on a bill to allow shared parenting between divorced parents. She said she thought it was interesting the legislature was trying to define what a woman is.

Webb said he was pleased about several bills passing, including the one on protecting women’s sports, the bill to protect minors from pornographic websites, and the bill that requires 30-day residency and proof of citizenship in order to vote in an election.

Wharff concurred with Pearson and Webb and added that he will continue to work on the bill on removing gun-free zones, for state’s sovereignty and protecting state lands.

The last to respond to that question was Heiner, who said he’s upset that the Biden administration had tried to shut down small oil producers by requiring a $500,000 bond on each well. He said he was proud the House passed a bill that allowed small producers to come together with a shared bond. He said he wants to continue to work on a bill to require that the state attorney general is an elected position, not one appointed by the governor.