Governor Mark Gordon of Wyoming gave his state of the state, discussing his budget for the upcoming fiscal year. His focus was on things like veterans, healthcare, and the economy.
Governor Gordon vocalized the importance of protecting the state’s veterans and their mental health. To do this, he asked the state legislature to approve more dollars from the American Rescue Plan to help support these veterans, especially in the area of suicide prevention. The governor’s budget also provides funds to open and staff new veveterankilled nursing facilities.
In the region of healthcare, Governor Gordon briefly spoke of the recommendation from his health task force to provide funds to standardize emergency medical dispatch in Wyoming. He supports this effort and his budget includes the request for these funds. He promised that the healthcare system would be one of his top priorities in the year 2022.
The Governor’s main focus during his address was the economy. He first proposed $100 million to be added to the state’s savings. Gordon spoke of the need to focus on state employee salaries, as many employees are moving to other local or output-of-states for better pay. He hopes that they can work to increase pay for Wyoming state employees in hopes that it will encourage current employees to stay and new employees to join the state workforce. Along with this, he proposed more resources for the state engineer and the state attorney general.
The governor also focused on the need for taking care of the energy crisis in the state to keep the economy booming long-term. He asked for $100 million to be granted for embracing opportunities for large-scale energy projects. He hopes that they can find a strong middle-ground between using fossil fuels and renewable energy sources, as he sees both as being crucial for the state’s future. Finally, he proposed the use of one-time revenues to help fill the Wyoming Wildlife and Natural Resource Trust, which he says will help the state’s ranches, businesses, and way of life thrive.
The position of Governor is up for election in the year 2022, and Mark Gordon has stated that he is running for reelection. Wyoming residents will have the opportunity to attend the state’s primaries on August 16.
