Former Chairman of the Wyoming Freedom Caucus Rep. John Bear, R-Gillette, and current Senate President Ogden Driskill, R-Devils Tower, don’t always see eye to eye when it comes to handling Wyoming’s economy.
Bear, Driskill and Rep. Trey Sherwood, D-Laramie, previewed the upcoming 2025 general session during Thursday’s Governor’s Business Forum hosted by the Wyoming Business Alliance in Laramie. The panel was moderated by WBA President Renny MacKay.
Newly elected members of Wyoming’s 68th Legislature will take their seats in both chambers in January, and the Wyoming Freedom Caucus, a group of hardline Republicans, will take control of the House of Representatives.
MacKay asked Bear, whom he informally called “Christmas Future,” about the future state of Wyoming’s budget. The representative alluded to some floating concerns about the Legislature’s Joint Appropriations Committee, which could see major turnover at the new Legislature.
“I would be very honored to be a part of that,” Bear said.
He said the state has “some real challenges ahead,” nodding to the recently ordered breach of the LaPrelle Dam and the need to replenish the state’s depleted wildfire funds. More than that, Bear said he was focused on returning tax dollars to Wyomingites.
Driskill, on the other hand, believes that the best use of state funds is not to return them to taxpayers, but to invest them so that future generations in Wyoming will be prosperous.
Driskill, who will not return to the Legislature next year, said there is a narrative circulating about the state’s financial position that “the sky is falling.”
“Folks, the sky is not falling,” Driskill said. “Wyoming has more savings per capita than any state in the country.”
An October report from the Consensus Revenue Estimating Group (CREG) showed that fiscal year 2024 ended with a surplus of $173 million. Driskill said he wasn’t concerned about the next three to eight years as far as Wyoming’s economy is concerned.
“Companies do not cut back in times of prosperity. They are investing in their future,” Driskill said.
In response to Driskill’s comments, Bear said he has “higher expectations” of Wyoming taxpayers. He believes in their ability to spend the money in the best way they see fit.
Property taxes
Wyoming residents have paid “generously” in property taxes in recent years, Bear said. It’s time to take money out of the state’s general fund, he said, and put it back in taxpayers’ pockets.
Driskill was firmly against this idea. Property taxes are controlled based on fair market value, which is beyond the power of the Legislature, he said, and help fund schools and other public services provided by local government.
“I am not in favor of transferring funds from our general fund that will cut off our funding for our government agencies. I am not in favor of doing that to give money back to the taxpayers of personal property,” Driskill said. ‘But we have to tackle it. There is no doubt that this needs to be addressed.”
Bear refuted the senator’s comments, saying Wyoming taxpayers “have provided us with a generous income over the years based on property values.”
“It’s time to get some relief in that area and probably come up with some reforms,” Bear said. “We have several ideas that we are going to put forward.”
Diversifying Wyoming’s economy
Driskill said he welcomes the diversification of energy industries moving to Wyoming, such as Bill Gates’ TerraPower, which is developing a next-generation nuclear power plant near Kemmerer. On a smaller scale, private landowners should be able to invest in wind and solar energy resources, he said, even if some people may disapprove of the subsidies that come with them.
“What happened to people, to private companies, who could invest however they wanted? You can hate the subsidies, that’s fine,” Driskill said. “You don’t like it, fight the policy, but don’t kill the guy who builds the business model.”
To attract more industries to Wyoming, Bear said the state should look at lowering taxes on businesses.
“My philosophy has always been that government needs to be much more efficient with a much smaller amount of dollars in the economy,” Bear said. “Personally, I think the majority of conservatives in the House of Representatives would agree with this statement.”
Bear also agreed that people should be able to do whatever they want with their country, even if he personally disagrees.
“If they can make money with their land for that, that’s good for them. I’m certainly not going to promote that at the government level,” Bear added.
