KGWN –Cheyenne, WY– Scottsbluff, NE News,Weather, SportsLegislators Discuss Budget Session

Legislators Discuss Budget Session

After Governor Mead gave his address, members of the House and Senate reacted, talking about what could happen during this budget session.

Senators and House Representatives had opinions on a lot of topics, but redistricting and the budget were two of the most widely discussed.

Both Democrats and Republicans said they are in line with the governor and agree the state needs to invest what it can.

"I will say this, I think that despite the fact that we've seen some softening commodity prices, you're not going to see us hunker down completely. We've got some investments to make," said (R) Ed Buchanan, House Speaker.

There's been a lot of talk about cuts to this year's budget because of lagging natural gas prices, but Senator Tony Ross says that's not accurate.

"I will tell you that is a misnomer. We have not cut standard budget, we are just trying to hold the line for where we were in the previous budget," Ross said.

If prices stay near $2.50 per mcf for natural gas, Ross admits they might have to re-evaluate the budget.

"If that maintains you might see re-adjustment in our budget as we move forward. Right now we're not planning on that," Ross said.

The redistricting bill will come to the floor of the House later this week. It's an issue that's been going on for months and could take most if not all of the budget session to come to an agreement.

"Redistricting is something that I believe is a process that's gone very well. It has been incredibly contentious. There have been a lot of views brought forward. A lot of disagreement," said (D) Senator Chris Rothfuss.

Mead touched on investing in infrastructure and roads during his address. House Representative Mary Throne says roads are imperative for our energy industry.

"They need roads to get to drilling sites to get the natural gas and oil that we need to sustain our budget," Throne said.

They're scheduled for a 20 day session, but because of finishing three days early last year they do have three extra days available if needed to finalize discussions which might be needed to reach an agreement on redistricting.