Tagged: Gov. Matt Mead

Governor Matt Mead and his policy director, Shawn Reese, released an energy policy for Wyoming at a press conference today. The policy contains 47 initiatives broken down into categories including economic competitiveness and expansion, regulation, conservation, and education. Reese said there were a number of hallmark initiatives.

Wyoming Governor Matt Mead has signed a lottery bill into law.            

The Governor’s approval means that Wyoming can either form its own state lottery or enter into a multi-state lottery on July first. 

A C-E-O and a nine member board will oversee the lottery.  Mead said last week that he was weighing the pros and cons of the lottery, but ultimately decided to sign the bill to keep Wyoming residents from driving to other states to purchase lottery tickets.  Mead says he wants to keep those dollars in Wyoming. 

Mayors from communities surrounding Yellowstone National Park are asking the state of Wyoming to help pay for snow removal to help Yellowstone open its roads on time. 

Yellowstone officials say the snow removal has been delayed due to the federal sequestration.  But Governor Matt Mead says he has reservations about using state dollars to pay for federal obligations.    

The Wyoming Legislative session has ended.  In his closing comments to lawmakers, Governor Matt Mead acknowledged that lawmakers had a difficult

“I asked in my state of the state for 6 percent budget cuts and you delivered that,” Mead said. “I asked in my state of the state to provide some flexibility in terms of where we go in the future in large projects.  You provided that.  I asked for in my budget to fund landfills, a Gillette-Madison water project, the School of Engineering.  You addressed all of those.”

Wyoming Governor Matt Mead has line item vetoed three areas of the state supplemental budget.  The governor vetoed a section that involved the management of surplus state money and he vetoed a section that required state agencies to consider more budget cuts.  Mead says it doesn’t make sense for agencies to re-do that exercise, especially since it’s possible that the state may get more revenue.

A consortium of environmental groups are suing the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service for removing Wyoming wolves from the Endangered Species List.

Now that federal protections have ended, Wyoming controls wolf management. The state’s plan allows the animals to be shot on sight throughout most of the state. In northwest Wyoming, there’s a limited hunting season, and the animals are protected for the rest of the year.

But Andrew Wetzler with the Natural Resources Defense Council says those protections won’t maintain a viable wolf population.

One reason why the Governor is going ahead with budget cuts is because he wants to make sure the state has enough money to pay for emergencies. 

For example, the state will likely spend 50-million dollars to pay for 2012 forest fires.  

Governor Matt Mead said that weather forecast show that there is a good chance that the state will face a similar fire season next year.

Wyoming got some good news from the latest Consensus Revenue Estimating Group report, but it won’t be enough to stop budget cuts from occurring.   CREG reports that state revenue should increase by $85 million, mainly from projected Sales and Use tax revenue. 

But Governor Matt Mead says that will not be enough to keep him from suggesting eight-percent budget cuts to the legislature.  

CREG Co-Chairman Bill Mai says the group is cautious about a downturn in the coal industry, but they remain hopeful about other energy prices.

Wyoming is set to take over management of wolves on Monday. Earlier this month, U.S. Fish and Wildlife decided to remove the animals from the endangered species list.

Wyoming’s management plan allows wolves to be shot on sight in most of the state. In a few areas, a license will be required.

Gov. Matt Mead says he’s pleased that the state will now have control.

 Governor Matt Mead hopes to move forward in finding a new Oil and Gas Supervisor.  The governor accepted the resignation of former Supervisor Tom Doll after Doll said unflattering things about those affected by water contamination in Pavillion. 

Mead Spokesman Renny MacKay says the governor will soon visit with the Oil and Gas Commission to determine how to go about a search. 

“He does want to work quickly on this but he says it’s most important to be thorough.  And so he’s not going to rush the process, but he does want it to move along quickly.”

The state of Wyoming is asking the U-S Supreme Court to consider the state’s challenge of the Clinton-era Roadless rule.

The rule makes road building, logging and development off limits in some areas of national forests.  Federal Judge Clarence Brimmer had previously agreed with the state that the U-S Forest Service exceeded its authority by creating the rule. 

Wyoming has contended that only Congress could take such action.  The Brimmer ruling has been overturned and Governor Matt Mead is hoping that the U-S Supreme Court will give it one last hearing.

Bob Beck recently spoke with Gov. Matt Mead in his office about a number of topics including proposed state budget cuts.