Small Town News

Budget session kicks into high gear during second week

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Senate report

After what he described as a slow first week, Sen. Ray Peterson (R-Cowley) has been plenty busy early in Week Two of the 2010 budget session of the Wyoming Legislature.

Peterson, a member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, said the committee worked late Monday night and even got to the afternoon session late after working during the noon hour.

"We finished up the budget yesterday," Peterson said Tuesday morning. "We reviewed footnotes and wording, going through it agency by agency in the morning and at noon. We got back to the floor late yesterday afternoon because we were close and wanted to get it done so the staff could finalize a draft bill. Next week all of the legislature will have a chance to go over it agency by agency, and each member of the appropriations committee will take an agency and represent it on the floor."

Peterson said the Joint Appropriations Committee made very few changes to the governor's recommended budget during pre-session work, and he doesn't expect the legislature to make many changes, either.

He said the JAC left some $18 million for the legislature to appropriate for separate bills and noted that some of the bills being considered have "sizeable appropriations."

"We'll see how those play out," he said. "They're working through committees now."

All bills are considered by an appropriate committee, but those with an appropriation attached must also go before the Senate or House appropriations committee, as well, and the bills began flowing in this week, Peterson said.

"They're stacking up," he said. "We're working as fast as we can." RETIREMENT FUNDING

Monday night, Peterson said, the SAC worked on plans to inject money into the Wyoming state employee retirement fund, which lost $2 billion over the last year and a half with the stock market slump.

The devaluation of the retirement fund portfolio has left a big hole to fill in order to make the fund actuarially sound, Peterson said, noting that the governor recommended appropriating $48 million but setting it aside for a year to see if the fund bounces back. The SAC wanted to act this year, however, choosing to inject the $48 million into the fund this year.

"We didn't want to wait," Peterson said.

The appropriations committee is planning a three-pronged attack for retirement fund solvency, Peterson said: 1) putting $48 million back into the retirement fund directly, 2) having employees participate in the fund by splitting the contribution with the state to the tune of 1.4 percent of each paycheck, and 3) working for a better return on the portfolio. He said he hopes the fund will become solvent within three years.

As for other areas of funding, the SAC changed the funding for the School Facilities Committee. The governor had recommended cutting the SFC biennial budget by $20 million from $181 million to $161 million at the SFC's request, Peterson said, but the SAC modified the budget to make $110 available this year but holding back $50 million for the second year of the biennium.

That change knocked four projects off the priority list for this year, Peterson said, but there could be money that reverts back to the SFC due to competitive bids and the $50 million could grow by the following year, he noted.

Cities, towns and counties are still scheduled to take a hit over the next two years, Peterson said, although the JAC did restore $20 million to the direct distribution formula for local governments, increasing the budget from $60 million to $80 million.

"We expect some amendments from the floor," Peterson said. "The community commissioners association said they would like to spread the wealth in the hardship formula to disperse it more evenly. But there's a lot of hurting out there."

Peterson said the SAC is trying to hold the line on tapping into state reserves, although the $20 million added back for local government came from "spillover" from the Permanent Mineral Trust Fund.

"We felt like we're opening the door," he said. "It's hard for us to defend our actions. The battle will be trying to stave off attacks on our reserves.

"The theme this year is there are a lot fewer fills and attention is focused on the budget and constitutional issues."

BILLS OF NOTE

Two bills of note passed the Senate on third reading Monday. Senate File 20 would prohibit texting while driving in Wyoming and passed the Senate 23-7 on third reading Monday with Peterson voting in favor.

The bill would prohibit the use of "electronic wireless communication devices for sending text or electronic mail messages" while operating a motor vehicle "on a public street or highway," making it illegal to write, send or read a text-based communication while operating a vehicle.

Exclusions include texting while the vehicle is lawfully parked, texting to contact an emergency response vehicle and writing, reading, selecting or entering a telephone number or name in a device for the purpose of making or receiving a telephone call. Also exempt are those operating an emergency response vehicle or performing official duties as an emergency responder.

Debate centered on the ability to enforce such a law, Peterson said, noting, "It's a tough bill to enforce." Efforts were made in the committee of the whole to make texting while driving a secondary offense rather than a primary offense, so that a person could only be cited after being stopped for another violation, but an amendment to do so failed.

Also passing on third reading Monday, 29-1, was a bill (SF19) to enhance penalties for driving while under the influence. Sponsored by Sen. Tony Ross (R-Cheyenne), the bill would increase the jail time for long-time repeat DUI offenders, make it illegal for people to operate a vehicle while under the influence of drugs and also police officers to test a driver's blood alcohol level within two hours of the suspect being behind the wheel and/or arrested.

The bill would also increase the time during which second-, third- and fourth-offense penalties can accrue from five years to 10 years after the first-offense conviction.

Contact Senator Ray Peterson: rpeterson@Wyoming.com 272-9705 777-7711 Hotlines: Bill status: 1-800-342-9570 Voter: 866-996-8683 http://legisweb.state.wy.us



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