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By Renée Jean, business and tourism reporter
[email protected]
A bill to stabilize the Wyoming Office of Outdoor Recreation’s funding and create a grant program for the agency was introduced largely intact Tuesday by the Joint Travel, Recreation, Wildlife and Cultural Resources Committee.
There were two applications targeting the grant escrow threshold, with one passing and the other failing.
trust fund
Rep. Pat Sweeney’s first motion, R-Casper, proposed lowering the escrow’s initial threshold from $50 million to $25 million.
Sweeney wasn’t sure there would be any remaining ARPA money for the trust fund, and he feared $50 million might be too aggressive to fly in the upcoming legislature.
“Does the number have to be that big first?” he asked.
Rep. Sandy Newsome, R-Cody countered that $25 million would not be enough.
“I think the idea was that with that number — Director (Darin) Westby, correct me if I’m wrong — we’re funding about half of the outdoor recreation office at that point,” she said. “That might be like $500,000?”
Westby, director of Wyoming State Parks and Cultural Resources, confirmed that the trust fund is expected to provide approximately $500,000 per year for operations and approximately $2 million in grants for outdoor recreation opportunities statewide.
Sen. Mike Gierau added that if the trust isn’t enough, it’s difficult to come back later for more money.
“I don’t want to blame you for everything,” he said in a nod to the Joint Appropriations Committee, triggering laughter from the small audience gathered in person for the Cheyenne hearing. One shouted, “Please do.”
Gierau laughed and readily obeyed.
Do the whole job
“Like I said, I have this argument every time I come home from a session with my wife,” he said. “She says take out the trash and I say, ‘Can I take out half the garage today and half the trash tomorrow?’
“When the bag hits me in the face, I know I’m home. Because at JAC we used to say that about everything. If you said $50 million, we’d say $25. And I don’t know, so I’d like to keep it there.”
ARPA
Regarding ARPA funds related to pandemic relief, Gierau said he’s observed actual spending and so far it’s been pitifully low.
“I mean really, out of $3 billion, $200 million just walked out the door,” he said. “I did not see it. So there is a lot of money floating around here. If we have the will (we can), whatever amount will come out.
“So I’d like to see it stay at 50 and see where we’re going, see if we can get funding to work on maybe other streams of funding.”
A new credit report is also coming out on Wednesday, Gierau said, which could give the committee more insight.
“We’ll find out by 3 p.m. tomorrow afternoon that we have more money than we thought,” he said. “We know we have not yet committed that $57 million (in ARPA funds).”
Not all money settled yet
There will also be a multitude of reports over the coming months on how other funds are doing and what has actually been issued and what will be carried over.
“We’re going to find out a lot of information by the time this group or its new form reassembles in January,” Gierau said. “I think we’ll know more then, but I would hate if we left anything on the cutting room floor right now.”
Newsome added that $50 million is just the threshold at which funds from the trust will become available.
“Leaving the $50 million where it sits is a good way to go,” she said.
Sweeney’s measure failed due to a vote.
Strengthened by sales tax
However, the accepted application came from Newsome. She requested the deletion of a paragraph that would take 10% of sales taxes credited to the trust fund until they equaled either $50 million or the calendar reached July 1, 2026, whichever comes first.
Newsome felt that some of the legislation required more work and that it could be detrimental to the bill if left as is.
Senator Bill Landen said the bill would be immediately criticized if it lacked a funding mechanism.
“People will ask, ‘Well, how are you going to fund this?'” he said. “And we’re going to look at it and say, ‘Well, I didn’t say anything in the bill, that’s up to you guys.'”
Leaving lawmakers to find a funding model is likely a false start, Rep. Jeremy Haroldson said approvingly.
“The funding model is the tricky part,” he said. “That’s always the tricky part. How do we finance this? How do we implement this reality? Is there a 10% sales tax deduction or you know – sorry I’ll take another hit – possibly an occupancy tax. We have to come to that.”
Committee members previously confirmed that there is no plan to take money from the lodging tax.
Newsome, influenced by her colleagues, tabled a “friendly amendment” in which she retained the language but changed the percentage that passed from 10% to 5%.
The safe way
Westby told Cowboy State Daily after the meeting the change would mean it would take two years instead of one to reach the trust fund’s $50 million threshold. It’s not ideal, but this is how “we live to fight another day”.
The amended Outdoor Trust Fund legislation was passed by a two-no vote by roll-call. That means it will be among the bills presented by the Joint Committee on Travel, Recreation, Wildlife and Cultural Resources to the next legislature. The two no votes were Sen. Tim Salazar, R-Riverton, and Rep. Mark Jennings, R-Sheridan.
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