Cheyenne Mayor Says Special Legislative Session Possible

While the 2016 session of the Wyoming Legislature is scheduled to wrap up on Friday, at last report members of the house and senate were still trying to reach agreement on how to distribute money for local governments across the state.

Cheyenne Mayor Rick Kaysen, meanwhile, says he's hearing the issue may require a special session to be resolved. The issue isn't the total amount of money to be allocated, as both houses have agreed to appropriate $105 million for cities, towns and counties across Wyoming.

But the two bodies don't agree on how the money should be split up. Senators want to give more money to communities across Wyoming that are facing budget hardships because of lower revenues. House members so far haven't agreed to that formula, which would cost communities such as Casper and Cheyenne money.

Kaysen says for Cheyenne the difference is roughly $800,000 annually over the next two years.

The mayor also says he believes there is a reasonable chance the two bodies won't be able to resolve their differences before the legislature is set to adjourn on Friday.

He believes that may lead Governor Matt Mead to call a special session of the legislature to resolve the issue, presumably sometime before the start of the new fiscal year on July 1.