Governor Gordon Budget Vetoes: Freedom Caucus ”Ready To Override”

Wyoming Governor Mark Gordon has issued line item vetoes of the budget approved by state lawmakers during the 2026 Budget session.

Legislators would need a 2/3 majority in both houses to override the vetoes. The legislature is set to adjourn by midnight on Wednesday, March 11.

You can see the governor's veto letter to legislative leaders here.

One of the items Gordon has vetoed is a requirement that the University of Wyoming must submit a study detailing ways to save $5 million by the end of the year or risk losing $10 million in block grant money.

The legislature's Joint Appropriations Committee had at one point cut $40 million in block grant funding for UW from Gordon's proposed budget. But the House eventually reduced that amount to a $20 million cut, with the other $20 million dependent on the University submitting a report by the end of the year detailing ways to save $5 million.

The Senate, meanwhile in it's proposed budget restored the full $40 million in funding.

A conference committee formed to resolve the differences between the budgets submitted by the House and Senate reached a compromise in which the university would lose $10 million in block grant money if it was not able to submit the plan on ways to save $5 million. The final budget approved by both houses and sent to the governor included that provision.

Gordon: Plan Requirement ''Stepping Over Dollars For Nickels And Dimes

But Governor Gordon on Thursday vetoed the requirement for a cost saving plan. In a veto letter, the governor called the requirement for the study "potentially stepping over dollars to pick up nickels and dimes.

The governor also vetoed a "contraction date" for the Wyoming Business Council of June 30, 2026. However, he did not overturn a cut in Business Council to $14 million. His budget had proposed allocating $55 million to the council

The Wyoming Freedom Caucus: ''Ready To Override"

The Wyoming Freedom Caucus, in a message on it's Facebook page, wrote the following: