Legislators move to ‘de-earmark’ revenue

CHEYENNE — “De-earmarking” is the current buzzword in the Wyoming State Capitol, as legislators look toward freeing up new sources of revenue to pay for rising education costs without resorting to general tax increases.

More than

75 percent of Wyoming’s total revenue is earmarked for specific accounts or purposes, and the Legislature has no direct control over it. Some is inviolate, such as federal pass-through funds for specific programs such as Medicaid, or is constitutionally allocated to funds such as the Permanent Mineral Trust Fund.

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But a fairly large chunk, about $760 million, could be reallocated by the Legislature, primarily mineral royalties and mineral severance tax revenue currently earmarked for education, local government, highways and water development.

The money was earmarked about 20 years ago, when mineral revenue was gushing in faster than legislators could spend it. Ron Micheli, a long-time legislator who now heads the state Department of Agriculture, recalled that earmarking was a good idea then to prevent the Legislature from spending the windfall but doesn’t make sense now.

However, it makes sense to the beneficiaries. When legislators held a hearing on de-earmarking recently, local government officials talked about their critical need to maintain a steady revenue stream and the importance of water development. University of Wyoming president Phil Dubois warned that de-earmarking funds from the university could affect its bond rating.

The most likely source of funds from de-earmarking could be highways, with revenues made up by an increased fuel tax.