CHEYENNE — Gov. Mark Gordon discussed hot-button issues with members of the media during a Zoom conference Thursday, where he addressed questions on Wyoming’s election security, local control and public concerns over concealed carry of guns in the Capitol Extension.
WyoFile state government and politics reporter Maggie Mullen asked the governor for his thoughts on local control after the University of Wyoming bent to political pressure and pulled its volleyball team out of a match against San José State, which has a transgender player. Mullen mentioned that local control “has long held sway” in the Wyoming Legislature, although “more recently, Republican lawmakers have grown divided over it.”
“Do you think that kind of pressure upholds local control?” Mullen said.
Gordon responded that members of the Legislature tend to weigh in on topics that interest them.
“An issue that we should all recognize is that the higher you get in government, the more you sort of tend to think you can solve everyone’s problems,” Gordon said. “I don’t think that’s particularly Republican.”
The governor added that he supported the university’s decision to pull out of the match, and, from his understanding, the team was divided over the issue. However, Gordon also added that UW receives funding from the Legislature, “and that gives the university some responsibility to be responsive to them.”
Jackson Hole News&Guide state government reporter Jasmine Hall inquired about the governor’s recent executive order that prohibits state agencies from distributing voter registration materials to noncitizens in the state of Wyoming.
“In Teton County, well over 15% of our population is Hispanic or Latino. Do you think rhetoric and executive orders such as these place further scrutiny or intimidate Latino or Hispanic voters who are citizens?” Hall said.
Gordon responded that “it seemed appropriate” to make sure the Cowboy State doesn’t “participate in any effort to make sure ineligible voters have the ability to register.” The governor said he’s had several conversations with county clerks who felt that the order was helpful.
He also said that he’s received a lot of pushback after he vetoed two proposed voter registration rules from Secretary of State Chuck Gray earlier this year.
However, Gordon said Gray’s rule changes “exceeded his authority” as secretary of state. This conclusion didn’t just come from the governor, Gordon said, but also the attorney general and the Legislative Service Office.
In regard to intimidating Latino and Hispanic voters from going to the polls, Gordon said he doesn’t “want to try to intimidate anybody.”
“It’s not always easy. It isn’t always the simplest thing to be a citizen,” Gordon said. “Sometimes it takes courage.”
The Wyoming Tribune Eagle asked the governor to comment on a recent online survey from the State Construction Department, in relation to allowing concealed carry of guns in the Capitol Extension, an underground corridor connecting the Wyoming Capitol and Herschler Building.
More than 130 public comments were received in the survey, and 87% were against allowing firearms in the Capitol, citing safety and political intimidation concerns. The governor said he wouldn’t disregard those concerns, but added that it wasn’t a very large sample size.
“There’s been a lot of people that have expressed both sides of that sentiment. To me, I think that’s an evolving conversation,” Gordon said. “I would encourage people, as they feel strongly about this issue, to continue to put in … that comment period.”
ARPA funding
Before he fielded questions from the media, Gordon opened the discussion with the latest update on federal funding through the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA).
The federal government requires all states to commit to specific uses of ARPA funds by Dec. 31, and spend the funds by Dec. 31, 2026.
“We’ve really tried to make sure those dollars have been deployed in lasting assets, because countrywide there was so much demand for this,” Gordon said. “We’re now reaching the end of it.”
ARPA funds cannot be appropriated until those contracts are finalized, Gordon said, and several Wyoming communities struggled to find contractors to get those plans into place.
“It’s been hard to make sure some of those projects can get finished. We anticipated this,” Gordon said.
In June, Gordon announced that any ARPA funds not fully obligated by Oct. 1 “may be recaptured, and we will make one final attempt to use these funds in an appropriate way under the federal guidelines.” The governor said Thursday that some of that funding is already coming back in after it was realized some projects, such as the Wheatland water tower, wouldn’t be ready by that deadline.
State officials will meet at the end of the month to discuss distributing funds to existing projects in place, Gordon said, among other options, such as the use of Mineral Royalty Grants (MRGs) and emergency funding.
“The plans are in place,” Gordon said. “We believe that it’s going to be possible for these to continue, if we can make sure that what are called Mineral Royalty Grants are passed by this Legislature.”
Wildfire efforts
Gordon said the state will be dipping into its Legislative Stabilization Reserve Account, also known as the “rainy day fund,” to access about $20 million to continue the fight against wildfires. Wildfires that sparked across the state over the summer, and new fires that blazed in recent weeks, have already soaked up approximately $39 million from the state’s Emergency Fire Suppression Account.
“The amount of acreage that we’ve burned up in Wyoming is unprecedented,” Gordon said. “I hate that term, because I end up having to use it a lot this year, but it is. It’s extraordinary.”
The Elk Fire and Pack Trail Fire recently sprang up in Sheridan and Teton counties over the last two weeks. The former fire is currently burning a little over 76,000 acres and is 15% contained. The House Draw Fire, which ignited Aug. 21 and was reported to be 94% contained by Sept. 9, was the second-largest in Wyoming history, Gordon said. It burned more than 174,500 acres, according to InciWeb.
The Elk Fire has negatively affected water supplies for Dayton, Ranchester and Sheridan, Gordon said. Wyoming is working with both the federal Environmental Protection Agency and state Department of Environmental Quality to address water supply and safety issues for residents, the governor said. A list of resources is currently being compiled and is available at bit.ly/wy-wildfire.
