Wyoming
Wyoming could lose $5 billion from Freedom Caucus’ investments bill. It advanced again Tuesday. – WyoFile
Despite estimates of billions in investment losses, Freedom Caucus lawmakers again advanced a bill Tuesday that would punish contracted financiers who invest Wyoming’s money in funds with environmental, social and governance goals.
The faction, newly in control of the House, is dead set against seeing public investments put into such funds, which it sees as antithetical to Wyoming’s fossil fuel industries.
Blocking investments based on such goals has broad support in the Capitol, and is already reflected in state policies, according to state agency testimony in recent days. But the state’s money managers say a piece of the bill that brings steep financial penalties against financiers who violate the rules against ESG investing would make Wyoming’s combined $40 billion in investments toxic to major firms and thus slow returns.
On the House floor Tuesday, Rep. Bob Nicholas, the former head of the House Appropriations Committee and a veteran of a separate committee that oversees the state’s investments, said Wyoming’s financiers estimate losses approaching $5 billion in lost returns over the next three years.
State retirement system officials have estimated a loss of more than $1.2 billion in returns over the next three years from more than $8 billion in pension funds if managers drop Wyoming as a client. Separately, Wyoming’s Chief Investment Officer Patrick Fleming estimated lost revenue at around $3.5 billion from the more than $30 billion his office manages.
The conflict is fueling fierce debate in the House. Lawmakers long-familiar with the state’s investment funds like Nicholas, R-Cheyenne, and Rep. Steve Harshman, R-Casper, spoke passionately against the bill, saying the House was ignoring people Wyoming had both hired, and in State Treasurer Curt Meier’s case elected, to manage the public’s money.
“We’re debating whether or not the investment professionals that we hire are wrong or right,” Nicholas said. “They’ve got the biggest flashing red light up that you can see.”
During Harshman’s tenure as House speaker, from 2016-2020, he leveraged returns from the state’s trust funds to protect public education through lean budget years. On Tuesday, he sought to defend those assets. The state’s investment pools, built up with mineral royalties, were a “tremendous gift from our forefathers and our energy companies,” that should not be risked, he said. “This is about Wyoming’s future.”
But Harshman and Nicholas’ camp of traditional Republicans no longer command a voting majority on the House floor. The Freedom Caucus does, and its members pushed the bill through its first chamber vote, 34-26. The caucus accounts for 34 House members, according to public membership lists and campaign endorsements.
By a similar margin, 33-25, House members voted down an amendment brought by Nicholas that would have struck the penalty for financiers from the bill. That penalty is driving most of the consternation, and even Nicholas said he might back the bill were it taken out.
But Freedom Caucus lawmakers voiced skepticism of the losses estimated by the state treasurer and managers of the retirement pool, and even some antipathy to those officials.
“Since when do employees of the state tell us what they will and won’t do for us?” Freedom Caucus member Rep. Pepper Ottman, R-Riverton, said.
“These financial teams of the state they’re making a lot of money,” she said, referencing the investment team’s compensation. “If they want to go somewhere else … other states are doing the same thing and it’s not going to be that tough.”
The bill’s primary sponsor, Gillette Republican Rep. Christopher Knapp, offered a more measured defense of the bill. Knapp amended the legislation in response to oppositional testimony during a Friday committee hearing.
But Knapp stuck by the penalty. “All I’m trying to do is codify what those investment managers follow today,” Knapp said during Tuesday’s debate. “Yes that should be written into a contract,” with fund managers, he said. “Yes, [a contract] that will hold people accountable.”
After Nicholas’ amendment failed, lawmakers passed a second one, cosponsored by Knapp. That tweak exempted state employees, but not outside money managers, from the penalties.
“I don’t understand why we are rushing this across an imaginary goal line.”
Rep. Martha Lawley, R-Worland
Monday, after adopting Knapp’s previous amendment, the House Minerals, Business and Economic Development Committee sent the bill to the House floor without taking further public testimony. The committee’s Freedom Caucus members overruled two of their Republican colleagues who sought to reopen testimony and gauge how state officials viewed the change.
Treasurer Meier warned last week that “the better half of my staff are all going to walk out the door,” if the bill passes. He has not since publicly weighed in on the measure’s impacts in the wake of Knapp’s changes.
But Nicholas told his colleagues both Fleming, the chief investment officer, and officials managing the pension fund are sticking by their estimates of dire losses.
Other lawmakers told their colleagues that the news of potential pension fund losses has spawned waves of concerned calls from retired state employees.
The bill is part of the Freedom Caucus’ “five and dime” plan — a package of legislation the bloc has pledged to pass by next week to demonstrate its ability to lead the House.
On the floor Tuesday, one of the Minerals Committee members, Rep. Martha Lawley of Worland, reiterated her frustrations with the committee’s choice not to work on the bill further before sending it to the House floor.
“It’s not a small matter at all,” she said. “We owe [voters] to get it right. I don’t understand why we are rushing this across an imaginary goal line. In their view, we are not authorized to play politics with their retirement fund.”
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Wyoming Sun Bucks is a net gain for children, families
Dear Casper,
Rep. Ken Pendergraft’s recent column opposing the Sun Bucks program raises concerns about cost, but it does so in a way that risks giving readers an incomplete picture.
It is true that the Department of Family Services requested approximately $3.5 million for startup and operations. However, that figure represents a combined state and federal investment, split evenly. Wyoming’s share is half of that — and more importantly, those dollars are not intended to purchase food directly. They fund the administrative framework required to deliver federally funded benefits to eligible children.
Those responsibilities are not trivial. They include verifying eligibility, processing applications, maintaining technology systems, preventing fraud and ensuring benefits are accurately distributed. Without that infrastructure, the program simply cannot function, and no child would receive assistance.
The initial startup cost of $1.6 million covers one-time expenses such as building the IT system, setting up application processing, contracting with the EBT vendor that issues and loads benefit cards, and establishing temporary staffing and support systems to serve families statewide. This is not “an office for one person,” but the foundation of a program designed to reach roughly 32,000 children.
Once operational, the ongoing cost to Wyoming is estimated at about $483,000 per year in state funds. In return, the program would deliver approximately $3.84 million annually in federal food benefits to Wyoming children. That is a significant net gain for families across the state.
While the article emphasizes administrative expenses, it overlooks the scale of the benefit those costs unlock. The question is not whether administration exists — it must — but whether the outcome justifies the investment. In this case, a relatively modest state contribution enables millions in direct food assistance to flow into Wyoming communities.
Reasonable people can debate the role of government programs. But that debate should be grounded in a full accounting of both costs and benefits. When viewed in that light, the Sun Bucks program is less about bureaucracy and more about whether Wyoming chooses to participate in a federally funded effort to help ensure children have access to food during the summer months.
Mike Thompson, Chairman of the Department of Family Services Oversight Council
Evansville
Wyoming GOP endorsement of candidates
Dear Casper,
I have read about the plans for the Wyoming Republican party to endorse specific candidates in the upcoming primary election. It is my understanding that the state law currently prevents the Wyoming Republican party from officially endorsing a candidate. I agree with the party’s position that this is not in keeping with the party and its members’ First Amendment right to free speech.
However, I think that the party should be careful in exercising this right. As the purpose of the primary election is to select the candidate that the majority of the registered Republican party members feel is best suited for the position, it feels like there could be a conflict of interest in explicitly endorsing a specific candidate without receiving the input from all of the registered members of the party.
Without seeking the input of the entire Republican electorate, how will the party itself provide a fair and accurate endorsement of a candidate? I certainly hope that the party leadership is not intending to offer an endorsement on behalf of the entire party based simply on what they (the leadership) might believe. To offer such an endorsement without seeking the input from all of the party members would be anti-democratic and would invoke Orwellian images of the party which, rather than listening to and responding to the input from the party members, would tell the party members what they should think.
If the members of the party leadership wish to offer an endorsement, they should do so as individuals and should not presume to speak for the entire membership of the party, at least not before the entire Republican electorate has had a chance to provide input regarding a party-level endorsement.
To circumvent this problem, I would recommend that the Republican party hold a vote among all of its registered members to determine whom the party ought to endorse. Maybe we could hold an event where polling places are established, where party members can go to indicate their preference for that endorsement. This would provide a fair and democratic method to ensure that the Republican party’s endorsement reflects the will of the party members.
I think that there might be an event similar to what I have described scheduled for Aug. 18. Maybe the party could do more or less the same thing for their endorsement event — or just wait until then.
Carlos Buckner
Casper
Related
The 2026 Wyoming High School boys’ soccer season is close to its finish. Only three weeks remain. 4A teams will conclude the regular season, as they jockey for positions going into next week’s regional tournaments. Meanwhile, 3A schools have this week and next week left in the regular season. They are trying to reach the top four of the league standings, as those are the teams that qualify for the state tournament in two weeks.
WYOPREPS WEEK 8 BOYS SOCCER SCHEDULE 2026
Three matches this week feature ranked opponents squaring off. Sheridan will host Thunder Basin on Friday. In 3A on Saturday, top-ranked Cody is at No. 5 Mountain View, and four-rated Torrington goes to No. 2 Buffalo. Just like the ladies, you have some rivalry matches on the schedule with Rock Springs-Green River, Jackson-Star Valley, and Thunder Basin-Campbell County. Wednesday will bring new soccer rankings. This is the boys’ schedule for Week 8. Schedules are subject to change.
TUESDAY, MAY 5:
CLASS 4A
Final Score: #2 Sheridan 2 Campbell County 1 (conference match)
Final Score: Riverton 3 Natrona County 1 (conference match)
CLASS 3A
Pinedale at Rawlins – postponed to May 11 – changed to May 9 for boys’ match only!
WEDNESDAY, MAY 6:
CLASS 4A
Laramie at Cheyenne Central – postponed to May 9
Cheyenne South at Cheyenne East – postponed to May 9
Read More Soccer News from WyoPreps
WyoPreps Boys Soccer Standings on 5-4-26
WyoPreps Week 7 Boys Soccer Scores 2026
WyoPreps Coaches and Media Soccer Polls 4-29-26
Nominate a Boys Soccer Player for WyoPreps Athlete of the Week
WyoPreps Week 6 Boys Soccer Scores 2026
WyoPreps Coaches & Media Soccer Polls 4-22-26
WyoPreps Boys Soccer Standings on 4-20-26
WyoPreps Week 5 Boys Soccer Scores 2026
WyoPreps Coaches & Media Soccer Polls 4-15-26
WyoPreps Week 4 Boys Soccer Scores 2026
WyoPreps Week 3 Boys Soccer Scores 2026
WyoPreps Week 2 Boys Soccer Scores 2026
WyoPreps Week 1 Boys Soccer Scores 2026
THURSDAY, MAY 7:
CLASS 4A
Final Score: #1 Jackson 8 Star Valley 2 (conference match)
Final Score: #4 Thunder Basin 3 Campbell County 1 (conference match)
Final Score: Rock Springs 2 #5 Green River 1 (conference match)
FRIDAY, MAY 8:
CLASS 4A
Final Score: Cheyenne Central 6 Cheyenne South 0 (conference match)
Final Score: #2 Sheridan 3 #4 Thunder Basin 1 (conference match)
Final Score: #2 Kelly Walsh 6 Riverton 0 (conference match)
Final Score: Laramie 3 Cheyenne East 1 (conference match)
Final Score: Evanston 2 Natrona County 2 – TIE (conference match) – Red Devils scored with 1 second left for the draw.
CLASS 3A
Final Score: #4 Worland 1 Rawlins 0 (conference match) – Kobe Bradshaw scored the GW goal on a PK in the 1st half.
Final Score: Douglas 2 Torrington 2 (conference match) – Shootout = Torrington wins 4-3!
Final Score: #1 Cody Lyman (conference match)
Final Score: #2 Lander 3 Pinedale 0 (conference match)
Final Score: Powell 1 #5 Mountain View 0 (conference match) – Gianrey Dallesandro with the GW-goal, assisted by Ethan Frame.
Final Score: #3 Buffalo 1 Newcastle 0 (conference match) – forfeit win for the Bison.
SATURDAY, MAY 9:
CLASS 4A
Laramie at Cheyenne Central, 11 a.m. (conference match)
Evanston at #2 Kelly Walsh, noon (conference match)
Cheyenne South at Cheyenne East, noon (conference match)
Riverton at Natrona County, noon (conference match)
Rock Springs at Star Valley, 1 p.m. (conference match)
CLASS 3A
Pinedale at Rawlins, 11 a.m.
#1 Cody at #5 Mountain View, noon (conference match)
Powell at Lyman, noon (conference match)
Torrington at #3 Buffalo, 2 p.m. (conference match)
#4 Worland at Douglas, 2 p.m. (conference match)
Final Score: Rawlins 1 Newcastle 0 (conference match) – forfeit win for the Outlaws.
Cheyenne Central vs. Cheyenne East HS Softball 2026
The Indians faced the rival Thunderbirds on April 15, 2026
Gallery Credit: David Settle, WyoPreps.com
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