University Faces Potential $61 Million Cut to Budget
Days before students returned to campus from their winter hiatus, the Joint Appropriations Committee (JAC) held its critical budget “markup” meetings from January 12 to 16, 2026, in Cheyenne, Wyoming.
The goal of this meeting was to put together a bill that would later be debated by the full legislature in February. A current topic of debate stemming from this bill is a motion to cut the University of Wyoming’s Block Grant by $40 million, about 11% of the current block grant. Not only would some university colleges’ funding be cut, but the committee also voted to deny funding requests related to UW athletics, the university’s family medicine residency program, an energy-related incentive, and Wyoming Public Media (WPM), totaling nearly $61 million.
The cut to Wyoming Public Media in particular, as expressed by Senator Mike Gierau (D-Jackson), is “not fiscal responsibility; [it’s] censorship by the playbook… You’re cutting funding because you don’t like the reporting or the content.”
Representative Ken Pendergraft (R-Sheridan), who brought forward the motion, specifically requested to exempt two colleges from the desired “across-the-board” cuts: the College of Agriculture, Life Sciences, and Natural Resources, and the College of Education. Departments that are at higher risk, however, include the College of Arts and Sciences, which was specifically mentioned due to objections to “certain coursework” and “woke” programs in the field, as well as the Office of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI), and the Honors College and Humanities.
Ken Pendergraft had this to say on the “woke” programs offered by the university: “How is ecofeminism helpful for a student who wants to stay in Wyoming and work in Wyoming?”
Another primary force that advocated in favor of this large budget cut is the Wyoming Freedom Caucus, and other caucus-aligned members such as John Bear (R-Gillette), Abby Angelos (R-Gillette), Bill Allemand (R-Casper), and Scott Smith (R-Lingle).
“Our top priority this session is to right-size the state’s budget… We’ve had a lot of squealing going on in the JAC from the Democrats… because they say that we’re just destroying government,” said House Chairman of the JAC and Freedom Caucus leader, John Bear.
Essentially, the Freedom Caucus is seeking to reset the University’s budget to pre-COVID spending levels. Framing the effort around concerns of government overreach and a lack of limited government, positions commonly associated with the Republican Party, Bear said the push for significant cuts is rooted in his belief that state spending should not outpace personal income; he said, “believes that state spending should not outpace your paycheck.”
“We want our spending policy, our saving policy, our investing policies, all to reflect a healthy economy in the state of Wyoming, as well as addressing the things that are happening at the kitchen table at home,” he said. “So with that, we are going to take this particular budget session, and we’re going to do everything we can to limit the growth of government so that it doesn’t outpace those paychecks.”
How Does This Affect Students?
Some students who currently attend the University worry about potential tuition increases and how it will affect the state, as well as any incoming high school seniors who are looking into attending the university this upcoming fall semester.
Carter Gail, a freshman at the university, said that “while the [raised tuition] may not hit within the next year, it will hit. As students of Wyoming, we are lucky to have a university that provides great education at a fraction of the cost, a huge draw for many students.” He also said that, “While Laramie is a great town, the main draw of the university is its price… I would say that most people have better matches with other universities across the country, but the current price of UW makes it extremely hard to say no.”
During the Joint Appropriations Committee (JAC) session, Ogden Driskill (R-Devils Tower) was one of the few Republican voices on the committee to strongly oppose the $40 million block grant cut, arguing that Wyoming’s youth are effectively being driven away.
“This is the main university that educates our kids in Wyoming,” he said. “They don’t have three other choices like they do somewhere else. This is what we have… This body is sending the message to the people of Wyoming, our townspeople, ‘Don’t stay here. Don’t come here.’”
Brad Bonner, who studied law at the University of Wyoming, went out to Facebook shortly after the heated committee session to provide “real-world understanding” of the potential budget cut and its effects on the university.
He shared that the $40 million cut covers the “biennium”, meaning two years — this would essentially be taking a $20 million cut per year. With this, the university could lose approximately, “160 talented and dedicated employees. In a word, it will be devastating.”
He went on to explain that the university will not be able to simply “absorb” these cuts, as their budget margins are “razor-thin.”
“Its not because the State of Wyoming is out of money. As a state that benefits magnificently from our vast natural resources, Wyoming’s coffers are wrong. He said. “Simply put, these are unnecessary, unwise cuts for the sake of cutting.”
The Road Ahead
While the $61 million in proposed cuts dominated headlines this last week, it is important to understand that the “Budget Bill” is currently only in its first phase. To become reality, it must survive a three-stage legislative “gauntlet”.
While the Joint Appropriations Committee has set the stage, the full 2026 Budget Session is slated to begin on February 9. Under Wyoming law, the Governor retains line-item veto power, meaning that he can single-handedly restore funding to the university, if he chooses to do so, unless a two-thirds majority of the legislature votes to override him.
The next session will take place at the Wyoming State Capitol in Cheyenne on February 9, 2026. While the preliminary “mark-up” meetings have been held in smaller committee rooms, the official session will move to the grand House and Senate chambers.
