Wyoming Gov. Mark Gordon has vetoed the capital construction grant that the Wyoming Legislature appropriated for a recreation center in Riverton this year.
“The principal sponsor of this provision did not support the final budget and, therefore, I must assume his enthusiasm for it had waned” Gordon wrote in his budget line-item veto letter, referring to Wyoming Sen. Tim Salazar, R-Riverton. “I have removed it.”
Gordon added that the appropriation “was unrelated to ordinary expenses of the state government anyway and therefore should have been brought in separate legislation.”
Members of the Wyoming Freedom Caucus issued a press release last week calling for a special legislative session to be convened to address Gordon’s vetoes – including his veto of the Wyoming PRIME Act, which Salazar sponsored.
A press release from the governor’s office last month said the Wyoming PRIME Act “could create confusion among consumers, meat processors and livestock producers.”
“Currently, an attempt to use the provisions of (the Wyoming PRIME Act) by Wyoming producers before the federal PRIME Act is passed by Congress would put them at risk of fines and license revocation, and imperil Wyoming’s primacy for its meat and poultry inspection program,” the press release states. “If the federal PRIME Act is passed by Congress, but is amended during that process, Wyoming statute would likely need to be changed to conform, which could unnecessarily delay state implementation.”