Tagged: Tom Lubnau

Top Wyoming lawmakers have agreed to put off talks of budget cuts.

This year, state agencies cut an average of 6.5 percent from their budgets to meet a shortfall. Then lawmakers announced plans to require agencies to propose another round of 6-percent cuts during summer committee hearings.

But Governor Matt Mead said he would not encourage agencies to cooperate. He says with almost $800 million coming in from capital gains and interest on investments, cuts should be unnecessary.

With the start of the legislative session Tuesday, lawmakers have begun to lay out ideas for state income opportunities and budget priorities. With a slow-down in energy revenue predicted for the next decade, House Speaker, Thomas Lubnau, says Wyoming should look for new opportunities abroad.

A Wyoming Republican legislator is optimistic following his return from a coal-energy conference in China.  Governor Matt Mead and a delegation of state officials, specialists, and students, learned about what the governor’s office calls “greener” mining technologies, and new ways to use coal. 

Gillette Representative Tom Lubnau  says the conference was also an opportunity for Wyoming government officials to interface with their Chinese counterparts about the possibility of China importing Wyoming’s coal.

The Wyoming House of Representatives is considering legislation that would allow drivers to legally travel a little faster on interstate highways.  Gillette Republican Tom Lubnau is pushing a bill that would allow state highway officials to increase the speed limit on interstates to 80 miles an hour and says this is currently allowed in some other states. 

He cited a Utah study during floor debate on Friday.