CHEYENNE—After working until 1:30 Wednesday morning, representatives returned to the House hours later and took up one of this budget session’s key disputes: how much to spend on the University of Wyoming for the next two years.  A budget amendment hit at the heart of the controversy, launc hing the House into nearly two hours of debate.  “This is the big one,” Rep. Ken Chestek, the Laramie Democrat who sponsored the amendment, began.  He proposed restoring $40 million in block grant funding that the Joint Appropriations Committee — the state’s main budgeting arm — had cut last month from the school’s appropriation. The cut would account for nearly 11% of the block grant that Gov. Mark Gordon had recommended for UW.  Chestek, a professor emeritus of the university, began the pitch for his amendment by recounting restrictions the Legislature has imposed on the school in recent years, and how the university had responded.  In 2024, the Legislature passed a mandate forbidding UW from using any state money for diversity, equity and inclusion programming and curricula. The school closed its DEI office as a result.  Then last year, lawmakers passed a bill that bars UW from engaging in DEI programs and education, or hiring on that basis. As a result, Chestek told his colleagues, the school made a training to educate faculty about the new law’s requirements and created a complaint process to take care of perceived violations.  Rep. Ken Chestek, D-Laramie, during the 2026 Wyoming Legislature budget session in Cheyenne. (Mike Vanata/WyoFile) Gillette Republican Rep. John Bear, chairman of the House Appropriations Committee, explained to his colleagues last week that the $40 million cut was meant to get the university’s “attention.”  “You have their attention!” Chestek responded Wednesday. “They have complied with everything you have requested them to do.” Why then, he and other lawmakers asked, impose a blanket $40 million cut on Wyoming’s lone four-year university?  Chestek argued that the $40 million cut would “do nothing but weaken the university” and drive young people away.  “We all bemoan the fact that Wyoming’s biggest export is our young men and women,” he said. “They go to university, they leave the state. We hate that. We want them to stay here. This will make them want to leave.”  Meanwhile, House members who opposed restoring the $40 million expressed discontent with the school’s overall direction and ratio of students to staff. Speaker of the House Chip Neiman, R-Hulett, described the school as being “top-heavy” and pushed back against comments that the $40 million cut aimed to harm the school.  “As far as the idea that we’re trying to harm education and harm students, that’s not true,” Neiman said. “It’s not true at all.” Neiman said he would like to “look at the real numbers” to “do a better job of making sure that the taxpayers — the people that are having to fund this — are getting as much as we possibly can.”  “You have their attention! They have complied with everything you have requested them to do.”REp. Ken Chestek, D-Laramie Lawmakers disputed the meaning of various staff-to-student calculations that were presented. But those numbers aside, some questioned why a blanket $40 million reduction was lawmakers’ chosen approach to address what they see as a bloated university administration.  “If that’s the concern and that’s the issue, why don’t we address that specifically, rather than blunt cuts?” Rep. Julie Jarvis, R-Casper, asked.  The cut could also have unintended consequences, Rep. Trey Sherwood, a Laramie Democrat and member of the House Appropriations Committee, told her colleagues — JAC lawmakers exempted some schools, programs and a research facility from the $40 million reduction. But those carveouts might not always insulate the areas of study that lawmakers are attempting to prioritize, given that coursework is often spread between different schools.  Chestek’s amendment ultimately failed in a 34-26 vote. Lawmakers withdrew several UW budget amendments, and a number of others failed. But House members did vote Wednesday to restore $6 million for university athletics, another request that the JAC had previously rejected.  The JAC’s budget proposal last month included other restrictions and reductions for the university beyond the $40 million cut.  The committee denied $12.5 million for one-time matching funds, a $6 million request for school athletics, $1.69 million to fund Wyoming Public Media and another request to pay for an assistant professor for UW’s family medicine residency program in Casper. Lawmakers also added footnotes that would bar the school from using state money to fund Wyoming Public Media or elective abortions for students.  House lawmakers are far behind their Senate colleagues in their work on the budget. While the Senate wrapped up its first round of budget changes Tuesday, the House was still working through its 122 proposed changes by Wednesday evening. Lawmakers will have another opportunity to bring more amendments for a third reading of the budget later this week. For more legislative coverage, click here. The post House rebuffs attempt to restore $40M to UW, but adds back funding for athletics appeared first on WyoFile . ...read more read less