Wyoming Governor’s Comments On Property Tax Relief, GE Partnership And Other Legislation

CHEYENNE - The Wyoming Legislature needs to act to provide property tax relief to Wyoming seniors, Governor Dave Freudenthal said today in a news conference.

The program doesn’t necessarily have to be the one that Freudenthal proposed, but he said long-time Wyoming residents who want to live out their golden years in their homes need help.

“They’ve been given a number of proposals, they don’t have to do exactly mine, but if they’re serious about wanting to allow people to try and stay in their homes, they’re going to have to act,” he said.

Freudenthal also commented on the ongoing discussion about how the state should allocate funding to Wyoming’s cities, towns and counties.

“I will tell you that most of the contact related to the budget has to do with that formula for the allocation of funds between cities, counties and the local governments," he said. "That seems to be the big question - how are they going to divide that up.”

On the recent announcement about a partnership between General Electric and the University of Wyoming to build a coal gasification research facility in the state, Freudenthal said he hopes the relationship will provide a long-term benefit for Wyoming and especially for UW students.

“I don’t want it to be a ‘one shot wonder.’ If you think about it, this question about managing carbon and the utilization of coal is an issue that this country has begun to struggle with and I suspect that research institutions, utilities and the private sector are going to be confronting this for at least a decade.”

The federal government’s withdrawal from clean coal research makes the partnership even more significant, he said.

“It is even more important that we commit to a long term commitment whether it’s with GE or with others over time, because the federal government appears to be clearly withdrawing from any strategy that encourages the utilization of coal,” Freudenthal said.

When asked about one of two carbon sequestration bills that will be considered by the Legislature this session, the Governor expressed concerns about amendments that have been added to the bill.

“All that bill is intended to do is confirm the status of the law, not change the relationships," he said. "I encourage people to disregard a lot of these amendments because what you’ve got is at the last minute all of these lobbyists are coming in and creating these negative fantasies. It’s as though they’re trying to get more out of this bill than they’re entitled to.”

Source: Wyoming Governor

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