Gordon signs 25% homeowner property tax cut bill, vetoes anti-DEI bill

CHEYENNE — Gov. Mark Gordon has signed a measure to provide a statewide, 25% property tax cut for Wyoming homeowners, but vetoed a bill to ban DEI programming at Wyoming’s institutions of higher education.

Gordon signed Senate File 69, “Homeowner property tax exemption,” on Tuesday. His office said in a news release that the legislation will “provide permanent property tax relief to Wyoming homeowners.”

The same release announced that Gordon vetoed Senate File 103, “Terminating and defunding diversity, equity and inclusion,” a bill sponsored by Sen. Cheri Steinmetz, R-Torrington. That bill prohibited DEI efforts and mandates by state agencies and public educational institutions.

Property tax bill

SF 69 went through many iterations over the course of the 68th Wyoming Legislature’s general session, which is scheduled to end Thursday. More than once, lawmakers amended the bill to offer a 50% property tax cut, and even tried to include a calculation of relief based on a five-year, county-by-county average increase.

SF 69 provides a 25% property tax exemption on the first $1 million of a single-family home’s fair market value and does not have a sunset date. The exemption takes effect immediately, with an owner-occupied requirement beginning in the second year.

“I have always supported tax accountability, and this bill provides tax relief without transferring the burden to our core energy industry,” Gordon said in the release. “This act, coupled with the bills I signed last year, responds to the call for property tax relief. Now the practical impacts of this legislation will need to be navigated by our cities, counties, special districts and citizens.”

In a second joint conference committee meeting last Thursday, Rep. Scott Heiner, R-Green River, asked that the Senate agree to provide backfill for local governments in the bill, as was the House’s preference. Senate Vice President Tim Salazar, R-Riverton, said the Senate could not agree to a deal on SF 69 that included backfill with a cut of only 25%.

Even as late as Tuesday afternoon, representatives in the House tried to add backfill amendments to other property tax measures. Several attempts were made to Senate File 153, “Residential real property-taxable value,” which would create a separate property tax assessment rates for residential real property.

“I think we should continue to stand for our position. It shouldn’t be about what the other body is going to do, or what the guy downstairs is going to do,” Rep. J.T. Larson, R-Rock Springs, said on the House floor. “We have to do what’s right for our constituents.”

All amendments to add backfill to SF 153 failed.

Terminating DEI bill

Falling back on an argument about local control, Gordon said in his veto letter on SF 103 that Wyoming has “long upheld principles of responsible governance, educational excellence, and local control.”

Gordon said that while he appreciated the Legislature’s “efforts to address concerns related to diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) policies within public institutions,” he had significant reservations with the bill in its current form. The bill, according to Gordon, “introduces ill-defined and overly broad restrictions, creates significant legal ambiguities, and risks unintended consequences that could negatively impact Wyoming’s higher education institutions and workforce development.”

The bill also included a late-stage amendment that was added on after the Legislature failed to agree upon a supplemental budget bill. Steinmetz initially recommended that the Senate not concur with the House amendment to SF 103 to include $550,000 to fund medical education for Wyoming students under an agreement with the University of Utah, but the Senate receded from nonconcurrence and sent the bill to the governor with the amendment.

Gordon said while he fully supports “training the future physicians Wyoming needs,” the funding “may be a more proper discussion for the Legislature to take up this fall in anticipation of the upcoming Budget Session.”

Other bills, he said, also address the same concerns regarding DEI activities in public institutions, including House Enrolled Act 67, which defines prohibited practices, ensuring consistency and reducing the risk of legal confusion.