NEWS
CHEYENNE: As the November 2026 general election approaches, opponents of Proposition 1, the citizen-led ballot measure establishing a 50 percent property tax exemption for primary residences, have escalated warnings across the state. Establishment political figures, county lobby groups, and legacy media outlets routinely claim that passing a 50 percent property tax cut without a state backfill is reckless, fiscally dangerous, and destructive to local county services.
However, official voting records from the Wyoming State Legislature tell a vastly different story. An examination of the roll call from the 2025 General Session confirms a striking political double standard: the exact establishment figures now claiming that a 50 percent tax cut without backfill will ruin local governments previously voted in favor of that precise policy on the Senate floor.
The defining vote occurred on February 4, 2025, during the Third Reading of Senate File 69. As amended on the Senate floor, the bill established a 50 percent property tax exemption on primary residences for the first $1 million in fair market value. Crucially, the version brought to the floor contained zero state backfill. Rather than reimbursing local counties and special districts with state rainy-day funds (LSRA), the Senate version required local governments to absorb the revenue reduction directly.
When the voting board lit up in the Senate chamber, the bill did not barely squeak through on a narrow margin. It passed overwhelmingly in a 23 to 8 vote.
The 23 senators who recorded an "Aye" vote for a 50 percent property tax cut with no state backfill included:
Senator Jim Anderson
Senator Eric Barlow
Senator Bo Biteman
Senator Brian Boner
Senator Ed Cooper
Senator Barry Crago
Senator Gary Crum
Senator Dan Dockstader
Senator Ogden Driskill
Senator Tim French
Senator Mike Gierau
Senator Lynn Hutchings
Senator Bob Ide
Senator Bill Landen
Senator Dan Laursen
Senator Troy McKeown
Senator Tara Nethercott
Senator Jared Olsen
Senator Laura Pearson
Senator Tim Salazar
Senator Charles Scott
Senator Darin Smith
Senator Cheri Steinmetz
During floor debate on February 4, 2025, senators defended the no-backfill position as sound fiscal policy. Senator Bo Biteman emphasized on the floor that using state savings to reimburse local entities simply shifts money from one taxpayer pocket to another rather than providing true tax reduction. Senator Tara Nethercott similarly noted during debate that continually backfilling local revenue losses with state reserves was fiscally unsustainable.
Yet today, as Wyoming voters prepare to decide Proposition 1 at the ballot box, the political narrative from Cheyenne leadership has completely inverted. Establishment lawmakers who recorded "Aye" votes for the 50 percent no-backfill bill on February 4 now argue that the exact same 50 percent relief structure in Proposition 1 is an unworkable threat to public safety, county roads, and municipal budgets.
The February 2025 roll call demonstrates that when state leaders needed to present tax relief to their constituents during a legislative session, a 50 percent property tax cut without a state backfill was considered suitable policy. Now that everyday citizens have placed that same 50 percent relief directly on the statewide ballot, the institutional narrative has shifted from celebrating tax relief to protecting government revenue streams.
For Wyoming taxpayers evaluating the arguments surrounding Initiative 1, the legislative journals provide clear documentation. The leaders now warning against a 50 percent property tax reduction are the same ones who put their names on the record to pass it.