Doug Miyamoto told the committee the Department of Agriculture runs regulatory and outreach programs including state meat inspection and the state fair. The department requested two State Fair staff positions and discussed state/federal meat inspection differences, predator control, and cost‑allocation concerns raised by committee members.

Director Budd told the committee the Wyoming Wildlife and Natural Resource Trust seeks $11 million for invasive annual grass prevention and an additional request to continue post‑fire recovery and prevention efforts; funds would be pass‑through grants administered locally.

Director Stacia Berry told the Joint Appropriations Committee that the Office of State Lands and Investments manages 3.4 million surface acres and is seeking exception requests including $20 million for emergency fire suppression, two Esri GIS contract requests, and $340,907 for trust‑land preservation projects.

Laboratory leadership told the appropriations committee that pandemic-era federal funds have ended, equipment and service agreement costs have climbed, and a fee study suggests stepwise fee increases; the department is proposing budget authority and will consult partners before rule changes.

WRS Executive Director David Swindell told the committee WRS manages roughly $12–13 billion, is seeking TRP funds for RAIN programming and cybersecurity, and urged legislative flexibility on analyst promotions to address high turnover and key‑person risk.

State Public Defender Brandon Booth told the Joint Appropriations Committee the office is operating near caseload capacity statewide, described pockets of 'unavailability' that forced private counsel spending, and requested targeted budget and TRP technology support to recruit and maintain staff.

Department of Health Director Stephan Johansen described a conceptual catastrophic ‘Bear Care’ benefit inside Wyoming’s Rural Health Transformation (RHT) application and a placeholder federal spending authority; lawmakers pressed on sustainability, perpetuity financing and negotiations with CMS.

The Department of Health asked the Joint Appropriations Committee to fund two long‑term care eligibility positions (75% federal match) to reduce processing backlogs, enhance Medicaid eligibility systems, cover CHIP enrollment growth, and provide federal spending authority for supplemental payment programs; several requests are carryovers from prior sessions.

Wyoming Public Television asked the Joint Appropriations Committee for level base funding and two exception requests — an ongoing operations replacement for lost CPB funds and a $3.6 million one‑time modernization of tower and broadcast infrastructure used for statewide emergency alerts. CEO Joanna Kale emphasized WPTV’s role in emergency alert distribution and legislative livestreaming.

WICHE president Demi Michelow told the Joint Appropriations Committee that Western Undergraduate Exchange and the Professional Student Exchange Program helped Wyoming students save roughly $7.5M (WUE) and $2.18M (PSAP) in tuition last academic year; WICHE also summarized program slot counts and PSEP return rates.

The Joint Appropriations Committee amended and approved a wildland fire suppression module appropriation (26LSO0310) that increased funding and added a regional manager, and it adopted two additional forestry bills on retirement portability (26LSO0301) and paid leave/hazard pay (26LSO0302) with a narrow recorded opposition on two votes.

Acting director Scott Quillenin asked the Joint Appropriations Committee to approve $2.09 million to cover inflationary costs on a coal pyrolysis demonstration unit in Gillette and a separate $10 million state match to leverage federal and philanthropic research dollars, with guardrails limiting matches to Wyoming energy resources.

President Ed Seidel asked the Joint Appropriations Committee to approve multiple exception requests: $6M one‑time for CTE teacher‑training renovations, $6M biennial athletics support, $4.5M for two minerals/materials labs, $2.3M recurring for paid internships to retain graduates, and a $20M endowment matching request (governor recommended a reduced amount).

The State Construction Department told the committee it manages dozens of K–12 projects and major maintenance work, reported about $26 million in reversions after Mercer studies revised project scope, and requested two ongoing positions, a $750,000 strategic‑plan consultant and multiple design requests (Moorcroft, East High, Hobbs, Fremont consolidation, Jackson Hole). The agency emphasized timing to avoid construction‑season inflation.

Superintendent Megan Degenfelder told the Joint Appropriations Committee her Department of Education budget centers on six priorities — parental transparency, CTE, civics, reduced bureaucracy, teacher supports and literacy — and requested exception funding for IT, charter authorizing board operations and a state literacy position. Lawmakers pressed the department to revise an executive director pay recommendation for the charter authorizing board.

Officials outlined plans for a 70-acre Emergency Vehicle Operations Complex and new indoor/outdoor firing ranges on newly acquired land near Douglas, and flagged immediate utility shortfalls at the existing academy that require supplemental funding.

Department of Criminal Investigation leaders told lawmakers they face rising workloads (ICAC referrals, forensics requests), must pay increased Nlets/INLETS fees to keep NCIC access, and seek funding for FIPS security, a cloud disaster-recovery solution and continued crime-lab capacity including outsourced firearms work.

The State Construction Department presented a statewide facility-condition assessment and a major-maintenance funding package to sustain 20 million square feet of state-owned facilities; the Department of Health requested a large remodel of the Veterans Home with federal-reimbursement potential.

Attorney General Kautz asked the Joint Appropriations Committee for a contingency to prepare technical studies and outside counsel to defend Wyoming's water rights—centered on the Colorado River—and requested two HB 300 attorneys to handle growing federal natural-resources litigation.

Margie White, executive director of the Wyoming Board of Parole, told the Joint Appropriations Committee the citizen board reports a 15% recidivism rate (15% including probation outcomes; 8% for reincarceration) and is not asking for added base funding beyond a $25,000 travel increase this year.

Director Dan Shannon told the Joint Appropriations Committee DOC seeks $41.8 million in exception requests (mostly one-time) including $9.3M for out-of-facility housing, $12.25M to replace legacy offender-management systems, and multiple inflation and medical and commissary increases; Shannon said out-of-state housing cost the state about $15M (biennium) and cited a per-diem comparison of roughly $122/day vs. negotiated $75/day.

Josh Durrell, CEO of the Wyoming Business Council, told the Joint Appropriations Committee the agency's request is smaller than the full need and highlighted a wide infrastructure gap (estimated $500M $1.7B); key exception asks include broadband redundancy ($50M) to support business/data-center growth, SBIR and commercialization supports, and community infrastructure via Business Ready Communities.

Commissioners approved the 3‑lot Starry Nights Mountain Estates sketch plan (approx. 65.8 acres) with staff conditions requiring easements, noxious‑weed management, State Engineer Office concerns addressed, water‑well notes and fence/perimeter evidence before final plat review.

Dr. Aaron Billen briefed commissioners on West Nile virus trends and proposed a county mosquito surveillance pilot; he volunteered to manage traps next summer and staff discussed grant funding options and volunteer capacity to run five monitoring sites.

Enterprise Technology Services told the Appropriations Committee it needs about $15.7 million in exception requests to replace aging security infrastructure, fund ADA website remediation, realign positions tied to a retiring mainframe, and expand centralized services such as citizen authentication and GIS data.