By Representative Cody Wylie, House District 39
In Wyoming, we pride ourselves on being conservative. We talk about fiscal responsibility, low taxes, and limited government, and rightly so.
But lately, I’ve found myself asking a question that cuts to the heart of where we’re headed: Are we being conservative, or are we just being cheap?
Across the state, the conversation has shifted toward slashing property taxes, cutting local budgets, and reducing services that hold our communities together. Fiscal restraint is a Wyoming value, but we risk losing sight of what true conservatism means.
Lately, too many debates have turned into a race to see who can cut the deepest instead of who can solve the problem.
Being conservative doesn’t mean doing nothing or saying “no” to everything. It means being accountable, thoughtful, and solution-driven. It’s about stewardship, protecting what works, investing wisely, and making sure the Wyoming we pass down is stronger than the one we inherited.
It also means being honest about how government really works. Every dollar has a purpose, even the ones sitting in savings for a project, an emergency or payroll when revenue dips. That’s not waste, it’s being responsible.
Wyoming families already know what it means to tighten the belt. But that alone doesn’t solve the challenges we face. Inflation, rising costs, and forces outside our control are squeezing every household, business, and local government in our state.
The dollar today doesn’t buy the same amount of fuel, pave the same miles of road, or fund the same level of emergency services it did even five years ago. We can’t simply cut our way out of runaway inflation; that’s how we end up being cheap instead of conservative.
When we invest in our people and our communities, we’re not wasting money but instead building opportunities. Supporting our elders who spent their lives building the Wyoming we love isn’t wasteful; it’s honorable.
They worked hard, paid it forward, and gave us the communities, schools, and opportunities we enjoy today. Now many of them need care and services that let them to stay close to family and neighbors. That’s the responsible thing to do; care for those who built our communities and keep building for those who will follow.
At the same time, we must look forward. Investing in our children and our families is how we counter one of Wyoming’s biggest challenges: the export of our youth.
We can’t keep losing our best and brightest to other states because we fail to build strong economies and real opportunities at home. Keeping Wyoming’s young people here working, raising families, and contributing is the best long-term investment we can make.
This also means being honest about issues that touch every Wyoming community, whether we talk about them or not. Mental health is one of them.
If investing in mental health saves even one life, it’s worth it. We’ve all felt the devastating impact that poor mental health and suicide can have on our families, our neighborhoods, and our schools. We can’t ignore it. We must act.
Allocating dollars to support mental health services isn’t wasteful, it’s a lifeline. Behind every number in a budget is a human being with a story, a family, and a future that matters.
Wyoming has always been strongest when we work together, when we roll up our sleeves, face problems head-on, and take care of each other. As one wise neighbor once told me, “You can’t always ride on the wagon sometimes you’ve got to get out and push.”
That’s the kind of Wyoming I believe in, a Wyoming where being conservative means caring about the long game, where we hold the government accountable and understand that communities cannot function without the programs and services that keep people safe, healthy, and stable.
If we keep cutting just to say we did, to score political points, we stop being conservative and start being careless. Cheap doesn’t build; it tears down.
It’s time to get back to the kind of conservatism that builds thoughtfully and with purpose. To focus less on what we can cut and more on what we can build for our elders, for our families, for our kids, and for the Wyoming we want to leave behind.
I’m ready to get out of the wagon and push. Let’s be Wyoming strong, and let’s do it together.
By Representative Cody Wylie, House District 39
