Wyoming has included $15 million in its draft budget appropriations bill to sweeten the pot when it comes to attracting the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association to Wyoming, but not without some back and forth.
Sen. Mike Gierau, D-Jackson, made the motion to approve the Gov. Mark Gordon’s request for the $15 million, which was seconded by Sen. Ogden Driskill, R-Devils Tower. The money would match funds that Cheyenne LEADS, an economic development entity, plans to also spend on attracting the PRCA to Wyoming.
Word that the PRCA might move from Colorado to the Cowboy State broke in November of last year. Although the PRCA has spent nearly 50 years in Colorado Springs, it has no room to grow at its current site, and the political climate of its home state has been changing as well.
Rep. Jeremy Haroldson asked for figures on the current balances of the funds that $15 million would come from, while Rep. Abby Angelos, R-Gillette, said she would prefer to see the item in a separate bill.
“I think it’s really important that the body is able to make this decision,” she said. “Specifically, other members of other communities who may want to represent this as well. And I understand that this has been made with Cheyenne not against the idea. I would like to see it in a separate bill, just like we saw the shooting complex and things like that. I think that’s important.”
Angelos then indicated she could be a “no” on the matter, not necessarily from lack of support for the idea.
“It’s not a bad idea,” she said. “I just really want to hear what the body — I feel like they have input on this, and I respect what my colleagues think.”
Gierau countered that there will be opportunities for the body to discuss the item on the floor, as well as amend it if need be, including taking money out or putting more money in.
“I prefer, frankly, this way,” he said. “This is one of those deals. This is something that has come up rather recently and rose to the level where the chief executive has been disposed to write a letter about it. He doesn’t write us that many and he wrote one about this.”
Gierau said he was initially lukewarm to the idea for some of the same reasons Angelos had mentioned, but the governor’s letter prompted him to look into it more deeply.
What he found was an impressive story, as well as a tremendous opportunity for the Cowboy State, one he doesn’t want to see subjected to political brinkmanship and machinations that might jeopardize the opportunity..
“This group has shown a propensity to cut things,” Gierau said. “I mean, as of yesterday, we had a business council. Today we don’t. So that was kind of a one-day thing.”
Texas Wants The PRCA Too
Driskill, meanwhile, urged his fellow lawmakers to consider the once-in-a-generation opportunity that a PRCA move to Wyoming would represent.
“I can tell you this, the PRCA has been approached by multiple other states, multiple other towns, multiple other entities,” he said. It is a cherry project that everybody wants.”
That puts the state of Wyoming in direct competition with much larger states like Texas, which are also vying to attract the PRCA to their state.
“We all argue back and forth, what is the role of government, where does it go?” Driskill said. “You’re going to be faced with, in this one, if you don’t help bring the business here, I can assure you, it won’t be domiciled here. It will be somewhere else.”
Wyoming, as the Cowboy State, is a great fit for the PRCA, Driskill said, and almost every constituent he’s talked to has said it’s a great idea to bring it here.
“Look at how much taxpayer money from Colorado comes to Cheyenne Frontier Days every year, folks,” Driskill said. “It’s the exact same principle as (that).”
Frontier Days might not write a direct check to the Wyoming Legislature. But the multiple thousands of tourists every day buying tickets, buying drinks, buying food, buying concert tickets, means sales tax revenue flowing to the state, sales tax revenue that the committee gets to spend.
“Folks, this is economic development,” Driskill said. “And I will spend some taxpayer money if I can get a return on that.”
Driskill added that the PRCA would be bringing 85 high-paying jobs into Wyoming with their move, as well as the temporary construction boost from building a new museum and headquarters.
“This long-term makes unbelievable sense,” he said. “I know you guys are upset I beat you up on the business stuff. Let’s do the right thing … Let’s get them here, because, without it, I can assure you, it helps contract our economy because it’s one more thing we could have had that we didn’t get.”
About That Tourism Slush Fund
Haroldson took issue with some of the explanations around the Office of Tourism’s funding, which he characterized as being “propped up” by a lodging tax that Wyoming voters have approved by a ballot initiative on a county-by-county basis.
“Any person who stays in a hotel, in a campground, an outfitter’s tent in the mountains, whatever it is, you’re paying a tourism tax,” he said. “That tourism tax is then brought forward. It props up our Department of Tourism and then a portion of that goes into a slush fund, and that slush fund is what we’re talking about here. That money is directly earmarked to help support and advance tourism.”
Haroldson conceded that there could be discussions about the proper role of government.
“But the reality is, it’s there, and it’s what that’s being used for,” he said. “So that’s another discussion on another time at another place. But here is a discussion of do we take $15 million of that over the next two years to bring in this museum and this hall of fame? That’s ultimately the conversation here.”
The $15 million wouldn’t come from the General Fund or any other fund, Haroldson added. It would only be coming from a fund “voted on by the people to advance tourism.”
“That’s the conversation here,” he said.
Not A Slush Fund
Most counties in Wyoming have passed a lodging tax, Driskill added, and they’ve done so because it’s a tax not paid by residents, but by visitors who are coming in to use roads and other services that have been paid for by taxes.
“Our people understand what it means to take money from the visitors that come into my store,” Driskill said. “That’s not them paying it, and that’s really what this is. And it’s a big part of the money we’re spending, folks, and it will grow.”
Every dollar that’s been put toward tourism promotion has so far returned $10, Driskill added, and the lodging tax is a big part of that engine helping to drive up the tourism sector.
Gierau took exception to describing the special projects fund that the lodging tax supports as a “slush fund.”
“There is no slush fund,” he said. “If you don’t take anything else from this conversation, there is no slush fund. It’s like saying deficit spending, and that’s illegal in our constitution. We say it around here all the time and it drives me nuts.”
The Office of Tourism has an operating account that right now has a little over $50 million, and then there’s the special projects fund that’s helping to support building trails as well as other projects that can help build tourism, like the shooting sports complex.
“But it is not a slush fund,” Gierau stressed.
There was some discussion of waiting to see a report on the economic impact of the PRCA moving to Cheyenne, but ultimately, the committee decided not to wait and voted on the spot to include the governor’s request for $15 million in the legislature’s budget draft. Not everyone raised their hands on the call for “aye” votes, but no one raised their hand for a “no” vote.
Renée Jean can be reached at renee@cowboystatedaily.com.
