To the Citizens and Leaders of Wyoming,
The State of Wyoming finds itself at a crossroads regarding how it supports its employees. While the people of Wyoming take great pride in our rich heritage of Western lifestyles and traditions, there is an opportunity for us to create a new tradition—one where State Employees feel truly valued and fairly compensated. Historically, Wyoming has struggled to provide fair and equitable wages for its employees. On rare occasions when pay adjustments are made, employees often find themselves with little net gain due to increases in mandatory contributions to retirement or insurance plans. By working together, we can strengthen our workforce, honor the commitment of State Employees, and set a positive example for the rest of the nation.
As proud Wyomingites, we often talk about self-reliance and looking out for our neighbors, especially when times get tough. The “rainy day” savings fund is meant to protect our future, but what does it say about us if we let our friends and neighbors, the very people who keep the state running, struggle just to make ends meet? Now is the true test of our community values: will we keep hoarding resources for some distant crisis, or will we honor the frontier ethic by supporting those who stand beside us today? If we fail our State Employees, we fail the spirit that built Wyoming in the first place.
To truly embody these values, I urge Wyoming’s leaders to take specific, courageous steps. First, approve a targeted, across-the-board wage increase of at least 20 percent for State Employees, with priority for front-line agencies like the Highway Patrol and WYDOT. Second, reform benefits by capping increases in employee healthcare and retirement contributions, so employees see real gains from pay adjustments. Third, create a task force to benchmark state salaries against neighboring states and recommend adjustments each budget cycle. Finally, dedicate a portion of the “rainy day” fund for critical personnel recruitment and retention, treating our workforce as the irreplaceable foundation it is. These actions will translate our values into real support for those who serve Wyoming every day.
In the last round of lousy pay adjustments, I know of multiple employees who received a grand total of three cents per month after the dust settled. In a time of historic inflation that has left State Employees in the dust, this is a slap in the face. Many employees did not even receive a raise. Wyoming sits at the bottom of our regional pay scale by a wide margin. This pay gap puts us at a distinct disadvantage when it comes to hiring, retaining, and respecting the hardworking professionals who choose to serve our state. It is beyond insulting for the State to boast about having hundreds of millions of dollars to tuck away in a “rainy day” fund while leaving those who make Wyoming function on a daily basis behind. I get the political climate in Wyoming; it is what makes living here so attractive to so many people. However, what the powers that be don’t seem to understand is that if there are no State Employees, there will be no surplus to tuck away.
The Wyoming Highway Patrol is in a torrential storm right now, and the umbrella of support from the State collapsed years ago, if it even existed in the first place. There simply aren’t enough Troopers to accomplish the agency’s mission. True to conservative form, Wyoming has not increased WHP manning, budget, and other resources for almost two decades. This lack of investment has persisted despite our country experiencing a Great Recession, Wyoming seeing the influx of multiple industries, the decline of coal, changes in gubernatorial leadership, and national events—all without any corresponding increase in manpower or budget dollars. It is difficult to understand the ongoing lack of support for the State’s one and only uniformed Law Enforcement Agency, which is charged with keeping the highways safe and providing security for the Capitol Complex and the Governor.
We often hear how important it is to keep Wyoming’s portion of I-80 open for commerce, with estimates implying that $1 million in economic activity is lost for every hour the interstate is closed. Yet, with the current staffing levels and organization of the WHP, it is almost impossible to keep I-80 open during inclement winter weather. There are not enough Troopers to deter poor driving, investigate crashes, and perform the duties necessary to create a safe highway system. Currently, the WHP starting salary ranks 44th out of 49 states, lagging 26% behind the market rate. This has resulted in a skeleton crew where, despite authorization for more, there may be as few as 15 to 20 Troopers actively patrolling the entire state at any given moment, leaving individual officers responsible for up to 343 miles of highway per shift.
To that end, the failure goes beyond the patrol cars. WYDOT does not have enough experienced plow drivers and maintainers to keep the roads free of snow and ice because Wyoming has deemed them unimportant, paying them so meagerly that they leave for the private sector as soon as they obtain their CDL. The situation is equally dire for our dispatchers and Port of Entry employees. These professionals are crucial to Wyoming, yet they are paid so poorly that dispatchers have seen a 100% turnover rate in the last five years, and the Port of Entry is not far behind. The amount of institutional knowledge that has blown away in the Wyoming wind cannot be measured; it is an invaluable loss, and shame on Wyoming for letting this happen.
There are so many things wrong with the Wyoming Highway Patrol that it will take years to fix, but the State’s immediate responsibility is to pay its employees what they are worth. We need increased wages, a benefits package that doesn’t leave families worse off, and adequate facilities that aren’t infested with mold or asbestos or falling apart completely. We need new leadership that understands Wyoming’s harsh dynamics and values the employees who actually accomplish the mission.
It is a sad state of affairs for the Wyoming Highway Patrol. Those who choose to stay when they could provide better for their families elsewhere are genuinely admirable and should be celebrated. For those who choose to leave for greener pastures and less wind, more power to you—no one can blame you. It is time for the State to stop saving for a rainy day and realize that for the Troopers on the ground, the dispatchers in the communications center, and the Port of Entry officers, the storm is already here.better for their families elsewhere are genuinely admirable and should be celebrated. For those who choose to leave for greener pastures and less wind, more power to you—no one can blame you. It is time for the State to stop saving for a rainy day and realize that for the Troopers on the ground, the dispatchers in the communications center, and the Port of Entry officers, the storm is already here.