For over a decade, Park County was without a voice on the Wyoming Legislature’s powerful Joint Appropriations Committee. But the panel now includes two lawmakers from Powell.

Sen. Tim French, R-Powell, was recently named to the Senate side of the committee, where he’ll join Sen. Dan Laursen, R-Powell, and other lawmakers in helping draft the state’s upcoming budget.

In a Thursday interview, French called the new position an honor and “a huge responsibility.”

“I’m excited about it,” he said, remarking that having “a seat at the table and a voice on how billions of dollars will be spent is a big deal.”

French had been chairing the Senate Agriculture, State and Public Lands & Water Resources Committee, and held seats on the Senate Revenue Committee and Select Water Committee. But he had to give up those positions when he moved to the new role on appropriations.

The committee’s work is more time-consuming and demanding than others in the Legislature. Beyond generally needing to be up to speed on the complexities of the state budget, French and the rest of the panel will spend two weeks in December and a couple more in January hammering out a proposed budget for the 2027-2028 biennium.

Committee members are also assigned to gather more in-depth research on specific state agencies. They then present those portions of the budget when the proposal is explained to their legislative colleagues in the Senate or House.

It’s “a huge, huge commitment,” French said, “but I’m ready for it.”

The seat on the Senate Appropriations Committee opened up when Sen. Darin Smith, R-Cheyenne, resigned to become the U.S. Attorney for the District of Wyoming. Senate President Bo Biteman, R-Ranchester, then tapped French for the post. 

The longtime Heart Mountain farmer said he was “torn” and sad to leave the agriculture committee, as “ag is my life.” However, French said he felt the panel would be in good hands under its new chairman, Sen. Bob Ide, R-Casper.

French became the leader of the Senate ag committee in January and quickly found himself in the spotlight. When a bill defining men and women by their biological sex at birth came before the panel in late February, a commenter opposed to the measure sarcastically referred to French as “Madam Chairman” and drew national attention. The viral moment also led to French receiving weeks of “nasty” messages, he said.

As for his new position on appropriations, French said he’s preparing to dig in and expects to soon take a trip to Cheyenne to meet with the heads of his assigned agencies.

“I’ve got to … really get involved with my part of it, so I can ask the good questions or … the committee can look at me and say, ‘Well, what’s going on in that department?’” French said, adding, “I’ve got to get a handle on that fast.”

There were no Park County lawmakers on the appropriations committee between 2013 and 2024. But with Laursen’s appointment to the panel in January and French’s switch last month, Powell lawmakers now have two of the five votes on the Senate side.

If something involving the Big Horn Basin comes up in the budget process, “we’ll definitely have a big voice in how that goes,” French said.