Everyone saw it coming: The drop in oil, coal and natural gas prices was going to hit Wyoming hard — and it packed quite a wallop, to the tune of nearly half a billion dollars.

Unlike Washington, D.C., our state Legislature is required to create a balanced budget just like any fiscally conscious household. We’re thankful Wyoming holds its politicians responsible for making a balanced budget so that future generations do not have to pay for today’s expenses.

But that requirement meant our senators and representatives were faced with a difficult task: cutting a $3.44 billion budget down to just shy of $3 billion. Fortunately, Wyoming was ready for the down cycle that comes with the ups and downs of mineral extraction, so the Legislature was able to dip into savings by $100 million, or 10 percent of the total saved in the state’s rainy day account.

At this rate, that account will be completely gone in 10 years. This is cause for concern as it is not sustainable in the long term. If Wyoming’s revenues do not return to where they were in recent years, additional cuts will need to be made.

Wyoming Gov. Matt Mead signed Senate File 1 on Friday, approving the state’s biennium budget, and made 30 vetoes along the way.

The Legislature overruled quite a few of Mead’s vetoes.

Although he approved the budget, Mead was not happy about the Legislature turning down Medicaid expansion.

Mead said the Legislature missed a “critical opportunity” by foregoing Medicaid expansion.

The Legislature turned down Medicaid expansion out of concern that those funds would not be available should the next U.S. president cut Medicaid funding, said Sen. Ray Peterson, R-Cowley.

Mead previously said that if federal funding were removed, Wyoming could always back out.

But some lawmakers pointed out that, if that were to happen, the estimated 20,000 beneficiaries of the expansion would go from having health care to not having it. It would help them now, but it would be hard to give coverage and then take it away.

Now is not the time to be turning our nose up at receiving the federal benefits we already pay into.

At the same time, we understand why some view Medicaid as an uncertain funding source, considering past instances when Washington, D.C.’s dysfunctional approach to setting budgets led to an entire shutdown of federal agencies in 2014.

Another prime example was from 2003 until 2015 when Congress was unable to pass long-term transportation authorization for highway funding — making it impossible for state transportation agencies to plan their highway budgets.

Should that happen with Medicaid, “that leaves the state holding the bag and it would be terrible,” Peterson said. “The cost would be around $30 million per biennium for the state and it comes from our pockets and budget — where are we going to get that?”

Like Peterson, we wonder where Wyoming would get the revenue needed to keep the gears turning if that were to happen. At the same time, we wonder if there are ways to cut expenses.

It seems that, for now, arguments could be made for both sides.

Nobody wants to see Wyoming end up with an additional $30 million in expenditures or take away services shortly after residents obtained them.

Still, we should keep in mind that many services are funded at the federal level. Even during the 12 years when Congress failed to pass long-term transportation authorization, much of Wyoming’s highway maintenance continued to be federally funded.

Failing to expand Medicaid required the Legislature to cut $30 million more from the budget that could have gone toward keeping other programs alive.

Some state-funded programs lost all funding, and others were whittled down significantly.

The Family Literacy Program was among the programs cut out, and we’re sad to see it go. This program helped adults who struggle with reading and writing and also assisted them with tasks such as registering their children for school and finding employment.

Weed and pest fared better, but fell short of the $700,000 goal, ending with $250,000.

This was a difficult budget and there will likely be more to come — that is one thing everyone can agree on.